cudgel (one's) brains

To try very hard to comprehend, solve, think of, or remember something. I was up all night cudgeling my brains for a way to pay off all my debts. She cudgeled her brains to remember the man's name.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Yakov	YAH-kahf (Russian)	Hebrew, Russian, Bulgarian
Jasmin (1)	YAHS-meen (German), JAZ-min (English)	German, English
Saxa	-	Ancient Germanic
Tamaya	-	Native American, Quechua
Armison	['a:misn]
Enda	-	Irish