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A short concise writing or letter; a statement in few words. Bear this sealed brief, With winged hastle, to the lord marshal. Shak. And she told me In a sweet, verbal brief. Shak.

The quality of being brief; brevity; conciseness in discourse or writing.

Originally, a desk or writing table with drawers for papers. Swift.

A bad custom or habit; an insatiable desire; as, cacoëthes scribendi, "The itch for writing". Addison.

Incorrect or bad writing or spelling. Walpole.

lly with the voice, but often otherwise, as by signs, the sound of some instrument, or by writing; a summons; an entreaty; an invitation; as, a call for help; the bugle's call. "Call of the trumpet." Shak. I rose as at thy call, but found thee not. Milton.

To cross and deface, as the lines of a writing, or as a word or figure; to mark out by a cross line; to blot out or obliterate. A deed may be avoided by delivering it up to be cancelled; that is, to have lines drawn over it in the form of latticework or cancelli; the phrase is now used figuratively for any manner of ob…

A large size of writing paper; as, flat cap; foolscap; legal cap. Cap of a cannon, a piece of lead laid over the vent to keep the priming dry; -- now called an apron. -- Cap in hand, obsequiously; submissively. -- Cap of liberty. See Liberty cap, under Liberty. -- Cap of maintenance, a cap of state carried before th…

out; esp. to remove anything erroneous, or objectionable from, as the obscene parts of a writing; to expurgate. My . . . correspondent . . . has sent me the following letter, which I have castrated in some places. Spectator.

A scroll; a writing; a schedule. [Obs.]

cted to censure; apt to blame or condemn; severe in making remarks on others, or on their writings or manners. A dogmatical spirit inclines a man to be consorious of his neighbors. Watts.

A writing on wax. Knight.

person was absent in the army, this is tried by the certificate of the proper officer in writing, under his seal. Blackstone.

To testify to in writing; to make a declaration concerning, in writing, under hand, or hand and seal. The judges shall certify their opinion to the chancellor, and upon such certificate the decree is usually founded. Blackstone. Certified check, A bank check, the validity of which is certified by the bank on which it i…

do changelings call, so changed by fairies' theft. Spenser. The changeling [a substituted writing] never known. Shak.

A summary in writing of such matters as are to be inquired of or presented before justices in eyre, or justices of assize, or of the peace, in their sessions; -- also called articles. Jacob.

Style of writing or printing; handwriting; the peculiar form of letters used by a particular person or people; as, an inscription in the Runic character. You know the character to be your brother's Shak.

A charter or deed; a writing by which a grant is made. See Magna Charta.

An instrument in writing, from the sovereign power of a state or country, executed in due form, bestowing rights, franchises, or privileges. The king [John, a.d. 1215], with a facility somewhat suspicious, signed and sealed the charter which was required of him. This famous deed, commonly called the "Great Charter," ei…

A writing which, reguiring a counterpart, was engrossed twice on the same piece of parchment, with a space between, in which was written the word chirographum, through which the parchment was cut, and one part given to each party. It answered to what is now called a charter party.