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Brief   /brif/   Listen
adjective
Brief  adj.  
1.
Short in duration. "How brief the life of man."
2.
Concise; terse; succinct. "The brief style is that which expresseth much in little."
3.
Rife; common; prevalent. (Prov. Eng.)
In brief. See under Brief, n.
Synonyms: Short; concise; succinct; summary; compendious; condensed; terse; curt; transitory; short-lived.


noun
Brief  n.  
1.
A short concise writing or letter; a statement in few words. "Bear this sealed brief, With winged hastle, to the lord marshal." "And she told me In a sweet, verbal brief."
2.
An epitome. "Each woman is a brief of womankind."
3.
(Law) An abridgment or concise statement of a client's case, made out for the instruction of counsel in a trial at law. This word is applied also to a statement of the heads or points of a law argument. "It was not without some reference to it that I perused many a brief." Note: In England, the brief is prepared by the attorney; in the United States, counsel generally make up their own briefs.
4.
(Law) A writ; a breve. See Breve, n., 2.
5.
(Scots Law) A writ issuing from the chancery, directed to any judge ordinary, commanding and authorizing that judge to call a jury to inquire into the case, and upon their verdict to pronounce sentence.
6.
A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose. (Eng.)
7.
pl. A type of men's underpants without legs, fitting tightly and held by an elastic waistband; also called Jockey shorts.
Apostolical brief, a letter of the pope written on fine parchment in modern characters, subscribed by the secretary of briefs, dated "a die Nativitatis," i. e., "from the day of the Nativity," and sealed with the ring of the fisherman. It differs from a bull, in its parchment, written character, date, and seal. See Bull.
Brief of title, an abstract or abridgment of all the deeds and other papers constituting the chain of title to any real estate.
In brief, in a few words; in short; briefly. "Open the matter in brief."


verb
Brief  v. t.  To make an abstract or abridgment of; to shorten; as, to brief pleadings.


adverb
Brief  adv.  
1.
Briefly. (Obs. or Poetic) "Adam, faltering long, thus answered brief."
2.
Soon; quickly. (Obs.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Brief" Quotes from Famous Books



... Mallard took part in a debate on a matter of war-tax legislation upon the floor of the House. As usual he voiced the sentiments of a minority of one, his vote being the only vote cast in the negative on the passage of the measure. His speech was quite brief. To his colleagues, listening in dead silence without sign of dissent or approval, it seemed exceedingly brief, seeing that nearly always before Mallard, when he spoke at all upon any question, spoke at length. While ...
— The Thunders of Silence • Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb
... Graham joined them and laughingly stated that he was glad to make the acquaintance of the man who was causing such a furor among the Mexicans along the Pinas. He asked a number of questions and listened with interest to the engineer's brief exposition of the plan to unite the water rights of the Pinas River and of Perro Creek in a common system, though Bryant disclosed nothing of his survey on the mesa. Of the opposition Lee had met or might yet encounter the rancher was aware, for he remarked, "You have a fight on ...
— The Iron Furrow • George C. Shedd
... bishop, because he might now meet him on equal terms. My lord answered—"Mr.——, no more controversy now!" Our good bishop resembled Baldwin, who from a simple monk, arrived to the honour of the see of Canterbury. The successive honours successively changed his manners. Urban the Second inscribed his brief to him in this concise description—Balduino Monastico ferventissimo, Abbati calido, Episcopo tepido, ...
— Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 (of 3) • Isaac D'Israeli
... that he could not bear to have him exposed to the company of one habituated to the licentiousness of the mercenary soldier. At first the jester hoped to remove the lads from the danger, for the brief remainder of their stay, by making double exertion to obtain places for them at any diversion which might be going on when their day's work was ended, and of these, of course, there was a wide choice, subordinate to the magnificent masquing ...
— The Armourer's Prentices • Charlotte Mary Yonge
... out of the New Testament,—his first supper in the bare dining room of that dormitory: the single long, rough table; the coarse, frugal food; the shadows of the evening hour; at every chair a form reverently standing; the saying of the brief grace—ah, that first ...
— The Reign of Law - A Tale of the Kentucky Hemp Fields • James Lane Allen


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