nut

[ nuht ]
See synonyms for nut on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a dry fruit consisting of an edible kernel or meat enclosed in a woody or leathery shell.

  2. the kernel itself.

  1. Botany. a hard, indehiscent, one-seeded fruit, as the chestnut or the acorn.

  2. any of various devices or ornaments resembling a nut.

  3. a block, usually of metal and generally square or hexagonal, perforated with a threaded hole so that it can be screwed down on a bolt to hold together objects through which the bolt passes.

  4. Slang. the head.

  5. Slang.

    • a person who is very enthusiastic about something; buff; enthusiast; devotee: He's a real circus nut.

    • an extremely concerned or zealous person: My boss is a nut on double-checking everything.

  6. Slang.

    • a foolish, silly, or eccentric person.

    • an insane person; psychotic.

  7. Slang: Vulgar. a testis.

  8. Informal.

    • the operating expenses, usually figured weekly, of a theatrical production or other commercial enterprise; a break-even point.

    • the total cost of producing a theatrical production or of forming and opening any new business venture.

  9. Music. (in instruments of the violin family)

    • the ledge, as of ebony, at the upper end of the fingerboard, over which the strings pass.

    • the movable piece at the lower end of the bow, by means of which the hairs may be slackened or tightened.

  10. Printing. en (def. 2).

verb (used without object),nut·ted, nut·ting.
  1. to seek for or gather nuts: to go nutting in late autumn.

Idioms about nut

  1. from soup to nuts. soup (def. 7).

  2. hard nut to crack, : Also tough nut to crack .

    • a problem difficult to solve; a formidable undertaking.

    • a person difficult to know, understand, or convince.

  1. off one's nut, Slang.

    • Sometimes Offensive. foolish, silly, or insane.

    • confused; unreasonable.

    • mistaken or wrong: You're off your nut if you think such a plan can succeed.

Origin of nut

1
before 900; 1900–05 for def. 8b; Middle English nute,Old English hnutu; cognate with Dutch noot,German Nuss,Old Norse hnot; akin to Latin nux

Other words from nut

  • nutlike, adjective

Other definitions for Nut (2 of 3)

Nut
[ noot ]

nounEgyptian Religion.
  1. the goddess of the sky, sometimes shown as a cow bearing Ra on her back and the stars on her underside.

Other definitions for N.U.T. (3 of 3)

N.U.T.

abbreviationBritish.
  1. National Union of Teachers.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use nut in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for nut (1 of 2)

nut

/ (nʌt) /


noun
  1. a dry one-seeded indehiscent fruit that usually possesses a woody wall

  2. (not in technical use) any similar fruit, such as the walnut, having a hard shell and an edible kernel

  1. the edible kernel of such a fruit

  2. slang

    • an eccentric person

    • a person who is mentally disturbed

  3. a slang word for head (def. 1)

  4. do one's nut British slang to be extremely angry; go into a rage

  5. off one's nut slang mad, crazy, or foolish

  6. a person or thing that presents difficulties (esp in the phrase a tough or hard nut to crack)

  7. a small square or hexagonal block, usu. metal, with a threaded hole through the middle for screwing on the end of a bolt

  8. mountaineering a variously shaped small metal block, usually a wedge or hexagonal prism (originally an ordinary engineer's nut) with a wire or rope loop attached, for jamming into a crack to provide security: Also called: chock

  9. Also called (US and Canadian): frog music

    • the ledge or ridge at the upper end of the fingerboard of a violin, cello, etc, over which the strings pass to the tuning pegs

    • the end of a violin bow that is held by the player

  10. printing another word for en

  11. a small usually gingery biscuit

  12. British a small piece of coal

verbnuts, nutting or nutted
  1. (intr) to gather nuts

  2. (tr) slang to butt (someone) with the head

Origin of nut

1
Old English hnutu; related to Old Norse hnot, Old High German hnuz (German Nuss)

Derived forms of nut

  • nutlike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for NUT (2 of 2)

NUT

abbreviation for(in Britain)
  1. National Union of Teachers

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for nut

nut

[ nŭt ]


  1. A dry, indehiscent simple fruit consisting of one seed surrounded by a hard and thick pericarp (fruit wall). The seed does not adhere to the pericarp but is connected to it by the funiculus. A nut is similar to an achene but larger. Acorns, beechnuts, chestnuts, and hazelnuts are true nuts. Informally, other edible seeds or dry fruits enclosed in a hard or leathery shell are also called nuts, though they are not true nuts. For instance, an almond kernel is actually the seed of a drupe. Its familiar whitish shell is an endocarp found within the greenish fruit of the almond tree. Peanuts are actually individual seeds from a seed pod called a legume.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with nut

nut

In addition to the idioms beginning with nuts

  • nuts about, be
  • nuts and bolts, the

also see:

  • drive someone crazy (nuts)
  • from soup to nuts
  • hard nut to crack

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.