In brief. See under Brief, n.

Syn. — Short; concise; succinct; summary; compendious; condensed; terse; curt; transitory; short-lived.

Brief
(Brief), adv.

1. Briefly. [Obs. or Poetic]

Adam, faltering long, thus answered brief.
Milton.

2. Soon; quickly. [Obs.] Shak.

Brief
(Brief) n. [See Brief, a., and cf. Breve.]

Syn. — A check; restrain.

Bridle
(Bri"dle), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bridled ; p. pr. & vb. n. Bridling ]

1. To put a bridle upon; to equip with a bridle; as, to bridle a horse.

He bridled her mouth with a silkweed twist.
Drake.

2. To restrain, guide, or govern, with, or as with, a bridle; to check, curb, or control; as, to bridle the passions; to bridle a muse. Addison.

Savoy and Nice, the keys of Italy, and the citadel in her hands to bridle Switzerland, are in that consolidation.
Burke.

Syn. — To check; restrain; curb; govern; control; repress; master; subdue.

Bridle
(Bri"dle), v. i. To hold up the head, and draw in the chin, as an expression of pride, scorn, or resentment; to assume a lofty manner; — usually with up. "His bridling neck." Wordsworth.

By her bridling up I perceived she expected to be treated hereafter not as Jenny Distaff, but Mrs. Tranquillus.
Tatler.

Bridle iron
(Bri"dle i`ron) (Arch.) A strong flat bar of iron, so bent as to support, as in a stirrup, one end of a floor timber, etc., where no sufficient bearing can be had; — called also stirrup and hanger.

Bridler
(Bri"dler) n. One who bridles; one who restrains and governs, as with a bridle. Milton.

Bridoon
(Bri*doon") n. [F. bridon, from bride; of German origin. See Bridle, n.] (Mil.) The snaffle and rein of a military bridle, which acts independently of the bit, at the pleasure of the rider. It is used in connection with a curb bit, which has its own rein. Campbell.

Brief
(Brief) a. [OE. bref, F. brief, bref, fr. L. brevis; akin to Gr. short, and perh. to Skr. barh to tear. Cf. Breve.]

1. Short in duration.

How brief the life of man.
Shak.

2. Concise; terse; succinct.

The brief style is that which expresseth much in little.
B. Jonson.

3. Rife; common; prevalent. [Prov. Eng.]


  By PanEris using Melati.

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