in a nutshell en · ADV
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Calque of New Latin in nuce, derived from an anecdote in Pliny the Elder, who ascribes to Cicero the claim that the whole Iliad was once written on parchment and enclosed within a nutshell (Naturalis Historia 7.21.85). Compare typologically Czech stručný, stručně (< struk).
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) In summary; briefly or simply.
He had a lot to say, but his answer, in a nutshell, was no.
Sadio Mané wasted a glorious chance in the first half and, late on, Mohamed Salah turned his shot against a post after a goal-line clearance had spun his way. That, in a nutshell, perhaps sums up the difference between Messi and the players on the next rung below – the ones who can be described as great footballers without necessarily being football greats.
2019 May 1, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian:The yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut.
1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I:
Synonyms
in short · at the end of the day
Translations (54)
eo unuvorte (in summary) · es en resumidas cuentas (in summary) · ga go hachomair (in summary) · it in breve (in summary) · ru вкра́тце (in summary) · hi संक्षेप में (in summary) · el με λίγα λόγια (in summary) · cmn 概括地說 /概括地说 (in summary) · id singkat kata (in summary) · el λακωνικά (in summary) · es en pocas palabras (in summary) · ga i mbeagán focal (in summary) · ru кра́тко (in summary) · es en resumen (in summary) · de mit einem Worte (in summary) · ka მოკლედ (in summary) · th โดยย่อ (in summary) · ja 要するに (in summary) · nl in een notendop (in summary) · fr en un mot (in summary) · de kurzgesagt (in summary) · de in einer Nussschale (in summary) · el περιληπτικά (in summary) · id ringkasnya (in summary) · fr en bref (in summary) · hu dióhéjban (in summary) · nb i et nøtteskall (in summary) · cs stručně (in summary) · ja つまりは (in summary) · mi koia pū (in summary) · fr en résumé (in summary) · la in nuce (in summary) · is í hnotskurn (in summary) · fi lyhyesti sanottuna (in summary) · id singkatnya (in summary) · ca en resum (in summary) · nn i eit nøtteskal (in summary) · sv kort sagt (in summary) · sv i ett nötskal (in summary) · el εν συντομία (in summary) · vi tóm lại (in summary) · fi sanalla sanottuna (in summary) · da i en nøddeskal (in summary) · cs v kostce (in summary) · pl w pigułce (in summary) · it in sostanza (in summary) · it in poche parole (in summary) · pt em poucas palavras (in summary) · es dicho rápido y mal (in summary) · ru коро́че говоря́ (in summary) · cmn 總而言之 /总而言之 (in summary) · ru в двух слова́х (in summary) · ru одни́м сло́вом (in summary) · fi pähkinänkuoressa (in summary)
wikipedia: Cicero · wikipedia: Pliny the Elder · wikipedia: Iliad · wikipedia: Naturalis Historia