nutshell

CEFRB1

/ˈnʌt.ʃɛl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The hard outer covering of a nut.

  2. 02

    noun

    A very brief summary.

Examples

  • I don't really like him, in a nutshell, I think he is an idiot.

  • The universe in a nutshell: I am consciousness.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A short book summarizing an area of law.

  2. A small boat; a boat considered small in comparison to the seas.

  3. The shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut.

More examples

In context

  • "So, that's what happened to Tom's squirrel?" "Yes, in a nutshell."

  • 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.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

He crushed the hard blank of the walnut with a nutcracker to get the kernel.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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”).