If you leave space before the definition (as in the example above), the text of the definition will be treated as a paragraph. In some output formats, this will mean greater spacing between term/definition pairs. For a more compact definition list, omit the space before the definition
......

Term 1
  ~ Definition 1

Term 2
  ~ Definition 2a
  ~ Definition 2b

......

<dl data-sourcepos="1:1-6:17">
<dt data-sourcepos="1:1-1:6">Term 1</dt>
<dd data-sourcepos="2:5-3:0">Definition 1</dd>
<dt data-sourcepos="4:1-4:6">Term 2</dt>
<dd data-sourcepos="4:1-5:17">Definition 2a</dd>
<dd data-sourcepos="6:5-6:17">Definition 2b</dd>
</dl>