Short vs. Brief
Short and Brief Definitions
Short
Having little length; not long.
Brief
Short in time, duration, length, or extent.
Short
Having little height; not tall.
Brief
Succinct; concise
A brief account of the incident.
Short
Extending or traveling not far or not far enough
A short toss.
Brief
Curt; abrupt
We were upset because he was so brief with us.
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Short
Lasting a brief time
A short holiday.
Brief
A short, succinct statement.
Short
Appearing to pass quickly
Finished the job in a few short months.
Brief
A condensation or an abstract of a larger document or series of documents.
Short
Not lengthy; succinct
Short and to the point.
Brief
(Law) A document concisely stating the legal points being made, including often the citation and explanation of supporting legal authority.
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Short
Rudely brief; abrupt
The owner was quite short with the new hire.
Brief
Roman Catholic Church A papal letter that is not as formal as a bull.
Short
Easily provoked; irascible
Has a short temper.
Brief
A briefing.
Short
Inadequate; insufficient
Oil in short supply.
Were short on experience.
Brief
Often briefs Short, tight-fitting underpants.
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Short
Lacking in length or amount
A board that is short two inches.
Brief
Briefs Chiefly British The instructions that are given to explain a task or assignment.
Short
Lacking in breadth or scope
A short view of the problem.
Brief
To give instructions or preparatory information to
Briefed the astronauts before the mission.
Short
Deficient in retentiveness
A short memory.
Brief
To summarize.
Short
Holding a trading position that is inversely related to the price of a security or index
Short investors.
An investor who is short gold.
Brief
Of short duration; happening quickly.
Her reign was brief but spectacular.
Short
Of or relating to a short sale
A short position.
Brief
Concise; taking few words.
His speech of acceptance was brief but moving.
Short
Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky
A short pie crust.
Brief
Occupying a small distance, area or spatial extent; short.
Her skirt was extremely brief but doubtless cool.
Short
Not ductile; brittle
Short iron.
Brief
(obsolete) Rife; common; prevalent.
Short
(Linguistics) Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mălus, "evil," as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "apple tree."
Brief
(legal) A writ summoning one to answer; an official letter or mandate.
Short
(Grammar) Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (ă) in pat or () in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.
Brief
(legal) An answer to any action.
Short
Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.
Brief
(legal) A memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.
Short
(Slang) Close to the end of a tour of military duty.
Brief
A position of interest or advocacy.
Short
Abruptly; quickly
Stop short.
Brief
(legal) An attorney's legal argument in written form for submission to a court.
Short
In a rude or curt manner.
Brief
(English law) The material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who tries the case.
Short
At a point before a given boundary, limit, or goal
A missile that landed short of the target.
Brief
A short news story or report.
We got a news brief.
Short
At a disadvantage
We were caught short by the sudden storm.
Brief
Underwear briefs.
I wear boxers under trousers but for sports I usually wear a brief.
Short
By means of a short sale
Selling a commodity short.
Brief
(obsolete) A summary, précis or epitome; an abridgement or abstract.
Short
(Linguistics) A short syllable, vowel, or consonant.
Brief
A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.
Short
A brief film; a short subject.
Brief
(slang) A ticket of any type.
Short
A size of clothing less long than the average for that size.
Brief
(transitive) To summarize a recent development to some person with decision-making power.
The U.S. president was briefed on the military coup and its implications on African stability.
Short
Shorts Short pants extending to the knee or above.
Brief
To write a legal argument and submit it to a court.
Short
Shorts Undershorts.
Brief
Briefly.
Short
A short sale.
Brief
Soon; quickly.
Short
One that sells short.
Brief
Short in duration.
How brief the life of man.
Short
Shorts A byproduct of wheat processing that consists of germ, bran, and coarse meal or flour.
Brief
Concise; terse; succinct.
The brief style is that which expresseth much in little.
Short
Shorts Clippings or trimmings that remain as byproducts in various manufacturing processes, often used to make an inferior variety of the product.
