in a nutshell
- 1Said in only a few words, giving just the main idea.
Like packing only the things that matter into one small box.
In a nutshell, we ran out of money and had to stop.
She explained her whole plan in a nutshell.
Similarbriefly, basically, essentially, succinctly, concisely
Note
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Origin
A translation of New Latin in nuce, from a story told by Pliny the Elder that the whole Iliad was once written small enough to fit inside a nutshell.