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brief
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brief as in:  briefed her

show 10 more with this conextual meaning
  • She never sees our team play. Instead, she watches the team we will play next week and then briefs our coach about their strengths and weaknesses.
    briefs = gives a summary of important information
  • The men would gather at the truck to be briefed on what had been hit during their break, what was most likely to be hit next, and who was working with whom.   (source)
    briefed = given a summary of important information
  • They were not allowed to see me but were briefed by doctors and met my father.   (source)
  • When I mentioned various aircraft he'd flown, the aircraft Dad had briefed me about, he grinned again and said, "Heck, I do believe we got an aviation expert on our hands."   (source)
    briefed = given a summary of important information (to)
  • At a briefing, the crews were told to approach Nauru at eight thousand feet.   (source)
    briefing = meeting to give a summary of important information
  • Father had gone over the important points with Mr. Kleiman, and there wasn't enough time to give Mr. Kugler a thorough briefing.   (source)
    briefing = summary of important information
  • Ask the generals to brief you.   (source)
    brief = give a summary of important information to
  • Whenever someone came on the gun, the person he was relieving would brief him quickly, describing who'd been in the neighborhood, etc.   (source)
  • The FBI agents that had been brought in said they were going to brief her and then I would be able to see her.   (source)
  • After being briefed on the circumstances of this case, Mr. Driscoll was supplied with photographs, fingerprints and warrants for Hickock and Smith.   (source)
    briefed = given a summary of important information
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show 89 more with this conextual meaning
  • McBride had to be back in the office for a press briefing on the investigation.   (source)
    briefing = giving a summary of important information
  • Stevens' expression conveyed the fact that the Medusa had been the subject of early White House confidential briefings.   (source)
    briefings = instances of giving summaries of important information
  • I knew that I had to be more inclusive, brief more people as to our progress, and I proceeded with that in mind.   (source)
    brief = give a summary of important information to
  • The SEALs already on their scheduled deployment in Jalalabad got briefed on the plan during our flight over.   (source)
    briefed = given a summary of important information
  • Fache's briefing of his agents an hour ago had been unusually succinct and assured.†   (source)
  • The three squads of Third Platoon were briefed on the top deck by a First Lieutenant Pavelman from San Antonio, who explained in detail the role of B Company in the larger scheme of things.†   (source)
  • When Stargirl came in that day after school, Kevin gave her the usual briefing while Mr. Robineau and I checked out the equipment.†   (source)
  • You've all been briefed on the Flare and the reasons for the Trials.†   (source)
  • "Very well," said Mr. Curtain, when he saw that the boys understood, "you have been sufficiently briefed.†   (source)
  • Each fresh arrival was briefed in this way; people—police, doctor, family members, servants—stood in knots that unraveled and reformed in corners of rooms, the hallway and the terrace outside the French windows.†   (source)
  • The briefing had already started.†   (source)
  • His men had briefed him about the pots and pans.†   (source)
  • You can manipulate a kid into believing almost anything, into doing almost anything, Evan explained in our mission briefing.†   (source)
  • Silvia was there, which sometimes happened when we had to discuss something she'd briefed us on, and today she was beside herself.†   (source)
  • Butler and Juliet nodded, as though this were a normal briefing.†   (source)
  • He'd flown into Guam eight times before, and in fact, he had specifically mentioned it in the briefing he gave before takeoff.†   (source)
  • It was midway through the morning and we'd been in yet another Culture Briefing.†   (source)
  • He and I had our three days of planetary R and R coming up but we knew from Shipmaster Singh's briefings and the moans of our Shipmates that the only ground time we had to look forward to would be spent on a seven-by-four-kilometer island administered by the Hegemony.†   (source)
