wingnut

Origin

wing nut

noun
a nut having two flat, widely projecting pieces such that it can be readily tightened with the thumb and forefinger.
Also, wing·nut.
Also called butterfly nut, thumbnut.


Origin:
1895–1900
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Wingnut is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

wingnut
"nut with flared sides for turning with the thumb and forefinger;" so called for its shape. Meaning "weird person" recorded by 1989, probably not from the literal sense but from the secondary sense of nut, influenced perhaps by slang senses of
EXPAND
wing in wing-ding "wild party," originally "fit, spasm" (1937). An earlier, British, sense of wingnut was "person with large, protruding ears" (1986).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

wingnut

(genus Pterocarya), any of about six species of Asian trees of the walnut family (Juglandaceae). They often are 30 m (about 100 feet) tall and bear winged, edible, one-seeded nuts. One species, P. stenoptera, is planted as an ornamental. The wood of some species is used in cabinetmaking.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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