FluentPlex

brief

/ˈbɹif/ noun C2
  1. A writ summoning one to answer; an official letter or mandate.
  2. A short papal letter.
  3. An answer to any action.
  4. A memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.
  5. A position of interest or advocacy. (figuratively)
  6. An attorney's legal argument in written form for submission to a court.
  7. The material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who is counsel for the case.
  8. A barrister who is counsel for a party in a legal action. (slang)

Plural briefs

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From the library

A very brief analysis of these four words would enable you to say with the utmost confidence that the ‘learn’ and the ‘maybe’ are written in the stronger hand, and the ‘what’ in the weaker.”
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, p. 49 · B2
And, as though to add to the daily misery which this prosperous canal inflicted on the unfortunate innkeeper, whose utter ruin it was fast accomplishing, it was situated between the Rhône from which it had its source and the post-road it had depleted, not a hundred steps from the inn, of which we have given a brief but faithful description.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 278 · C1
I envy you your beauty and your perfume.” The Rose replied, “I indeed, dear Amaranth, flourish but for a brief season!
Three Hundred Aesop's Fables, p. 93 · B2
His brief season of elegant luxury would be doubly enjoyable if he could add to it a lady’s society.
Six stories from The Four Million, p. 28 · C1

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.