brief vs clout

brief

noun
  • A position of interest or advocacy. 

  • An answer to any action. 

  • A writ summoning one to answer; an official letter or mandate. 

  • An attorney's legal argument in written form for submission to a court. 

  • A short news story or report. 

  • A memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case. 

  • The material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who is counsel for the case. 

  • A ticket of any type. 

  • A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose. 

  • A barrister who is counsel for a party in a legal action. 

  • underwear briefs. 

verb
  • To summarize a recent development to some person with decision-making power. 

  • To write a legal argument and submit it to a court. 

adj
  • Of short duration; happening quickly. 

  • Concise; taking few words. 

  • Occupying a small distance, area or spatial extent; short. 

clout

noun
  • Influence or effectiveness, especially political. 

  • A clout nail. 

  • The center of the butt at which archers shoot; probably once a piece of white cloth or a nail head. 

  • A home run. 

  • A blow with the hand. 

verb
  • To cover with cloth, leather, or other material; to bandage, patch, or mend with a clout. 

  • To stud with nails, as a timber, or a boot sole. 

  • To guard with an iron plate, as an axletree. 

  • To hit, especially with the fist. 

  • To join or patch clumsily. 

How often have the words brief and clout occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )