nut

English

/nʌt/, [nɐt]

noun
Definitions
  • A hard-shelled seed.
  • A piece of metal, usually square or hexagonal in shape, with a hole through it having machined internal threads, intended to be screwed onto a bolt or other threaded shaft.
  • (slang) A crazy person.
  • (slang) The head.
  • (US) Monthly expense to keep a venture running.
  • (US) The amount of money necessary to set up some venture; set-up costs.
  • (US) A stash of money owned by an extremely rich investor, sufficient to sustain a high level of consumption if all other money is lost.
  • (musical instruments) On stringed instruments such as guitars and violins, the small piece at the peghead end of the fingerboard that holds the strings at the proper spacing and, in most cases, the proper height.
  • (typography) En, a unit of measurement equal to half of the height of the type in use.
  • (dated) An extravagantly fashionable young man.
  • (vulgar) A testicle.
  • (vulgar) Semen, ejaculate.
  • (vulgar) Orgasm, ejaculation; especially release of semen
  • (colloquial) An extreme enthusiast.
  • (climbing) A shaped piece of metal, threaded by a wire loop, which is jammed in a crack in the rockface and used to protect a climb. (Originally, machine nuts [sense #2] were used for this purpose.)
  • (poker) The best possible hand of a certain type, for instance: "nut straight", "nut flush", and "nut full house". Compare nuts (t=the best possible hand available).
  • The tumbler of a gunlock.
  • (nautical) A projection on each side of the shank of an anchor, to secure the stock in place.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English nute inherited from Old English hnutu (nut) inherited from Proto-Germanic *hnuts (nut) inherited from Proto-Indo-European *knew- (scrape, scratch, rub).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*knew-

Gloss

scrape, scratch, rub

Concept
Semantic Field

Basic actions and technology

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms