nutshell
Americannoun
idioms
noun
-
the shell around the kernel of a nut
-
in essence; briefly
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
Exhilarating, high octane, entertaining - this was the modern brand of rugby which made the Six Nations so captivating in an 80-minute nutshell.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
As the Great Leader explained it: Establishing juche means, in a nutshell, being the master of revolution and reconstruction in one’s own country.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