Brief
Rife; common; prevalent.
Short
A short circuit.
Brief
Briefly.
Adam, faltering long, thus answered brief.
Short
A malfunction caused by a short circuit.
Brief
Soon; quickly.
Short
(Baseball) A shortstop.
Brief
A short concise writing or letter; a statement in few words.
Bear this sealed brief,With winged hastle, to the lord marshal.
And she told meIn a sweet, verbal brief.
Short
To cause a short circuit in.
Brief
An epitome.
Each woman is a brief of womankind.
Short
(Informal) To give (one) less than one is entitled to; shortchange.
Brief
An abridgment or concise statement of a client's case, made out for the instruction of counsel in a trial at law. This word is applied also to a statement of the heads or points of a law argument.
It was not without some reference to it that I perused many a brief.
Short
To short-sell (a security or index).
Brief
A writ issuing from the chancery, directed to any judge ordinary, commanding and authorizing that judge to call a jury to inquire into the case, and upon their verdict to pronounce sentence.
Short
To short-circuit.
Brief
A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.
Short
Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
Brief
A type of men's underpants without legs, fitting tightly and held by an elastic waistband; also called Jockey shorts.
Short
(of a person) Of comparatively small height.
Brief
To make an abstract or abridgment of; to shorten; as, to brief pleadings.
Short
Having little duration.
Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it’s been at least twenty minutes long.
Brief
A document stating the facts and points of law of a client's case
Short
(followed by for) Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).
"Phone" is short for "telephone" and "asap" short for "as soon as possible".
Brief
A condensed written summary or abstract
Short
That is relatively close to the batsman.
Brief
Give essential information to someone;
The reporters were briefed about the President's plan to invade
Short
Bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.
Brief
Of short duration or distance;
A brief stay in the country
In a little while
It's a little way away
Short
That falls short of the green or the hole.
Brief
Concise and succinct;
Covered the matter in a brief statement
Short
(gambling) Of betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.
Brief
(of clothing) very short;
An abbreviated swimsuit
A brief bikini
Short
Brittle, crumbly. See shortbread, shortcake, shortcrust, shortening, hot short, cold-short.
Short
Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant.
He gave a short answer to the question.
Short
Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.
A short supply of provisions
Short
Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.
To be short of money
I'd lend you the cash but I'm a little short at present.
The cashier came up short ten dollars on his morning shift.
Short
Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.
An account which is short of the truth
Short
(colloquial) Undiluted; neat.
Short
(obsolete) Not distant in time; near at hand.
Short
(finance) Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.
Short position
I'm short in General Motors because I think their sales are plunging.
Short
(by extension) Doubtful of, skeptical of.
Short
Of money: given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.
Short
Abruptly, curtly, briefly.
They had to stop short to avoid hitting the dog in the street.
He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.
The boss got a message and cut the meeting short.
Short
Unawares.
The recent developments at work caught them short.
Short
Without achieving a goal or requirement.
His speech fell short of what was expected.
Short
Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.
Short
(finance) With a negative ownership position.
We went short most finance companies in July.
Short
A short circuit.
Short
A short film.
Short
A short version of a garment in a particular size.
38 short suits fit me right off the rack.
Do you have that size in a short?
Short
(baseball) A shortstop.
Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.
Short
(finance) A short seller.
The market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne.
Short
(finance) A short sale or short position.
He closed out his short at a modest loss after three months.
Short
A summary account.
Short
(phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel.
Short
(programming) An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.
Short
An automobile; especially in crack shorts, to break into automobiles.
Short
(transitive) To cause a short circuit in (something).
Short
To short circuit.
Short
(transitive) To shortchange.
Short
To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.
This is the third time I’ve caught them shorting us.
Short
To sell something, especially securities, that one does not own at the moment for delivery at a later date in hopes of profiting from a decline in the price; to sell short.
Short
(obsolete) To shorten.
Short
Deficient in.
We are short a few men on the second shift.
He's short common sense.
Short
(finance) Having a negative position in.
