Brief vs Detail - What's the difference?
brief | detail |
Of short duration; happening quickly.
* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
*, chapter=10
, title= * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times
, passage=That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past. }}
Concise; taking few words.
* (Ben Johnson) (1572-1637)
*{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
, chapter=1 Occupying a small distance, area or spatial extent; short.
* 1983 , Robert Drewe, The Bodysurfers , Penguin 2009, p. 17:
(obsolete) Rife; common; prevalent.
(legal) A writ summoning one to answer to any action.
(legal) An answer to any action.
* 1996 The Japanese Rule of Civil Procedure, Article 79 (1):
(legal) A memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.
(legal) An attorney's legal argument in written form for submission to a court.
(English law) The material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who tries the case.
(informal) A short news story or report.
* We got a news brief .
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) A summary, or epitome; an abridgement or abstract.
* 1589 Thomas Nashe, The Anatomie of Absurditie 5:
* Overbury
(UK, historical) A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.
To summarize a recent development to some person with decision-making power.
(legal) To write a legal argument and submit it to a court.
(obsolete, poetic) Briefly.
* Milton
(obsolete, poetic) Soon; quickly.
(countable) Something small enough to escape casual notice.
(uncountable) A profusion of details.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Timothy Garton Ash)
, volume=189, issue=6, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Something considered trivial enough to ignore.
(countable) A person's name, address and other personal information.
(military) A temporary unit or assignment.
A part distinct from the whole.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Gary Younge)
, volume=188, issue=26, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= A narrative which relates minute points; an account which dwells on particulars.
to explain in detail
* 2014 , Ian Black, "
(US (?)) to clean carefully (particularly a car) ()
(military) to assign to a particular task
In transitive terms the difference between brief and detail
is that brief is to summarize a recent development to some person with decision-making power while detail is (US (?)) to clean carefully (particularly a car) ({{IPA|[ˈdi(ː)teɪɫ]|lang=en}}.As an adjective brief
is of short duration; happening quickly.As an adverb brief
is briefly.brief
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- How brief the life of man.
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.}}
citation
- The brief style is that which expresseth much in little.
citation, passage=She was like a Beardsley Salome , he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.}}
- On the beach he always wore a straw hat with a red band and a brief pair of leopard print trunks.
Synonyms
* See also * See alsoDerived terms
* brieflyNoun
(en noun)- A written answer or any other brief shall be submitted to the court while allowing a period necessary for the opponent to make preparations with regard to the matters stated therein.
- Bear this sealed brief , / With winged haste, to the lord marshal.
- A survey of their follie, a briefe of their barbarisme.
- Each woman is a brief of womankind.
Derived terms
* briefs * control briefReferences
*Verb
(en verb)- The U.S. president was briefed on the military coup and its implications on African stability.
Derived terms
* briefing * brevityAdverb
(en adverb)- Adam, faltering long, thus answered brief .
- (Shakespeare)
External links
* * *Anagrams
* ----detail
English
Noun
Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli, passage=Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail , a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.}}
Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution, passage=WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets. They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies.}}
Synonyms
* (something considered trivial enough to ignore) technicality, trifle, triviality * (personal information) particulars * contingent, detachmentDerived terms
* in detail * detail-orientedSee also
* overview * bird's-eye view * big pictureVerb
(en verb)- I'll detail the exact procedure to you later.
Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis", The Guardian , 27 November 2014:
- It is a sunny morning in Amman and the three uniformed judges in Jordan’s state security court are briskly working their way through a pile of slim grey folders on the bench before them. Each details the charges against 25 or so defendants accused of supporting the fighters of the Islamic State (Isis), now rampaging across Syria and Iraq under their sinister black banners and sending nervous jitters across the Arab world.
- We need to have the minivan detailed .