Macros in MS-EXCEL may be best described as follows

Concept

A macro is a saved sequence of recorded actions or written instructions (in Excel, VBA code) that the application stores and can replay on demand. Its purpose is automation: capture a repetitive task once, then re-run the whole sequence with a single trigger such as a button or a keyboard shortcut.

Application

In MS-Excel, a macro is created either by the Macro Recorder (which records the steps you perform and converts them into VBA) or by writing a small VBA program directly. The stored macro can then be invoked repeatedly, commonly through an assigned shortcut key, so the same set of operations runs identically every time.

Best description: recording instructions, or building a small program, that is replayed repeatedly through a shortcut key. This combines both the way a macro is made (recorded actions / small program) and how it is used (repeated playback via shortcut).

Contrast

• Creating graphics shortcut keys: this is about visual/graphic shortcuts, not about recording and replaying a sequence of actions, so it does not capture what a macro does.

• Small pieces of textual phrases: this describes stored text snippets (closer to AutoText/AutoCorrect), not an automated, replayable instruction set.

• Playing pieces of text through shortcuts: again limited to inserting text, missing the core idea of recording and re-running a whole sequence of operations.