nutshell en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈnʌt.ʃɛl/
- (US) audio
Etymology
From Middle English notschelle, from Old English hnutsċiell, from Proto-West Germanic *hnutskallju, equivalent to nut + shell. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Nuteskele, Nuteskil (“nutshell”), Dutch notenschaal (“nutshell”), German Nussschale (“nutshell”).
Meanings
-
The shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut.
For men be now tratlers and tellers of tales; What tidings at Totnam, what newis in Wales, What ſhippis are ſailing to Scalis Malis? And all is not worth a couple of nut ſhalis.
c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.
- A short book summarizing an area of law.
-
A small boat; a boat considered small in comparison to the seas.
[A]t last the fishing-line stood straight out behind, and the stone weights jumped along the tops of the billows, while the seas - notwithstanding the guiding hand of the pilot sought to avoid them - broke over our little nutshell, and sent the spray high above mast and sail.
1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 182:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| nutshells | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
cashew nutshell liquid · in a nutshell
Translations (24)
sv nötskal (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · la naucum (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · es cáscara de nuez (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · ja 木の実の殻 (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · da nøddeskal (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · de Nussschale (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · id kulit kacang (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · uk шкаралупа горіха (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · ga blaosc cnó (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · cy plisg (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · ang hnutsċiell (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · it guscio di noce (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · gl casca de noz (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · nl notendop (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · fr coque (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · ru оре́ховая скорлупа́ (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · fr coquille (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · pt casca de noz (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · cmn 堅果殼 /坚果壳 (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · ca closca de nou (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · cy masgl (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · nb nøtteskall (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · fi pähkinänkuori (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut) · hu dióhéj (the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut)