brief

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noun report; instructions

ADJECTIVE

▪ clear (esp. BrE), detailed, thorough (AmE)

▪ daily (AmE)

▪ news (AmE)

▪ court, legal, planning (BrE)

▪ intelligence, mission (AmE)

▪ presidential (AmE)

VERB + BRIEF

▪ prepare, produce, write

▪ give

▪

We were given daily briefs by the commander. (AmE)

▪

I was given the brief of reorganizing the department. (BrE)

▪ stick to (BrE)

▪

He told me to stick to my brief (= do only what I was asked).

PREPOSITION

▪ in a/the brief

▪

She makes all these points in her brief.

▪ outside sb's brief (BrE)

▪

How the new policy is to be implemented is outside his brief.

▪ brief on

▪

a technical brief on food hygiene

PHRASES

▪ be part of sb's brief (BrE)

▪

It's not part of my brief to advise on financial matters.

▪ hold no brief for sb/sth (BrE)

▪

I hold no brief for either side in this conflict.

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verb

ADVERB

▪ fully, properly (BrE), well

PREPOSITION

▪ about

▪

The men have been fully briefed about the intended mission.

▪ on

▪

Each member of my crew took turns to brief me on his particular duties.

Brief is used with these nouns as the object: ↑counsel, ↑president, ↑press, ↑reporter

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adj.

VERBS

▪ be

▪

I promised to be brief.

▪ keep sth, make sth

▪

Could you make it brief? I have a meeting in ten minutes.

ADVERB

▪ extremely, fairly, very, etc.

▪ comparatively, relatively

▪ necessarily

▪

This necessarily brief account concentrates on two main areas.

▪ mercifully

▪

The wait was mercifully brief, little more than an hour.

▪ tantalizingly

▪

The diary entries were tantalizingly brief.

Brief is used with these nouns: ↑absence, ↑account, ↑acknowledgement, ↑acquaintance, ↑affair, ↑analysis, ↑answer, ↑appearance, ↑article, ↑bibliography, ↑biography, ↑career, ↑ceremony, ↑chat, ↑clip, ↑comment, ↑commentary, ↑conversation, ↑courtship, ↑debate, ↑delay, ↑description, ↑detail, ↑detour, ↑discussion, ↑distraction, ↑diversion, ↑document, ↑duration, ↑encounter, ↑episode, ↑examination, ↑excerpt, ↑exchange, ↑excursion, ↑existence, ↑experiment, ↑explanation, ↑exploration, ↑exposure, ↑extract, ↑flare, ↑flash, ↑flicker, ↑fling, ↑flurry, ↑glance, ↑glimpse, ↑guide, ↑hesitation, ↑honeymoon, ↑illness, ↑insight, ↑inspection, ↑instant, ↑interlude, ↑interruption, ↑interval, ↑interview, ↑introduction, ↑kiss, ↑lapse, ↑layover, ↑letter, ↑look, ↑lull, ↑meeting, ↑mention, ↑message, ↑moment, ↑nap, ↑nod, ↑note, ↑outline, ↑overview, ↑paragraph, ↑passage, ↑pause, ↑period, ↑prelude, ↑questionnaire, ↑résumé, ↑recess, ↑record, ↑reference, ↑reflection, ↑relationship, ↑remark, ↑reply, ↑report, ↑reprieve, ↑respite, ↑rest, ↑return, ↑review, ↑romance, ↑scuffle, ↑second, ↑shower, ↑silence, ↑sketch, ↑skirmish, ↑snatch, ↑snippet, ↑solo, ↑space, ↑span, ↑speech, ↑spell, ↑spurt, ↑statement, ↑stay, ↑stint, ↑stop, ↑stopover, ↑summary, ↑survey, ↑talk, ↑taste, ↑tenure, ↑tour, ↑trip, ↑truce, ↑tussle, ↑visit, ↑walk, ↑while