# nut

Pronunciation: say "NUT" /nʌt/

## Noun

1. A hard-shelled seed or dry fruit with an edible kernel, produced by many kinds of plant; in botany, strictly a hard, dry fruit that does not split open to release its single seed.
   - Simple: A seed or fruit with a hard shell and a part inside you can often eat.
   - _She cracked the nut open and ate the kernel inside._
   - _A bowl of mixed nuts sat on the table beside the cheese._
2. A piece of hardware, usually metal and hexagonal or square, with an internally threaded hole that screws onto a matching bolt or shaft.
   - Simple: A small metal block with a threaded hole that screws onto a bolt to hold things together.
   - _She fastened a nut onto the threaded rod and tightened it firmly._
   - _Each bolt needs a nut to hold the bracket in place._
3. A person regarded as crazy, eccentric, or wildly irrational. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person who acts in a wild or crazy way.
   - _Everyone thought he was a nut for quitting his job to chase storms._
   - _She's a bit of a nut, but her wild ideas often work._
4. A person who is an extreme enthusiast about a particular interest or activity. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A person who really, really loves one thing or hobby.
   - _He's a history nut who can name every president in order._
   - _Being a coffee nut, she roasts her own beans at home._
5. A testicle, especially in coarse or vulgar usage, and frequently used in the plural. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A rude word for a man's testicle, often used in the plural.
   - _A sharp kick caught him square in the nuts._
   - _He joked that he would give his left nut for tickets to the final._
6. On stringed instruments like guitars and violins, the small piece at the top of the fingerboard that holds the strings at the correct spacing and height.
   - Simple: On a guitar or violin, the small part at the top of the neck that holds the strings spaced apart.
   - _The luthier filed the nut to lower the string height near the headstock._
   - _A worn nut can cause tuning problems and string buzz._
7. The head, in informal or slang usage. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A slang word for a person's head.
   - _Ducking into the low attic, he banged his nut on a beam and saw stars for a moment._
   - _Use your nut and figure it out yourself._
9. In vulgar slang, an orgasm or ejaculation, or the semen released. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Rude slang for an orgasm, or the semen that comes out.
   - _He described it as the best nut of his life._
   - _He joked that his perfect lazy Sunday meant sleeping late, eating cold pizza, and busting a nut before lunch._
10. In US business slang, the sum of money needed to start a venture or keep it running each month; the basic costs that must be covered. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: Slang for the money a business needs to start or to keep running.
   - _The bar's nut ran to thousands of dollars every month._
   - _He took extra bookings just to meet the monthly nut._
13. In poker, the best possible hand of a particular type.
   - Simple: In poker, the best possible hand of one kind, such as the best flush that can be made.
   - _Sitting on the nut flush, he raised only a little so the other players would stay in the hand._
   - _With the nut straight in her hand, she checked quietly and waited for her opponents to bet into her._
14. A shaped metal piece on a wire loop, wedged into a crack in the rock face to protect a climb.
   - Simple: A piece of metal on a wire loop that climbers wedge into a crack in the rock to stay safe.
   - _He wedged a nut into the crack and clipped his rope to it._
   - _The leader placed several nuts along the pitch to protect the climb._

## Verb

8. To reach orgasm, especially to ejaculate. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To reach a sexual climax, or come.
   - _He warned her he was about to nut._
   - _He nutted within a minute and felt embarrassed._
11. To defeat someone thoroughly and decisively. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To beat someone very badly in a game or fight.
   - _The champions nutted every challenger in the tournament._
   - _If we play like that, they'll nut us again._
12. To strike a person in the testicles, usually with a hand, foot, or object. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To hit someone hard in the testicles.
   - _During the pillow fight his little brother happened to nut him with a knee, and he doubled over groaning._
   - _Swinging his plastic bat wildly, the toddler nutted his father, who sank to his knees with both hands over his crotch._
15. To strike someone deliberately with the head. *(slang, UK)*
   - Simple: To hit someone hard with your head on purpose.
   - _The bouncer was furious after a customer nutted him at closing time._
   - _He swore he'd nut the next man to mock his accent._
16. To gather nuts, especially from the ground or from trees.
   - Simple: To go out and collect nuts from trees or the ground.
   - _My grandfather took us nutting along the creek each October, and we came home with our pockets full of hickory nuts._
   - _On cool October afternoons the whole family went nutting along the creek, filling paper sacks with fallen black walnuts._

## Interjection

17. Used to express refusal or denial; an informal way of saying no. *(dialectal, Scotland)*
   - Simple: Used to say no, often in a casual way.
   - _Nut, there's no way I'm lending him the car again._
   - _When they asked if he'd help, he just said, "Nut."_

## Noun

18. The glans: the rounded structure at the tip of the penis or clitoris. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The rounded tip at the end of the penis or clitoris.
19. An extravagantly fashionable young man given to showy, stylish dress. *(dated, Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: A young man who dresses in a very showy, fashionable way.
   - _The young nut strolled down the promenade in a peacock-blue suit._
   - _Society columns mocked the nuts parading their tailored finery at the races._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A cookie or small cake formed into a rounded shape.
- (noun) A reserve of money held by an extremely wealthy investor, large enough to maintain a high standard of living even if all other funds are lost.
- (noun) Among printers, the en: a unit of measurement equal to half the height of the type currently in use.
- (noun) The tumbler of a gunlock: the rotating part linked to the hammer, notched to hold it at half and full cock.
- (noun) A projection on each side of an anchor's shank that holds the stock in place.
- (noun) A nose ring traditionally worn by women in India; another spelling of nuth.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–16, 18–19** — "Nut" comes from Middle English nute or note, from Old English hnutu, going back through Proto-West Germanic and Proto-Germanic *hnuts ("nut"). Its root *knu- may have been shared with Proto-Celtic *knūs and Latin nux ("nut"); because it appears only in Germanic, Celtic, and Italic, some have argued it may come from a non-Indo-European substrate language. Related words include Dutch noot, German Nuss, and Swedish nöt.
**Meaning 17** — The Scottish interjection nut, meaning "no," is a variant of not.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/nut (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).