Both Uses of
brief
in
Harry Potter (#6) and the Half-Blood Prince
Uses with a very common or rare meaning:
- For a brief moment he allowed himself the impossible hope that nobody would answer him.†
Chpt 1 *
- There were bins full of trick wands, the cheapest merely turning into rubber chickens or pairs of briefs when waved, the most expensive beating the unwary user around the head and neck, and boxes of quills, which came in Self-Inking, Spell-Checking, and Smart-Answer varieties.†
Chpt 6
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).