nutshell

[ nuht-shel ]
/ ˈnʌtˌʃɛl /

noun

the shell of a nut.

Idioms for nutshell

    in a nutshell, in very brief form; in a few words: Just tell me the story in a nutshell.

Origin of nutshell

1175–1225; Middle English nutescell; see nut, shell

British Dictionary definitions for in a nutshell

nutshell
/ (ˈnʌtˌʃɛl) /

noun

the shell around the kernel of a nut
in a nutshell in essence; briefly

Idioms and Phrases with in a nutshell (1 of 2)

in a nutshell

Concisely, in a few words, as in Here's our proposal—in a nutshell, we want to sell the business to you. This hyperbolic expression alludes to the Roman writer Pliny's description of Homer's Iliad being copied in so tiny a hand that it could fit in a nutshell. For a time it referred to anything compressed, but from the 1500s on it referred mainly to written or spoken words.

Idioms and Phrases with in a nutshell (2 of 2)

nutshell

see in a nutshell.