  • And any citizen can travel to one of the provincial palaces and ask for an audience—for a request, for an appeal in a legal case, for whatever reason— but in such a case, an ordinary citizen is briefed beforehand on how to conduct herself.†   (source)
  • We have been warned about that in briefings, along with frostbite, wind, whiteouts, wind, intense cold, and finally, wind.†   (source)
  • The rest of us took our seats inside a cinder-block building with blacked-out windows and one classroom, called the schoolhouse, and received a general briefing about the course.†   (source)
  • I was told there was an assembly at Central with the military briefing the students.†   (source)
  • "Well," said Barry, "as your copilot on this flight, it's my job to give you a quick safety briefing.†   (source)
  • The chiefs are at their normal—well, normal for a weekday, not a Saturday—intelligence briefing.†   (source)
  • You were wonderful tonight," and he introduced the Chinese ambassador and Wang Zicheng, who had briefed Zhang Weigiang and me at the Ministry of Culture in Beijing before our first trip to the U.S., and again at the Jackson Ballet Competition.†   (source)
  • The crew leader had issued a one-minute briefing, and we all watched the pattern of those five —to six-foot breakers.†   (source)
  • Of course, everyone on the team had been briefed on what to do if we got messages like that, received intimidating or threatening mail, or were confronted in any way that seemed to jeopardize our safety or that of our families, friends, teammates, or coaches.†   (source)
  • Kynes took a deep breath to still his resentment against Halleck, who had briefed him on how to behave with the Duke and ducal heir.†   (source)
  • The sun would be up in a few hours, and every one of the Americans remembered clearly the intelligence officer's final remark that capped their briefing: "When you get there, be ready for a fight."†   (source)
  • Your officers have all been briefed, but it's up to you guys to do the job.†   (source)
  • Lieutenant Colonel Johnson gave her a short briefing on procedures and then helped her lower the helmet over her head.†   (source)
  • Clare's got a briefing in the City.†   (source)
  • They had been carefully briefed about how to behave if someone fired at them or threw stones, but they had received no directives about what to do when someone aimed a lens.†   (source)
  • I follow Viktor into a briefing room where tureens and serving plates are spread across a table, heaped with smoking food.†   (source)
  • He just wanted to discuss the possibility of saying prayers in the briefing room before each mission.†   (source)
  • Do you know what he was doing yesterday when I briefed him on his testimony?†   (source)
  • Mr. McDaniels, please indicate that you have been fully briefed and agree to participate in the following trials with full knowledge that they are highly experimental and likely to result in severe disfigurement.... Hey!†   (source)
  • I knew from Amahl's briefing that Tabriz was at least 300 miles away and from there it was another hundred miles or so to the border.†   (source)
  • A jovial middle-aged woman briefed us on the dos and don'ts of outfits for job interviews, then asked for volunteers.†   (source)
  • Arthur Welch was doing exactly what Harry Rex told him to do, and Harry Rex was briefing Jake on all of it.†   (source)
  • Ekström got a briefing from the criminal duty officer about the events in Enskede, and at once concluded that this was a case which would without a doubt create a stir in the media.†   (source)
  • Even though Bobby hasn't had a CIA briefing on the Cuban operation in three months, he is the one man the president believes he can count on.†   (source)
  • Eve was still gritting her teeth over her briefing with Whitney when she ran headlong into DeBlass's security outside his office in the New Senate Office Building, East Washington.†   (source)
  • You're briefing them, right?†   (source)
  • In that capacity he occasionally called the other corpsmen together for a briefing, to relay news, to go over procedures.†   (source)
  • Even more frightening is the media's reluctance to question Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld about this during his press briefings.†   (source)
  • Jennifer briefed him on her conversation with Clancy Edwards.†   (source)
  • He began the formal briefing, talking rapidly, pacing up and down the room, hands moving constantly.†   (source)
  • With the two men briefed, he shared the plan with the players.†   (source)
  • Clayton was briefed on policies, warned of bad apples, encouraged to start cell system while leaving old organization untouched.†   (source)
  • We received countless briefings, varying from chemical warfare defense to our task of refueling the Stealth fighters.†   (source)
  • You will be briefed on the details later.†   (source)
  • The spokesman from Bryn Shander shut the door behind the last of them, desiring a private briefing with the principle character of the first stages of his plan.†   (source)
  • It occurred to Eragon then, as he reviewed Nasuada's briefing, that one of Murtagh's greatest weaknesses was that he still had to sleep.†   (source)
  • And the J2 is out of the country so I'll be presenting the briefing to the Chairman tomorrow morning.†   (source)
  • Then, when there was no immediate response: "I suppose Bessie's been briefing you by the hour.†   (source)
  • "Admiral, I have completed my long-term analysis run," Ldria said at the end of a standard briefing.†   (source)
  • Many evenings after supper Captain Ono could be seen on his way to the commander's house, and when directives from central headquarters in Rangoon had come concerning preparations for the inevitable enemy offensive, the doctor was always included in the briefings.†   (source)
  • "How serious is the threat of another attack?" the minister asked when Rousseau had completed his briefing.†   (source)
  • GUIL: We have been briefed.†   (source)
  • But this was at the final briefing, half an hour before we sailed.†   (source)
  • Before I left, I was briefed, instructed, directed, and brain-washed by many of my friends.†   (source)
  • She drove slowly, always stopping if the lights were amber, and Leamas guessed she had been briefed to drive that way and that they were being followed by another car.†   (source)
  • "Now in here," their guide, sweating dark tentacles into his tab collar, briefed them, "you are going to see the members of the third sex, the lavender crowd this city by the Bay is so justly famous for.†   (source)
  • After a long silence, during which he toyed portentously with some of his skulls, my chief began his briefing.†   (source)
  • Then I would be taken into the black community, where again I would be briefed by black leaders and sometimes black social scientists.†   (source)
  • The conversations that Ferdinand, in this character, attempted with me had a serial quality, because he wasn't always well briefed.†   (source)
  • At this point Peewee should have dropped the chase, for they had been strictly warned, in the briefing, against violating anyone's borders.†   (source)
  • Clarisse and Annabeth sat next to each other and led the briefing.†   (source)
  • I only stopped to be briefed by one of the guards heading up the process.†   (source)
  • He should have been briefing for the [DME] step-downs," Brenner went on.†   (source)
  • We are briefed by the political head about certain rules and expectations the academy has for us.†   (source)
  • Commander Olson briefed us in just a few minutes.†   (source)
  • The briefing officer had shown them silhouettes and photos of the warships.†   (source)
  • Shipmaster Singh and Councilor Halmyn had briefed us on the so-called Separatists of Maui-Covenant.†   (source)
  • The gas masks, the uniforms, the "briefing" in the barracks.†   (source)
  • And as the various briefings went on, Ben Sharmak seemed to get progressively more important.†   (source)
  • Captain Rocher will be briefing the corps in two minutes.†   (source)
  • We also had to go into the Ministry of Culture to be briefed by the officials.†   (source)
  • The CIA gave us an excellent briefing about Mogadishu, including some culture and history.†   (source)
  • Briefing by Colonel Vosch in five minutes.†   (source)
  • He passed out his two remaining briefing folders and talked from memory.†   (source)
  • We briefed them and wandered, a bit apprehensively, over to the chow hall for lunch.†   (source)
  • I have been instructed to escort you this far and return for briefing on another matter.†   (source)
  • Right after the briefing, Chief Dan Healy said to me, quietly, "This is it, Marcus.†   (source)
  • Our planning is meticulous, which shows in our briefings.†   (source)
  • It was time for Colonel Vosch's briefing.†   (source)
  • At first Chartrand thought the briefing was some sort of bizarre training exercise.†   (source)
  • His briefing papers were inside the flight suit, tucked against his chest.†   (source)
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brief as in:  legal brief

show 10 more with this conextual meaning
  • Her brief stresses that a guilty verdict would be incompatible with the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech.
