# in a nutshell

Pronunciation: US/UK say "in uh NUT-shel" /ɪn ə ˈnʌtʃɛl/; AUS say "in-uh-NUT-shel"

## Idiom

1. Expressed in summary, using only a few words to convey the main point of something larger.
   - Simple: Said in only a few words, giving just the main idea.
   - _In a nutshell, the merger failed because neither side trusted the other._
   - _He summarized the lengthy report in a nutshell for the busy executives._

## Origin

This is a calque of New Latin in nuce, which comes from an anecdote in Pliny the Elder (Naturalis Historia 7.21.85). Pliny credits Cicero with the claim that the entire Iliad was once written on parchment small enough to be enclosed within a nutshell.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/in-a-nutshell (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).