outline, précis. Summary, brief, digest, synopsis are terms for a short version of a longer work. A summary is a brief statement or restatement of main points, especially as a conclusion to a work: a summary of a chapter.A brief is a detailed outline, by heads and subheads, of a discourse (usually legal) to be completed: a brief for an argument.A digest is an abridgement of an article, book, etc., or an organized arrangement of material under heads and titles: a digest of a popular novel; a digest of Roman law.A synopsis is usually a compressed statement of the plot of a novel, play, etc.: a synopsis ofHamlet. 2. short, condensed, compact, succinct. 3. curt, terse, peremptory.