    brief = summary of important facts and opinion for a legal case
  • He paused and then said he wanted the parties to submit written briefs arguing what ruling he should make.   (source)
    briefs = summaries of important facts and opinions regarding a legal case
  • She rearranged her docket so that she was home when Josie got there; she left legal briefs in the office instead of bringing them home to read on weekends; every night, over dinner, they talked-not just chatter, but real conversation: about why To Kill a Mockingbird might very well be the best book ever written; about how you could tell if you'd fallen in love; even about Josie's father.   (source)
  • At work, for example, when he would staple "FYI--For Your Information" notes to legal briefs and corporate returns that I had to review, he signed them at the bottom: "FYI--Forever You & I."   (source)
    briefs = summaries of important facts and opinions
  • With a sigh, she shifted a tower of briefs aside.   (source)
    briefs = summaries of important facts -- especially opinions regarding a legal case
  • It's hardly a legal brief; there's a lot of speculation, rumor, and secondhand information.   (source)
    legal brief = a legal summary of facts and opinion concerning a judicial court case
  • I could now spend the day reading, writing letters, discussing issues with my comrades, or formulating legal briefs.   (source)
    briefs = summary of important facts for a legal case
  • After filing the appeal brief, I'd continued investigating the case intensively.   (source)
    brief = summary of important facts and opinion for a legal case
  • With the reconsideration denied, the appeal brief was due in twenty-eight days.   (source)
  • He wanted to appeal no matter how unlikely the prospects, but his lawyer filed no brief.   (source)
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show 8 more with this conextual meaning
  • When we filed our brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, national organizations joined us and filed amicus briefs urging the Court to rule in our favor.   (source)
  • I'd filed a lengthy brief that documented the insufficiency of the evidence and raised every legal deficiency in the trial that I could identify.   (source)
  • They are "the products of an environment over which they have no real control—passengers through narrow pathways in a world they never made," as we wrote in our brief.   (source)
  • Another brief was filed on behalf of former child soldiers whose terrifying behavior after being forced into violent African militias made the crimes of our clients seem much less aggravated by comparison.   (source)
  • Despite numerous potentially meritorious grounds for appeal, Joe's appointed appellate counsel filed an Anders brief—indicating his belief that there were no legitimate grounds for appeal and no credible basis to complain about the conviction or sentence—and was permitted to withdraw from representing Joe.   (source)
    brief = summary of important facts for a legal case
  • When we filed our brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, national organizations joined us and filed amicus briefs urging the Court to rule in our favor.   (source)
    briefs = summaries of important facts and opinions regarding a legal case
  • In November 2009, after the briefs were filed in Joe's case and the Graham case, I went to Washington for my third U.S. Supreme Court oral argument.   (source)
    briefs = summaries of important facts -- especially opinions regarding a legal case
  • I told prison officials that in order to prepare adequately, I would need to be exempt from going to the quarry and would also require a proper table, chair, and reading light to work on my brief.   (source)
    brief = summary of important facts for a legal case
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show 10 more examples with any meaning
  • There had to be some much briefer, and simpler, way to thank Hobie and say what I had to say: namely, that he shouldn't feel bad, he'd always been good to me and done his best to help me, just as my mother and I had done our best to help this baby pit bull, who—it was actually a pertinent point, only I didn't want to spin the story out too long—for all her sweet-tempered qualities had been incredibly destructive in the days leading to her death, she'd pretty much destroyed the whole apartment and ripped our sofa to pieces.†   (source)
  • He still had his bursts of unbridled, adrenaline-pumped energy, as he did on the day of the first snowfall, but they were briefer now and farther apart.†   (source)
  • On the day after Shade Buckheath and Gideon Himes had come to their agreement, she stopped at the hospital for a briefer stay than usual.†   (source)
  • I have brief visions of the bull hook flying at my head and then even briefer visions of getting up right now, this minute, and walking back to the hobo camp.†   (source)
  • Her responses, while not curt, were much briefer than any of us were used to, so much so that weird silences kept falling after she spoke, while the rest of us waited for her to start up again.†   (source)
  • Being a lord was not so tedious as he had feared, and since Lady Hornwood had been so much briefer than Lord Manderly, he even had a few hours of daylight left to visit with Summer.†   (source)
