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Not long; having brief length or linear extension; as, a short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight. The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it. Isa. xxviii. 20.

In a short or brief time or manner; soon; quickly. Chaucer. I shall grow jealous of you shortly. Shak. The armies came shortly in view of each other. Clarendon.

Side dish, one of the dishes subordinate to the main course. -- Side glance, a glance or brief look to one side. -- Side hook (Carp.), a notched piece of wood for clamping a board to something, as a bench. -- Side lever, a working beam of a side-lever engine. -- Side-lever engine, a marine steam engine having a wor…

A theory proposed by Ehrlich as a chemical explanation of immunity phenomena. In brief outline it is as follows: Animal cells and bacteria are complex aggregations of molecules, which are themselves complex. Complex molecules react with one another through certain of their side chains, but only when these side chains h…

A reflection; a jeer or gibe; a sally; a brief satire; a squib. Tooke. A similar vein satire upon the emptiness of writers is given in his "Tritical Essay upon the Faculties of the Human Mind;" but that is a mere skit compared with this strange performance. Leslie Stephen.

Hence, a small space or a brief portion of time. Yet not to earth's contracted span Thy goodness let me bound. Pope. Life's but a span; I'll every inch enjoy. Farquhar.

A sudden and energetic effort, as in an emergency; an increased exertion for a brief space. The long, steady sweep of the so-called "paddle" tried him almost as much as the breathless strain of the spurt. T. Hughes.

A sarcastic speech or publication; a petty lampoon; a brief, witty essay. Who copied his squibs, and reëchoed his jokes. Goldsmith.

Expressed in a brief, pointed manner. Staccato and peremptory [literary criticism]. G. Eliot.

A brief space of time; a moment. [Obs.] Chaucer. In a stound, suddenly. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Compressed into a narrow compass; brief; concise. Let all your precepts be succinct and clear. Roscommon. The shortest and most succinct model that ever grasped all the needs and necessities of mankind. South.

Happening without previous notice or with very brief notice; coming unexpectedly, or without the common preparation; immediate; instant; speedy. "O sudden wo!" Chaucer. "For fear of sudden death." Shak. Sudden fear troubleth thee. Job xxii. 10.

ition in algebra; thus, the algebraic sum of -2, 8, and -1 is 5. -- In sum, in short; in brief. [Obs.] "In sum, the gospel . . . prescribes every virtue to our conduct, and forbids every sin." Rogers.

To comprise in, or reduce to, a summary; to present briefly. Chambers.

Formed into a sum; summed up; reduced into a narrow compass, or into few words; short; brief; concise; compendious; as, a summary statement of facts.

A precept; an aphorism; a brief rule.

An apparatus for exposing briefly to view a screen bearing letters or figures. It is used in studying the range of attention, or the power of distinguishing separate objects in a single impression.

Pertaining to, or resembling, a telegram; laconic; concise; brief. [R.]

A slight and brief essay. [Colloq.] Print my preface in such form as, in the booksellers' phrase, will make a sixpenny touch. Swift.

short duration; not permanent; not lasting or durable; not stationary; passing; fleeting; brief; transitory; as, transient pleasure. "Measured this transient world." Milton.