brief



brief someone about someone or something

 and brief someone on someone or something
to tell someone a summary with the essential details about someone or something. We need to brief the president about the latest event. I have to brief Michael on the new procedures at work.
See also: brief

hold no brief for someone or something

not to tolerate someone or something; to be opposed to someone or something. I hold no brief for Wally and his friends. Rachel holds no brief for that kind of thing.
See also: brief, hold

in brief

briefly; concisely. The whole story, in brief, is that Bob failed algebra because he did not study. Please tell me in brief why you want this job.
See also: brief

in brief

described in a clear and short way This, in brief, was the historical background out of which Zen Buddhism emerged.
Related vocabulary: in short
See also: brief

hold no brief for

Refuse to support, dislike, as in I hold no brief for liars. This term is a negative version of the legal expression hold a brief for, meaning "to support or defend a position by argument." The noun brief has been used in this way since the 1200s.
See also: brief, hold

in brief

Also, in short; in a word. Concisely, in few words, to sum up. All three phrases usually precede or follow a summary statement, as in In brief, we didn't get much out of his speech, or There was no agenda; in short, they could discuss whatever they wanted to, or The sun was shining, the sky was clear-in a word, it was a beautiful day. The first expression dates from the early 1400s; in short dates from the 1300s but the present usage dates from the 1700s; the hyperbolic in a word (since there is nearly always more than one word) dates from the late 1500s.
See also: brief

in brief

In short.
See also: brief

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Abegail-English (Rare)
Rowe[rəu]
Wolfe[wulf]
Apolloə-PAW-lo (English)Greek Mythology (Latinized)
EmmalineEM-ə-leenEnglish
Nataliyanah-TAH-lee-yah (Russian)Russian, Ukrainian