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A brief and pertinent mode of speaking. [R.]

Shortness of duration; briefness of time; as, the brevity of human life.

nd dated "a die Incarnationis," i. e., "from the day of the Incarnation." See Apostolical brief, under Brief. A fresh bull of Leo's had declared how inflexible the court of Rome was in the point of abuses. Atterbury.

A brief statement of facts respecting some passing event, as military operations or the health of some distinguished personage, issued by authority for the information of the public.

Any brief, violent evertion or effort; a spurt; as, a burst of speed.

To make a brief visit; also, to stop at some place designated, as for orders. He ordered her to call at the house once a week. Temple. To call for (a) To demand; to require; as, a crime calls for punishment; a survey, grant, or deed calls for the metes and bounds, or the quantity of land, etc., which it describes. (b)…

A published note, containing a brief statement, explanation, request, expression of thanks, or the like; as, to put a card in the newspapers. Also, a printed programme, and (fig.), an attraction or inducement; as, this will be a good card for the last day of the fair.

A sharp, brief, ringing sound, made by a collision of metallic or other sonorous bodies; -- usually expressing a duller or less resounding sound than clang, and a deeper and stronger sound than clink. But not in chains to pine, His spirit withered with tyeur clank. Byron.

with coal smut; to begrime. [Archaic.] Thou hast not collied thy face enough. B. Jonson. Brief as the lighting in the collied night. Shak.

A dramatic sketch; a brief comedy.

Having short clauses or sentences; brief; concise.

A brief account of transactions or events written hastily, as if for a memorandum; -- usually in the plural; as, Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War.

Brief; close; pithy; not diffuse; not verbose; as, a compact discourse.

A brief compilation or composition, containing the principal heads, or general principles, of a larger work or system; an abridgment; an epitome; a compend; a condensed summary. A short system or compendium of a sience. I. Watts.

ed all in this one word, Discretion. Hobbes. And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying. Rom. xiii. 9.

Expressing much in a few words; condensed; brief and compacted; -- used of style in writing or speaking. The concise style, which expresseth not enough, but leaves somewhat to be understood. B. Jonson. Where the author is . . . too brief and concise, amplify a little. I. Watts.

In a concise manner; briefly.

is; Weigh what convenience both of time and means May fit us to our shape. Shak. With all brief and plain conveniency, Let me have judgment. Shak.

A brief time; an instant; as, to be with one in a crack. [Eng. & Scot. Colloq.]

the articles of Christian faith; a confession of faith for public use; esp., one which is brief and comprehensive. In the Protestant system the creed is not coördinate with, but always subordinate to, the Bible. Schaff-Herzog Encyc.