Crossword Genius

How one might describe letters briefly (2,1,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

in a word

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'briefly' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

I don't understand the rest of the clue.

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(Other definitions for in a word that I've seen before include "Where a number of characters may be found" , "To summarise (the shortest way possible!)" , "Briefly - won raid (anag)" , "To summarize" , "To sum up" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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