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Having length; rather long or too long; prolix; not brief; -- said chiefly of discourses, writings, and the like. "Lengthy periods." Washington. "Some lengthy additions." Byron. "These would be details too lengthy." Jefferson. "To cut short lengthy explanations." Trench.

Relaxing; emollient; softening; assuasive; -- some "Lenient of grief." Milton. Of relax the fibers, are lenient, balsamic. Arbuthnot. Time, that on all things lays his lenient hand. Pope.

A brief writing of any kind, esp. a declaration, bill, certificate, request, supplication, etc. [Obs.] Chaucer. A libel of forsaking [divorcement]. Wyclif (Matt. v. 31).

Free from grief or anxiety; gay; cheerful; merry. -- Light"-heart`ed*ly, adv. -- Light"-heart"ed*ness, n.

urdensome or afflictive; to alleviate; as, to lighten the cares of life or the burden of grief.

Short in duration; brief; as, a little sleep. Best him enough: after a little time, I'll beat him too. Shak.

A letting go; discharge. B. Jonson. To give a loose, to give freedom. Vent all its griefs, and give a loose to sorrow. Addison.

Producing grief; saddening. [Obs.] Sir G. Buck.

rdered in intellect; crazy; insane. I have heard my grandsire say full oft, Extremity of griefs would make men mad. Shak.

a man; not childish or womanish; manlike, esp. brave, courageous, resolute, noble. Let's briefly put on manly readiness. Shak. Serene and manly, hardened to sustain The load of life. Dryden.

Producing great evil and grief; causing dejection; calamitous; afflictive; as, a melancholy event.

A brief or informal note in writing of some transaction, or an outline of an intended instrument; an instrument drawn up in a brief and compendious form. Memorandum check, a check given as an acknowledgment of indebtedness, but with the understanding that it will not be presented at bank unless the maker fails to take…

A brief calendar of the lives of the saints for each day in the year, or a simple remembrance of those whose lives are not written.

A speaking or notice of anything, -- usually in a brief or cursory manner. Used especially in the phrase to make mention of. I will make mention of thy righteousness. Ps. lxxi. 16. And sleep in dull, cold marble, where no mention Of me more must be heard of. Shak.

ransference of the relation between one set of objects to another set for the purpose of brief explanation; a compressed simile; e. g., the ship plows the sea. Abbott & Seeley. "All the world's a stage." Shak.

To set down a short sketch or note of; to jot down; to make a minute or a brief summary of. The Empress of Russia, with her own hand, minuted an edict for universal tolerance. Bancroft.

liorate; to alleviate; to diminish; to lessen; as, to mitigate heat or cold; to mitigate grief.

anything painful, harsh, severe, afflictive, or calamitous; as, the mitigation of pain, grief, rigor, severity, punishment, or penalty.

To make a low prolonged sound of grief or pain, whether articulate or not; to groan softly and continuously. Unpitied and unheard, where misery moans. Thomson. Let there bechance him pitiful mischances, To make him moan. Shak.

Lasting but a moment; brief. Not one momental minute doth she swerve. Breton.