nutshell
Americannoun
idioms
noun
-
the shell around the kernel of a nut
-
in essence; briefly
Etymology
Origin of nutshell
Explanation
The hard, protective covering of a nut is called a nutshell. If you hear someone say "in a nutshell," they are most likely summing something up in a few words. It's more common to refer to a nutshell as simply a shell. Most people use the word nutshell figuratively. When you say, "in a nutshell," you mean "to sum it up," or "to condense a large amount of information into one short sentence." For example you might say, "In a nutshell, The Odyssey is the story of a guy who went on a long boat trip."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But this sorry idea is British industrial decline in a nutshell.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
In a nutshell: My son-in-law plays piano and doesn’t make much money.
From MarketWatch • May 4, 2026
The summit "in a nutshell, will be an opportunity to emphasise that Europe's security is a 360-degree challenge", said a senior EU official.
From Barron's • May 4, 2026
And, while you’re there, you’ll see the story of our golden age in a nutshell.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
The infinite threatened to make all motion impossible, while the void threatened to smash the nutshell universe into a thousand flinders.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
