Etymology From Middle English note, nute, from Old English hnutu, from Proto-West Germanic *hnut, from Proto-Germanic *hnuts (“nut”), from a root *knu- possibly shared with Proto-Celtic *knūs and Latin nux (“nut”). Based on the form of the nouns and the restriction of the root to Germanic, Celtic and Italic, it has been argued to be of non-Indo-European (substrate) origin. See also West Frisian nút, Dutch noot, German Nuss, Danish nød, Swedish nöt, Norwegian nøtt.
Food, LifestyleBroadly Any of various hard-shelled seeds or hard, dry fruits from various families of plants.
There are many sorts of nuts: peanuts, cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts and more.
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Biology, Botany, Food, Lifestyle, Natural sciencesBroadly Such a fruit that is indehiscent.
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A piece of hardware, typically metal and typically hexagonal or square in shape, with a hole through it having internal screw threads, intended to be screwed onto a threaded bolt or other threaded shaft.
As the bolt tightens into the nut, it pulls the tenon on the side rail into the mortise in the bedpost and locks them together. There are also some European beds that reverse the bolt and nut by setting the nut into the bedpost with the bolt inserted into a slotted area in the side of the rail.1998, Brian Hingley, Furniture Repair & Refinishing, page 95:
Off one's nut—crazy; mad. S. Nut is a slang term for the head.1891, James Main Dixon, Dictionary of Idiomatic English Phrases, page 226:
Let the Cream get firmly in her nut the idea that Sir Roderick Glossop was not the butler, the whole butler and nothing but the butler, and disaster, as I saw it, loomed.1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter V:
Which one of you nuts has got any guts?1975, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (motion picture), spoken by McMurphy (Jack Nicholson):
‘You are not going to be what they call a Nut, are you?’ she inquired with some anxiety, partly with the idea that a Nut would be an extravagance which her sister's small household would scarcely be justified in incurring ….1914, "Saki", ‘The Dreamer’, Beasts and Superbeasts, Penguin 2000 (Complete Short Stories), p. 323
› Senses related to male genitalia.
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Anatomy, Medicine, SciencesArchaic The glans (structure at the extremity of the penis or of the clitoris).
[...] The Tentigo, head or Nut of the Clitoris, covered by the Nymphes, as by a foreskin and the impaſſable paſſage of it [...]1665, Dr. Chamberlain's Midwifes Practice, page 54:
GLANS, in anatomy, the anterior extremity of the penis, called by other different names, as the head of the penis, the nut of the penis, and the balanus of the penis.1763, A New and Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences:
2 more examples
In persons troubled with tight foreskins, the matter from the urethra becomes collected between the foreskin and the nut of the penis.1864, Edward Cox, Cox's Companion to the Sea Medicine Chest:
In this work the great Italian anatomist described a linen sheath which he claimed to have invented. Made to fit the glans, or nut of the penis, it was worn for protection against venereal disease.1965, Peter Fryer, The Birth Controllers, page 23:
As loudmouthed lovermen, these Lil Jon-endorsed ATLiens denigrate women from the window to the wall, generously offering to "make nut come out your nose."2005 July, “Breakdown”, in Spin, page 104:
He just needs a good nut to make himself feel better.
[…] feelin' her pussy grippin' his dick as her nut lubricated him […]2020, Dontavious Robinson, Gangster Mission Part One, Page Publishing, Inc, →ISBN:
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US, Slang Monthly expense to keep a venture running.
$8,000 a month? I had no idea my nut was that big.2025 August 6, “Got a Nut”, in South Park, season 27, episode 2, spoken by Mr. Mackey:
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US, Slang The amount of money necessary to set up some venture; set-up costs.
My attorney was waiting in a bar around the corner. “This won't make the nut,” he said, “unless we have unlimited credit.”1971, Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Harper Perennial, published 2005, page 11:
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US, Slang A stash of money owned by an extremely rich investor, sufficient to sustain a high level of consumption if all other money is lost.
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Arts, Crafts, Entertainment, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Lutherie, Music 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.
Climbing, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports 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.)
When placing nuts, always look for constrictions within the crack, behind which the nut can be wedged.2005, Tony Lourens, Guide to climbing, page 88:
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Card games, Poker The best possible hand of a certain type. Compare nuts (“the best possible hand available”).
Etymology From Middle English note, nute, from Old English hnutu, from Proto-West Germanic *hnut, from Proto-Germanic *hnuts (“nut”), from a root *knu- possibly shared with Proto-Celtic *knūs and Latin nux (“nut”). Based on the form of the nouns and the restriction of the root to Germanic, Celtic and Italic, it has been argued to be of non-Indo-European (substrate) origin. See also West Frisian nút, Dutch noot, German Nuss, Danish nød, Swedish nöt, Norwegian nøtt.
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In the form "nutting" To gather nuts.
I will no more a-nutting go ; That journey caused all this woe.1575, John Stephen Farmer, editor, Five anonymous plays, Early English Dramatists, volume Fourth Series, London: William How for Richard Ihones, page 171:
[…] the huge country fellow […] leapt forth from the underwood, exclaiming "That is not allowed, gentlemen! That is not allowed! Nobody is allowed to nut here; I must take your names to Sir John!"1847, Howitt's Journal of Literature and Popular Progress:
1 more example
We are going a-nutting.1978, Edwin Way Teale, A walk through the year, Dodd, Mead, →ISBN, page 238:
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UK, Slang To hit deliberately with the head; to headbutt.
One night, we were fumbling each other out by the toilets when a Rocker in full leathers came out of the Gents and, without breaking stride or saying a word, nutted me square between the eyes. I went down as though shot...1999, Nik Cohn, Yes we have no: adventures in the other England:
The minutes ticked by - nine, eight, seven. The screens behind both goals flashed up images of Scotland fans and their 1000-yard stares. Six minutes to play and Frantzdy Pierrot rises above Grant Hanley and nuts one just wide.2026 June 14, Tom English, “Why Haiti v Scotland was antidote to the ills of world football”, in BBC Sport:
I got a bitch that suck my dick 'til I nut1996, “Bust a Nut”, performed by Uncle Luke featuring The Notorious B.I.G.:
Isis rode my mug like she was on a ten-inch dick, and as soon as she nutted I tossed her ass off a me and flipped her on her back, then fucked the shit outta her cause it was payback time.2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 152:
Did you like them boys? I goes. Nut. She shook her hair. Neither? Nut. Right townies.1995, Alan Warner, Morvern Callar, Vintage, published 2015, page 26: