brief
- lasting or taking a short time; of short duration: a brief walk; a brief stay in the country.
- using few words; concise; succinct: a brief report on weather conditions.
- abrupt or curt.
- scanty: a brief bathing suit.
- a short and concise statement or written item.
- an outline, the form of which is determined by set rules, of all the possible arguments and information on one side of a controversy: a debater's brief.
- Law.
- a writ summoning one to answer to any action.
- a memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.
- a written argument submitted to a court.
- (in England) the material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who tries the case.
- an outline, summary, or synopsis, as of a book.
- briefs, (used with a plural verb) close-fitting, legless underpants with an elastic waistband.
- a briefing.
- Roman Catholic Church. a papal letter less formal than a bull, sealed with the pope's signet ring or stamped with the device borne on this ring.
- British Theater. a free ticket; pass.
- Obsolete. a letter.
- to make an abstract or summary of.
- to instruct by a brief or briefing: They brief all the agents before assigning them.
- Law. to retain as advocate in a suit.
- hold a brief for, to support or defend by argument; endorse.
- in brief, in a few words; in short: The supervisor outlined in brief the duties of the new assistant.
Origin of brief
Synonyms for brief
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for briefed
prepare, explain, apprise, update, inform, instruct, advise, prime, edify, abridge, recapitulate, initiate, epitomize, summarize, orient, enlightenExamples from the Web for briefed
Contemporary Examples of briefed
Republican senators who were briefed on the crisis in Iraq Thursday also were reluctant to support U.S. air strikes in Iraq.
Relatives of passengers and the crew have been briefed on the existence of the unidentified objects.
The rocket shipment seized on Wednesday, according to an IDF spokesman who briefed reporters, began in Damascus.
Members of Congress have been briefed on it and on what the administration has been doing under its terms.
That claim soon evaporated as the administration conceded that she had "briefed" Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough and other aides.
Historical Examples of briefed
They had not been well "briefed," as lawyers say, or they had not mastered their instructions.
Sir Brook Fossbrooke, Volume I.Charles James Lever
They briefed me on where I should take you, so there'd be good food ready.
VictoryLester del Rey
During his transmigration he had been briefed for the trouble on Deneb IV.
A Place in the SunC.H. Thames
I was still a new Exec, and the book said I must be briefed on my duties.
A Question of CourageJesse Franklin Bone
I talked with him while Cooms and Fluel were around, but he may have been briefed on what to say.
Lion LooseJames H. Schmitz
brief
- short in durationa brief holiday
- short in length or extent; scantya brief bikini
- abrupt in manner; brusquethe professor was brief with me this morning
- terse or concise; containing few wordshe made a brief statement
- a condensed or short statement or written synopsis; abstract
- law a document containing all the facts and points of law of a case by which a solicitor instructs a barrister to represent a client
- RC Church a letter issuing from the Roman court written in modern characters, as contrasted with a papal bull; papal brief
- short for briefing
- a paper outlining the arguments and information on one side of a debate
- British slang a lawyer, esp a barrister
- hold a brief for to argue for; champion
- in brief in short; to sum up
- to prepare or instruct by giving a summary of relevant facts
- to make a summary or synopsis of
- English law
- to instruct (a barrister) by brief
- to retain (a barrister) as counsel
- (intr foll by against) to supply potentially damaging or negative information regarding somone, as to the media, a politician, etcSee also briefs
Word Origin for brief
Word Origin and History for briefed
brief
late 13c., from Latin brevis (adj.) "short, low, little, shallow," from PIE *mregh-wi-, from root *mregh-u- "short" (cf. Greek brakhys "short," Old Church Slavonic bruzeja "shallow places, shoals," Gothic gamaurgjan "to shorten").
brief
from Latin breve (genitive brevis), noun derivative of adjective brevis (see brief (adj.)) which came to mean "letter, summary," specifically a letter of the pope (less ample and solemn than a bull), and thus came to mean "letter of authority," which yielded the modern, legal sense of "summary of the facts of a case" (1630s).
brief
Idioms and Phrases with briefed
brief
see hold no brief for; in brief.