nitty-gritty
Use Nitty-gritty in a sentence
iˈgrɪt noun
1.
the essential substance or details of a matter; basics; crux: Let's skip the chitchat and get down to the nitty-gritty.
adjective
2.
fundamental, detailed, or probing: nitty-gritty questions.
3.
direct and practical: nitty-gritty advice; a nitty-gritty system.
Origin:
1960–65, Americanism; rhyming compound of uncertain origin
1960–65, Americanism; rhyming compound of uncertain origin
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To nitty-gritty
Collins
World English Dictionary
nitty-gritty (ˈnɪtɪˈɡrɪtɪ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| informal the nitty-gritty the basic facts of a matter, situation, etc; the core | |
| [C20: perhaps rhyming compound formed from | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Nitty-gritty
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
nitty-gritty
"basic facts," 1961, knitty-gritty, Amer.Eng., said to have been chiefly used by black jazz musicians, perhaps ult. from nit and grits "finely ground corn."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
nitty-gritty definition[ˈnɪdi ˈgrɪdi]
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Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences
Twice have drowned, thrice let knives rake my nitty-gritty.
It's time for a second report on the nitty-gritty of my frugal budget.
And he needs to abandon the rhetorical high ground for the nitty-gritty of policy.
His algorithms are good at the nitty-gritty of generating completely novel protein sequences for a particular purpose.
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