I don’t want to be short the market going into the weekend.
Short
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.
Short
Not extended in time; having very limited duration; not protracted; as, short breath.
The life so short, the craft so long to learn.
To short absense I could yield.
Short
Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as, a short supply of provisions, or of water.
Short
Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking; not coming up to a resonable, or the ordinary, standard; - usually with of; as, to be short of money.
We shall be short in our provision.
Short
Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the trith.
Short
Not distant in time; near at hand.
Marinell was sore offendedThat his departure thence should be so short.
He commanded those who were appointed to attend him to be ready by a short day.
Short
Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory.
Their own short understandings reachNo farther than the present.
Short
Less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or equivalent; less (than); - with of.
Hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse them again to war.
Short
Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short answer to the question.
Short
Breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth; crisp; as, short pastry.
Short
Brittle.
Short
Not prolonged, or relatively less prolonged, in utterance; - opposed to long, and applied to vowels or to syllables. In English, the long and short of the same letter are not, in most cases, the long and short of the same sound; thus, the i in ill is the short sound, not of i in isle, but of ee in eel, and the e in pet is the short sound of a in pate, etc. See Quantity, and Guide to Pronunciation, 22, 30.
Short
A summary account.
The short and the long is, our play is preferred.
Short
The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran.
The first remove above bran is shorts.
Short
Short, inferior hemp.
Short
Breeches; shortclothes.
Short
A short sound, syllable, or vowel.
If we compare the nearest conventional shorts and longs in English, as in "bit" and "beat," "not" and "naught," we find that the short vowels are generally wide, the long narrow, besides being generally diphthongic as well. Hence, originally short vowels can be lengthened and yet kept quite distinct from the original longs.
Short
In a short manner; briefly; limitedly; abruptly; quickly; as, to stop short in one's course; to turn short.
He was taken up very short, and adjudged corrigible for such presumptuous language.
Short
To shorten.
Short
To fail; to decrease.
Short
The location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed
Short
Accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference
Short
The fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between 2nd and 3rd base
Short
Cheat someone by not returning him enough money
Short
Create a short-circuit in
Short
Primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration;
A short life
A short flight
A short holiday
A short story
Only a few short months
Short
Primarily spatial sense; having little length or lacking in length;
Short skirts
Short hair
The board was a foot short
A short toss
Short
Low in stature; not tall;
His was short and stocky
Short in stature
A short smokestack
Short
Not sufficient to meet a need;
An inadequate income
A poor salary
Money is short
On short rations
Food is in short supply
Short on experience
Short
Not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices;
A short sale
Short in cotton
Short
Of speech sounds (especially vowels) of relatively short duration (as e.g. the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt')
Short
Containing a large amount of shortening; therefore tender and easy to crumble or break into flakes;
Shortbread is a short crumbly cookie
A short flaky pie crust
Short
Less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so;
A light pound
A scant cup of sugar
Regularly gives short weight
Short
Used of syllables that are unaccented or of relatively brief duration
Short
(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range;
A short memory
Short
Lacking foresight or scope;
A short view of the problem
Shortsighted policies
Shortsighted critics derided the plan
Myopic thinking
Short
Unwilling to endure;
She was short with the slower students
Short
Quickly aroused to anger;
A hotheaded commander
Short
Most direct;
Took the shortest and most direct route to town
Short
Marked by rude or peremptory shortness;
Try to cultivate a less brusque manner
A curt reply
The salesgirl was very short with him
Short
Quickly and without warning;
He stopped suddenly
Short
Without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold;
He made his fortune by selling short just before the crash
Short
Clean across;
The car's axle snapped short
Short
At some point or distance before a goal is reached;
He fell short of our expectations
Short
So as to interrupt;
She took him up short before he could continue
Short
At a disadvantage;
I was caught short
Short
Tightly;
She caught him up short on his lapel
Short
In a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner;
He told me curtly to get on with it
He talked short with everyone
He said shortly that he didn't like it
