nut

 
Pronunciation: /nʌt/

noun

  • 1a fruit consisting of a hard or tough shell around an edible kernel: he was cracking nuts with his teeth
  • the hard kernel of a nut: savoury snacks like crisps and nuts
  • (usually nuts) a small lump of something hard or solid, especially coal.
  • 2a small flat piece of metal or other material, typically square or hexagonal, with a threaded hole through it for screwing on to a bolt as a fastener: fix the new pipe and tighten the nuts the final wheel nut was tightened
  • the part at the lower end of the bow of a violin or similar instrument, with a screw for adjusting the tension of the hair.
  • 3 informal a crazy or eccentric person: she would have written me off as a time-wasting nut
  • [with adjective or noun modifier] a person who is excessively interested in or enthusiastic about a specified thing: a football nut
  • 4 informal a person’s head: he’s aiming to break a record by balancing a car on his nut
  • 5 (nuts) vulgar slang a man’s testicles.
  • 6the fixed ridge on the neck of a stringed instrument over which the strings pass: the positioning allows the strings a straight path over the nut

verb (nuts, nutting, nutted)

  • 1 [with object] British informal butt (someone) with one’s head: I thought he was going to nut me in the face
  • 2 [no object] (usually as noun nutting) archaic gather nuts.

Phrases

do one's nut

British informal become extremely angry or agitated: I hope my mum hasn’t heard about this, or she’ll be doing her nut

nuts and bolts

informal the basic practical details: the nuts and bolts of making a movie

off one's nut

informal out of one’s mind; crazy.

a tough (or hard) nut

informal someone who is difficult to deal with; a formidable person.

a tough (or hard) nut to crack

informal a difficult problem or an opponent that is hard to beat.

use (or take) a sledgehammer to crack a nut

informal use disproportionately drastic measures to deal with a simple problem.

Derivatives

nut-like

adjective

Origin:

Old English hnutu, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch noot and German Nuss