From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Brief \Brief\ (br[=e]f), a. [OE. bref, F. brief, bref, fr. L.
brevis; akin to Gr. brachy`s short, and perh. to Skr. barh to
tear. Cf. {Breve}.]
1. Short in duration.
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How brief the life of man. --Shak.
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2. Concise; terse; succinct.
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The brief style is that which expresseth much in
little. --B. Jonson.
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3. Rife; common; prevalent. [Prov. Eng.]
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{In brief}. See under {Brief}, n.
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Syn: Short; concise; succinct; summary; compendious;
condensed; terse; curt; transitory; short-lived.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Brief \Brief\ (br[=e]f), n. [See {Brief}, a., and cf. {Breve}.]
1. A short concise writing or letter; a statement in few
words.
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Bear this sealed brief,
With winged hastle, to the lord marshal. --Shak.
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And she told me
In a sweet, verbal brief. --Shak.
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2. An epitome.
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Each woman is a brief of womankind. --Overbury.
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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.
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It was not without some reference to it that I
perused many a brief. --Sir J.
Stephen.
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Note: In England, the brief is prepared by the attorney; in
the United States, counsel generally make up their own
briefs.
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4. (Law) A writ; a breve. See {Breve}, n., 2.
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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.
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6. A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a
collection or charitable contribution of money in
churches, for any public or private purpose. [Eng.]
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7. pl. a type of men's underpants without legs, fitting
tightly and held by an elastic waistband; also called
{Jockey shorts}.
[PJC]
{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." --Shak.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
in brief
adv 1: in a concise manner; in a few words; "the history is
summed up concisely in this book"; "she replied briefly";
"briefly, we have a problem"; "to put it shortly" [syn:
{concisely}, {briefly}, {shortly}, {in brief}, {in
short}]
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