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In brief   /ɪn 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."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"In brief" Quotes from Famous Books



... These, in brief, are the high spots of the survey from the point of view of the scientist. In addition, I covered adjacent region of New Jersey to the west, including the Watchung Mt. range about Plainfield and the Oranges; the Bronx and Van ...
— Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Sixth Annual Meeting. Rochester, New York, September 1 and 2, 1915 • Various
... ioudaios] in the sense of those who were hostile, consequently many entirely orthodox Christians are anti-Jewists, quite oblivious of the very reasonable request of St. Paul that in Christ are neither Jew nor Gentile. This is, in brief, the theological side of the vexed question of Zionism. Chesterton makes it quite clear that he thinks it desirable that 'Jews should be represented by Jews, should live in a society of Jews, should be judged by Jews and ruled by ...
— Gilbert Keith Chesterton • Patrick Braybrooke
... less private to myself than are my thoughts or my feelings. In either case my experience falls within my own circle, a circle closed on the outside; and, with all its elements alike, every sphere is opaque to the others which surround it. . . . In brief, regarded as an existence which appears in a soul, the whole world for each is peculiar and ...
— The Waste Land • T. S. Eliot
... family, who were rational beings, and looked on life in a practical and sensible manner, were very differently affected by the discovery of this attachment. In brief, there ensued upon the eclaircissement much storm on one side, much grief on the other, and keen pain to all,—to none more than to Everett. Our Visionary's heart swelled hotly with alternate indignation and tenderness, as he knew his friend was forbidden the ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 5, No. 28, February, 1860 • Various
... certain primary points. Second, a triangulation corps engaged in extending a system of triangulation over various portions of the country from measured base-lines. Third, a topographic corps, organized into twenty-seven parties, scattered over various portions of the United States. Such, in brief outline, is the plan for the map of the United States, and the organization by which it is to be made. Mr. Henry Gannett ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 484, April 11, 1885 • Various


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