# Nutshell

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{{Short description|Outer shell of a nut}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
[[File:Whole walnut kernel and shell.jpg|right|thumb|A [walnut](/source/walnut) kernel and its shell]]
A '''nutshell''' is the outer shell of a [nut](/source/nut_(fruit)). Most nutshells are inedible and are removed before eating the nut meat inside. It covers and protects the [kernel](/source/seed), which may be edible.

==Usage==
Most nutshells are useful to some extent, depending on the circumstances. [Walnut](/source/Walnut) shells can be used for cleaning and polishing, as a filler in [dynamite](/source/dynamite), and as a paint thickening agent. Shells from [pecans](/source/pecans), [almonds](/source/almonds), [Brazil nuts](/source/Brazil_nuts), [acorn](/source/acorn)s, and most other [nuts](/source/Nut_(fruit)) are useful in [composting](/source/composting).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/soil/msg1113573723935.html|title=Composting Nut shells|work=GardenWeb|access-date=7 November 2010}}</ref> Their high [porosity](/source/porosity) makes them also ideal in the production of [activated carbon](/source/activated_carbon) by [pyrolysis](/source/pyrolysis). Shells can also be used as loose-fill packing material, to protect fragile items in shipping.

==Idiomatic usage== <!-- "Nut graph" links here. -->
The expression "in a nutshell"  (of a story, proof, etc.) means "in [essence](/source/essence)", [metaphor](/source/metaphor)ically alluding to the fact that the essence of the nut – its [edible](/source/Eating) part – is contained inside its shell. The expression further gave rise to the [journalistic](/source/journalism) term ''[nut graph](/source/nut_graph)'', short for ''nutshell paragraph''.

In ''[Hamlet](/source/Hamlet)'' (Act 2, Scene 2) the title character exclaims: "O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a King of infinite space".

[Pliny the Elder](/source/Pliny_the_Elder) mentioned in the encyclopedic [Naturalis historia](/source/Natural_History_(Pliny)) a report by [Cicero](/source/Cicero) saying that a handwritten version of the ''[Iliad](/source/Iliad)'' by [Homer](/source/Homer) would have fit in a nut[shell]: ''"in nuce inclusam Iliadem Homeri carmen in membrana scriptum tradi"''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary}} 
*{{cite web|url=http://www.gardenguides.com/87421-compost-peanut-shells.html|title=How to Compost Peanut Shells|publisher=gardenguides.com}}
*{{Merriam-Webster|Nutshell}}

Category:Plant anatomy
Category:Metaphors referring to plants
Category:Non-timber forest products
*Nutshell

{{botany-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nutshell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutshell) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutshell?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.