brief, short

brief, short
Brief applies especially to duration of time (a brief stay in a hospital). Brief also means "concise," "curt," and "succinct": "The chairman made a brief talk of only five minutes." Short applies to both time and space: "That was a short meeting." "Joe is a short man." It is informal to refer to "a brief distance" or "a brief skirt." That is, short can be used in almost any situation, but brief should be applied only in circumstances involving time.

Dictionary of problem words and expressions. . 1975.

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  • brief — adj Brief, short are the most comprehensive adjectives in English meaning not long. Brief refers pri marily to duration; short, to either duration or linear extent {a brief interview} {a short sermon} {a short distance} {short legs} …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • short — [shôrt] adj. [ME < OE scort, akin to ON skort, short piece of clothing, OHG scurz, short < IE * (s)kerd < base * (s)ker , to cut, SHEAR < CURT] 1. not extending far from end to end; not long or not long enough 2. not great in span,… …   English World dictionary

  • short — See brief. See brief, short …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • short-lived — adjective it was a short lived romance Syn: brief, short, momentary, temporary, impermanent, cursory, fleeting, passing, fugitive, lightning, transitory, transient, ephemeral, quick …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • short-short — ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ noun : an extremely brief short story usually seeking an effect of shock or surprise …   Useful english dictionary

  • brief — See brief, short …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • brief — 1 n [Old French bref brief letter, writ indicating legal proceedings, from Late Latin brevis breve short document, summary, from Latin brevis, adjective, short] 1: a concise statement of a client s case written for the instruction of an attorney… …   Law dictionary

  • brief — [brēf] adj. [ME < OFr bref < L brevis < IE base * mreĝhu , short > MERRY, Gr brachys] 1. of short duration or extent 2. short in length 3. using relatively few words; concise 4. curt or abrupt n. [ …   English World dictionary

  • short story — short story, adj. a piece of prose fiction, usually under 10,000 words. [1885 90] * * * Brief fictional prose narrative. It usually presents a single significant episode or scene involving a limited number of characters. The form encourages… …   Universalium

  • Short Code (computer language) — Short Code was one of the first higher level languages ever developed for an electronic computer.Sebesta, W.S Concepts of Programming languages. 2006;M6 14:18 pp.44. ISBN# 0 321 33025 0] Unlike machine code Short Code statements represented… …   Wikipedia

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