Short vs. Brief
Difference Between Short and Brief
Shortadjective
Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
Briefadjective
Of short duration; happening quickly.
Her reign was brief but spectacular.Shortadjective
(of a person) Of comparatively little height.
Briefadjective
Concise; taking few words.
His speech of acceptance was brief but moving.Shortadjective
Having little duration; opposite of long.
Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it's been at least twenty minutes long.Briefadjective
Occupying a small distance, area or spatial extent; short.
Her skirt was extremely brief but doubtless cool.Shortadjective
(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".Briefadjective
(obsolete) Rife; common; prevalent.
Shortadjective
that is relatively close to the batsman.
Briefnoun
(legal) A writ summoning one to answer to any action.
Shortadjective
that bounced relatively far from the batsman.
Briefnoun
(legal) An answer to any action.
Shortadjective
that falls short of the green or the hole.
Briefnoun
(legal) A memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.
Shortadjective
(of pastries and metals) Brittle, crumbly, especially due to the use of too much shortening. See shortbread, shortcake, shortcrust.
Briefnoun
A position of interest or advocacy.
Shortadjective
Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant.
He gave a short answer to the question.Briefnoun
(legal) An attorney's legal argument in written form for submission to a court.
Shortadjective
Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.
a short supply of provisionsBriefnoun
(English law) The material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who tries the case.
Shortadjective
Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking.
to be short of moneyThe cashier came up short ten dollars on his morning shift.Briefnoun
A short news story or report.
Shortadjective
Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.
an account which is short of the truthBriefnoun
undershorts briefs.
I wear boxers under trousers but for sports I usually wear a brief.Shortadjective
(obsolete) Not distant in time; near at hand.
Briefnoun
(obsolete) A summary, précis or epitome; an abridgement or abstract.
Shortadjective
Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.
I'm short General Motors because I think their sales are plunging.Briefnoun
A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.
Shortadverb
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.Briefnoun
(slang) A ticket of any type.
Shortadverb
Unawares.
The recent developments at work caught them short.Briefverb
(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.Shortadverb
Without achieving a goal or requirement.
His speech fell short of what was expected.Briefverb
To write a legal argument and submit it to a court.
Shortadverb
Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.
Briefadverb
Briefly.
Shortadverb
(finance) With a negative ownership position.
We went short most finance companies in July.Briefadverb
Soon; quickly.
Shortnoun
A short circuit.
Briefnoun
a document stating the facts and points of law of a client's case
Shortnoun
A short film.
Briefnoun
a condensed written summary or abstract
Shortnoun
Used to indicate a short-length version of a size
38 short suits fit me right off the rack.Do you have that size in a short.Briefverb
give essential information to someone;
The reporters were briefed about the President's plan to invadeShortnoun
(baseball) A shortstop.
Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.Briefadjective
of short duration or distance;
a brief stay in the countryin a little whileit's a little way awayShortnoun
(finance) A short seller.
The market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne.Briefadjective
concise and succinct;
covered the matter in a brief statementShortnoun
(finance) A short sale.
He closed out his short at a modest loss after three months.Briefadjective
(of clothing) very short;
an abbreviated swimsuita brief bikiniShortnoun
A summary account.
Shortnoun
(phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel.
Shortnoun
(programming) An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.
Shortverb
(transitive) To cause a short circuit in (something).
Shortverb
(intransitive) Of an electrical circuit, to short circuit.
Shortverb
(transitive) To shortchange.
Shortverb
(transitive) To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.
This is the third time I've caught them shorting us.Shortverb
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.
Shortverb
(obsolete) To shorten.
Shortpreposition
Deficient in.
We are short a few men on the second shift.He's short common sense.Shortpreposition
(finance) Having a negative position in.
I don't want to be short the market going into the weekend.Shortnoun
the location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed
Shortnoun
accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference
Shortnoun
the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between 2nd and 3rd base
Shortverb
cheat someone by not returning him enough money
Shortverb
create a short-circuit in
Shortadjective
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration;
a short lifea short flighta short holidaya short storyonly a few short monthsShortadjective
primarily spatial sense; having little length or lacking in length;
short skirtsshort hairthe board was a foot shorta short tossShortadjective
low in stature; not tall;
his was short and stockyshort in staturea short smokestackShortadjective
not sufficient to meet a need;
an inadequate incomea poor salarymoney is shorton short rationsfood is in short supplyshort on experienceShortadjective
not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices;
a short saleshort in cottonShortadjective
of speech sounds (especially vowels) of relatively short duration (as e.g. the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt')
Shortadjective
containing a large amount of shortening; therefore tender and easy to crumble or break into flakes;
shortbread is a short crumbly cookiea short flaky pie crustShortadjective
less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so;
a light pounda scant cup of sugarregularly gives short weightShortadjective
used of syllables that are unaccented or of relatively brief duration
Shortadjective
(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range;
a short memoryShortadjective
lacking foresight or scope;
a short view of the problemshortsighted policiesshortsighted critics derided the planmyopic thinkingShortadjective
unwilling to endure;
she was short with the slower studentsShortadjective
quickly aroused to anger;
a hotheaded commanderShortadjective
most direct;
took the shortest and most direct route to townShortadjective
marked by rude or peremptory shortness;
try to cultivate a less brusque mannera curt replythe salesgirl was very short with himShortadverb
quickly and without warning;
he stopped suddenlyShortadverb
without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold;
he made his fortune by selling short just before the crashShortadverb
clean across;
the car's axle snapped shortShortadverb
at some point or distance before a goal is reached;
he fell short of our expectationsShortadverb
so as to interrupt;
She took him up short before he could continueShortadverb
at a disadvantage;
I was caught shortShortadverb
tightly;
she caught him up short on his lapelShortadverb
in a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner;
he told me curtly to get on with ithe talked short with everyonehe said shortly that he didn't like it
