All 16 Uses of
brief
in
The Fountainhead
Uses with a very common or rare meaning:
- The stone had the stillness of one brief moment in battle when thrust meets thrust and the currents are held in a pause more dynamic than motion.†
Chpt 1.1
- He walked through the structure, stepping lightly over piles of planks and coils of wire, he made notes, he gave brief orders in a harsh voice.†
Chpt 1.11
- The real-estate sections of the New York papers presented, each Sunday, brief accounts of the notable new residences in the vicinity.†
Chpt 1.11
- Then he seized the telephone and gave orders to run as brief an account of the meeting as possible, and not to mention the speaker by name.†
Chpt 1.12
- He felt a brief wrench of disappointment that no menace met him in her house; a wrench of relief also, and of disappointment.†
Chpt 1.12
- On the morning of November 1 Hopton Stoddard issued a brief statement announcing that there would be no opening.†
Chpt 2.12
- Toohey, speaking easily and casually, gave a brief sketch of all known civilizations and of their outstanding religious monuments—from the Incas to the Phoenicians to the Easter Islanders—including, whenever possible, the dates when these monuments were begun and the dates when they were completed, the number of workers employed in the construction and the approximate cost in modern American dollars.†
Chpt 2.12
- He worked alone at his desk for three hours, reading and making brief notes with a large blue pencil across the printed pages.†
Chpt 3.1
- She gave him a chance to use the brief silences for ending this, for saying the words she expected.†
Chpt 3.4
- Any extra word I speak will be offensive, so I shall be brief.†
Chpt 3.5 *
- She listened, as if she were an emigrant hearing her homeland's language for a brief while.†
Chpt 3.5
- The trial—the testimony of Ellsworth M. Toohey—of Peter Keating—of Ralston Holcombe—of Gordon L. Prescott—no quotations from the testimony of Dominique Francon, only a brief report.†
Chpt 4.2
- She smiled and closed her fingers over his wrist, a brief pressure, like a caress of encouragement, then she followed him.†
Chpt 4.4
- His words were brief, his orders rapid, his decisions immediate.†
Chpt 4.15
- The night watchman related how he had been sent away from the scene; his testimony was brief; the prosecutor preferred not to stress the subject of Dominique.†
Chpt 4.18
- The suit was not contested and Dominique was not present at the brief hearing.†
Chpt 4.19
Definition:
-
(meaning too common or rare to warrant focus) Brief is most commonly encountered as an adjective meaning "of short duration." Other meanings derive from the idea of short--as when making a long story short by summarizing it, or when wearing briefs (underwear).