briefing
Americannoun
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briefings
plural
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Military. a short, factual oral summary of the details of a current or projected military operation given to the participants or observers.
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any set of concise instructions or a summary of events.
noun
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a meeting at which detailed information or instructions are given, as for military operations, etc
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the facts presented during such a meeting
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of briefing
Explanation
If you plan on going to the briefing at the White House, you'd better bring your audio recorder. These informational sessions can get very detailed, and you'll need to review the audio record. When a lawyer appears before a court, they bring with them a "brief," a detailed explanation of their case that's anything but brief. This brief is a sort of briefing for the judge on the details of the case. Whenever you give someone a detailed explanation or set of instructions about something, it's a briefing. Briefing is the noun form of the word brief. The White House press corps meets in the "briefing room" to get briefed on the news of the president's day.
Vocabulary lists containing briefing
State of the Union Address 2016
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This Week In Words: November 28–December 4, 2020
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"The Evolution of a Great Idea"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I think there’s going to have to be more in-depth briefing than the government has given me to date.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
Earlier during the briefing, he said Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz was “effectively gone” and it’s a “diminishing asset.”
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026
Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, in a briefing to diplomats in Kathmandu on Thursday, called it a "Himalayan tsunami".
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
The safety driver gave me a 30-second safety briefing, and then we were off, making our way down the busy streets of central London.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Martinez was the subject of our pre-shift OJT briefing two days later.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
The workstations also allowed analysts to create and share briefings, whether for lawmakers or the president, incorporating voice-over-video, still images and annotations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Scottish Labour leadership contenders have warned about the dangers of internal feuds and briefings at their first party hustings in Glasgow.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Leavitt's tenure as press secretary saw a revival of regular briefings that had petered out during the first term, but she presided over sea change on White House interactions with journalists.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
He said that Wright had “explained this numerous times in briefings on Capitol Hill.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
We have been warned about that in briefings, along with frostbite, wind, whiteouts, wind, intense cold, and finally, wind.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