  • The briefer, the sooner shall you be refreshed.†   (source)
  • It was just a flicker, even briefer than the first.†   (source)
  • When they met each other there at the camp the encounter was even briefer and less personal than their meeting in Cracow.†   (source)
  • Gollum in his own way, and with much more excuse as his acquaintance was much briefer, may have made a similar mistake, confusing kindness and blindness.†   (source)
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show 14 more examples with any meaning
  • All through the bright autumn days, Laurella Himes had hurried from one new and charming sensation or discovery to another; she was like the butterflies that haunt the banks of little streams or wayside pools at this season, disporting themselves more gaily even than the insects of spring in what must be at best a briefer glory.†   (source)
  • They were now briefer than epitaphs and more terse than commands.†   (source)
  • His visits morning and evening were briefer, his tongue more benevolent.†   (source)
  • Brief were my days among you, and briefer still the words I have spoken.†   (source)
  • He made this a briefer story, telling of his coming to Utah, his various occupations till he became a rider, and then how the Mormons had practically driven him out of Cottonwoods, an outcast.†   (source)
  • It could hardly have been briefer.†   (source)
  • "And a briefer stay!" she replied, as, with a strong push, the black sent them shooting into the open water again.†   (source)
  • Some of the briefer articles, which contribute to make up the volume, have likewise been written since my involuntary withdrawal from the toils and honours of public life, and the remainder are gleaned from annuals and magazines, of such antique date, that they have gone round the circle, and come back to novelty again.†   (source)
  • Others, whose briefer span forbade their devoting themselves to studies so abstruse, beguiled the little tedium of the way with penny-papers.†   (source)
  • There, in keeping of his Arab followers, he left the horse, and shortly after was at the wicket of his father's house, and in a yet briefer space in the great chamber.†   (source)
  • Morally, as well as materially, there was a coarser fibre in those wives and maidens of old English birth and breeding than in their fair descendants, separated from them by a series of six or seven generations; for, throughout that chain of ancestry, every successive mother had transmitted to her child a fainter bloom, a more delicate and briefer beauty, and a slighter physical frame, if not character of less force and solidity than her own.†   (source)
  • The grammar-book is Longman's Briefer Grammar; New York, 1908, p. 160.†   (source)
  • For example, there is "Longmans' Briefer Grammar," by George J. Smith,[9] a text now in very wide use.†   (source)
  • Madam, before you touch the instrument, To learn the order of my fingering, I must begin with rudiments of art; To teach you gamut in a briefer sort, More pleasant, pithy, and effectual, Than hath been taught by any of my trade: And there it is in writing, fairly drawn.†   (source)
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meaning too common or rare to warrant focus:

show 10 examples with meaning too common or rare to warrant focus
  • The sheriff and doctor exchanged brief but knowing nods that even though he was married, Chase might bring another woman to the tower.   (source)
    brief = of short duration
  • I tried to distract myself by reading Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, which answered big questions such as how the universe began and whether time could run backward.   (source)
  • Leroy "Curly" Branitt, who was temporarily between jobs, had been driving his wife and mother-in-law to the outlet mall when he'd decided to make the brief detour.   (source)
    brief = short
  • I gave a brief history of the case and informed the court that both the defendant and the State were moving the court to dismiss all charges.   (source)
    brief = of short duration
  • When you come into it, for that brief amount of time, your case is the most important thing in the world, to everyone in that room.   (source)
    brief = short
  • Dill and Jem emerged from a brief huddle: "If you stay you've got to do what we tell you," Dill warned.   (source)
    brief = of short duration
  • But in the brief instant that I had peered over the barriers I could finally see what was really there: an old woman, a wok for her armor, a knitting needle for her sword, getting a little crabby as she waited patiently for her daughter to invite her in.   (source)
  • It was a brief conversation.   (source)
  • They showed a brief picture of me and then the killer.   (source)
  • Ninety minutes later the court adjourned, the case for the defense having been completed in that brief time.   (source)
    brief = short
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show 40 more examples with meaning too common or rare to warrant focus
  • He told her everything, save for the few brief moments when he thought he would never see her again.   (source)
  • Oliver's note was brief and to the point: What, he wanted to know, was I discussing with the government?   (source)
