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nutshell

American  
[nuht-shel] / ˈnʌtˌʃɛl /

noun

  1. the shell of a nut.

idioms

  1. in a nutshell, in very brief form; in a few words.

    Just tell me the story in a nutshell.
nutshell British  
/ ˈnʌtˌʃɛl /

noun

  1. the shell around the kernel of a nut

  2. in essence; briefly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
nutshell More Idioms  

  1. see in a nutshell.

Etymology

Origin of nutshell

1175–1225; Middle English nutescell; nut, shell

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.

"It will be Starmerism in a nutshell – an extraordinarily painful route to complete exoneration," they said.

From BBC

Dimon, in a nutshell, told him to stop lying on TV, according to people familiar with the conversation.

From The Wall Street Journal

When asked if it was an epidemic the government was failing to cope with, he responded "in a nutshell, yes".

From BBC

In a nutshell, buy the big software ETF before earnings.

From Barron's

To sum up their misfortune in a nutshell, Bradley was taken off at half-time after a knock for Isak.

From BBC

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.