brief

brief (someone) about (someone or something)

To tell someone key information about someone or something, often an issue or situation. Please brief me about the candidate that I'll be interviewing this afternoon. Someone needs to brief the CEO about the investigation before he speaks to the media.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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hold no brief for something

BRITISH, FORMAL

If you hold no brief for a person, organization, activity or belief, you do not support them or respect them. This newspaper holds no special brief for a committee that has done nothing to distinguish itself in the past. He holds no brief for formal education. Note: In law, a brief is all the papers relating to a particular client's case that are collected by the client's solicitor and given to the barrister who will represent them in court.

See also: brief, hold, something

in brief

COMMON If someone says or writes something in brief, they use as few words as possible and do not give many details. This in brief is how I see the situation at the moment. The disease is discussed in brief here.

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in brief

In short.

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