  • In the team room, the guys made us introduce ourselves and give them a brief bio.   (source)
    brief = of short duration
  • He puts on his briefs and slacks.   (source)
    briefs = underwear
  • Once, during a brief halt, when he got tangled in the traces and delayed the start, both Dave and Solleks flew at him and administered a sound trouncing.   (source)
    brief = of short duration
  • Word of her mother had also been tight-lipped on Frau Heinrich's brief visits.†   (source)
  • A boy, I think from District 9, reaches the pack at the same time I do and for a brief time we grapple for it and then he coughs, splattering my face with blood.†   (source)
  • In one of those brief bursts of light, I saw something I'll never forget: Hassan serving drinks to Assef and Wali from a silver platter.†   (source)
  • It seemed like forever ago, like we'd had this brief but still infinite forever.†   (source)
  • There was a brief flash of blue light, during which all of our keys and the crystal door itself vanished.†   (source)
  • He gathered his strength and for a brief second seemed to defy gravity as he took a quick step up the wall and, with Zero's help, pulled himself the rest of the way over the ledge.†   (source)
  • This is also different—because during that brief time they knew each other, Lev had never been pleased by Connor's presence.†   (source)
  • Dad had brought Mom to Welch for a brief visit fifteen years earlier, right after they were married.†   (source)
  • From our brief conversation I deduced that I had just met the celebrated eccentric whom the locals called the Mayor of Hippie Cove, a reference to a bight of tidewater north of town that was a magnet for long-haired transients, near which the Mayor had been living for some years.†   (source)
  • No one knew for sure if, in that brief time, the bomber could get far enough away to survive what was coming.†   (source)
  • She would enjoy the three years of being pampered that would follow her brief training; she would give birth easily and well; and the task of Laborer that would follow would use her strength, keep her healthy, and impose self-discipline.†   (source)
  • It was brief: subject: Basiliscus amoratus with genetic anomaly (forwarded from Dr. Simpson's office) materials: posterior segment, ?†   (source)
  • The world will give you that once in a while, a brief timeout; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life.†   (source)
  • For that brief time, his eyes looked just like hers.†   (source)
  • For a brief time the press made much of Brian and he was interviewed for several networks but the furor died within a few months.†   (source)
  • And before the thunder followed, in a pause while wind and rain held back for one brief moment, she thought she heard, fading in the distance, the tinkling little melody of the music box.†   (source)
  • I stood at the railing, looking over and down, at the slate-coloured waves rolling and rolling, at the ship's white wake scrawling its brief meaningless message.†   (source)
  • The pain was brief and hot and unquestionably real.†   (source)
  • At night we slept with the windows wide open, and in our dreams we could hear singing and laughter and the endless turning of the leaves in the wind and in the morning, when we woke, for one brief moment we could almost forget we had ever been away.†   (source)
  • There's this very brief moment of recognition between us, like I know you.†   (source)
  • But during his brief time as a graduate student, he always kept a respectable distance from his thesis advisor.†   (source)
  • My usual stream of messages, after a brief flood of concerned e-mails from friends, had stopped as well.†   (source)
  • Comrade Propp personally communicated his relief to the Count during a brief meeting on the morning of the event.†   (source)
  • During one of our many trips to Kentucky, Mamaw was trying to merge onto the highway after a brief stop for gas.†   (source)
  • There is the usual nodding of heads, raising of eyes, occasional brief smiles.†   (source)
  • After a brief exchange, he was handed a stamped form and stepped aside to make way for the next in line.†   (source)
  • The map was leading me in directions I hadn't seen in my brief time at the school, through bushes and brush that quickly turned to trees and forests.†   (source)
  • It is because, in the brief moments that I have loved it here, I saw a faction worth saving.†   (source)
  • Life is a peephole, a single tiny entry onto a vastness—how can I not dwell on this brief, cramped view I have of things?†   (source)
  • THE FUNERAL WAS small and brief.†   (source)
  • I heard him patting his pockets for keys, wallet, loose change, followed by a brief burst of laughter.†   (source)
  • The garden looked distressingly poor, even with all the watering I had done and the brief rain.†   (source)
  • Fache set it back in the box and gazed absently out the jet's window at the hangar, pondering his brief conversation with Sophie, as well as the information he'd received from PTS in Château Villette.†   (source)
  • I raced inside to show my mom, and after a brief moment of blinking at them, she withered into a chair.†   (source)
  • He thought back to those brief moments when she'd opened her eyes right after being pulled out of the Box.†   (source)
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