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"briefly" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often awhile (6 letters).
Definitions
For a short time or in few words.
Word origin
From Middle English breefly, breffly, brevely, brevelike, breveliche, equivalent to brief + -ly.
Used in a sentence
“He covered the subject briefly in his book.”
“He only worked here briefly.”
“Instead, ddakji was played for dramatic effect earlier in the season — pitting two men who had forged a sweet bond against each other, making one of them briefly believe he’d been eliminated by his friend.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer2 curated clues
01“For a short while”7 letters
02“For a short time”7 letters
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