Nuts


[nuhts] /nʌts/ Slang.

interjection
1.
Also, nerts, nertz. (used to express disgust, defiance, disapproval, despair).
adjective
2.
insane; crazy.
Idioms
3.
be nuts about,

[nuht] /nʌt/
noun
1.
a dry fruit consisting of an edible kernel or meat enclosed in a woody or leathery shell.
2.
the kernel itself.
3.
Botany. a hard, indehiscent, one-seeded fruit, as the chestnut or the acorn.
4.
any of various devices or ornaments resembling a nut.
5.
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.
6.
Slang. the head.
7.
Slang.

8.
Slang.

9.
Slang: Vulgar. a testis.
10.
Informal.

11.
Music.

12.
Printing. (def 2).
verb (used without object), nutted, nutting.
13.
to seek for or gather nuts:
to go nutting in late autumn.
Idioms
14.
from soup to nuts. (def 7).
15.
hard nut to crack,

Also, tough nut to crack.
16.
off one’s nut, Slang.

[noot] /nut/
noun, Egyptian Religion.
1.
the goddess of the sky, sometimes shown as a cow bearing Ra on her back and the stars on her underside.
/nʌts/
adjective
1.
a slang word for insane
2.
(slang) foll by about or on. extremely fond (of) or enthusiastic (about)
interjection
3.
(slang) an expression of disappointment, contempt, refusal, or defiance
plural noun
4.
a slang word for testicles See testicle
/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
3.
the edible kernel of such a fruit
4.
(slang)

5.
a slang word for head (sense 1)
6.
(Brit, slang) do one’s nut, to be extremely angry; go into a rage
7.
(slang) off one’s nut, mad, crazy, or foolish
8.
a person or thing that presents difficulties (esp in the phrase a tough or hard nut to crack)
9.
a small square or hexagonal block, usu. metal, with a threaded hole through the middle for screwing on the end of a bolt
10.
(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
11.
(music) Also called (US and Canadian) frog

12.
(printing) another word for en
13.
a small usually gingery biscuit
14.
(Brit) a small piece of coal
verb nuts, nutting, nutted
15.
(intransitive) to gather nuts
16.
(transitive) (slang) to butt (someone) with the head
abbreviation (in Britain)
1.
National Union of Teachers
adj.

“crazy,” 1846, from earlier be nutts upon “be very fond of” (1785), which is possibly from nuts (plural noun) “any source of pleasure” (1610s), from nut (q.v.). Sense influenced probably by metaphoric application of nut to “head” (1846, e.g. to be off one’s nut “be insane,” 1860). Nuts as a derisive retort is attested from 1931.

Connection with the slang “testicle” sense has tended to nudge it toward taboo. “On the N.B.C. network, it is forbidden to call any character a nut; you have to call him a screwball.” [“New Yorker,” Dec. 23, 1950] “Please eliminate the expression ‘nuts to you’ from Egbert’s speech.” [Request from the Hays Office regarding the script of “The Bank Dick,” 1940] This desire for avoidance accounts for the euphemism nerts (c.1925).
n.

“hard seed,” Old English hnutu, from Proto-Germanic *khnut- (cf. Old Norse hnot, Dutch noot, Old High German hnuz, German nuß “nut”), from PIE *kneu- “nut” (cf. Latin nux; see nucleus). Sense of “testicle” is attested from 1915. Nut-brown is from c.1300 of animals; c.1500 of complexions of women.

Meaning “crazy person, crank” is attested from 1903, (British form nutter first attested 1958; nut-case is from 1959); see nuts. American English slang sense of “amount of money required for something” is first recorded 1912. The nut that goes onto a bolt is first recorded 1610s (used of other small mechanical pieces since early 15c.). Nuts and bolts “fundamentals” is from 1960.
nut
(nŭt)
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.

adjective

Crazy; very eccentric; bughouse, meshuga: Are you nuts to turn your back on a deal that could mean life or death?/ Heir Rejected 400G, Is He Nuts? ( first form 1914+, second 1932+)

interjection

An exclamation of disbelief, defiance, contempt, dismay, etc: General McAuliffe replied ”Nuts!” to the Germans at Bastogne (1931+)

noun

Related Terms

bust one’s ass, the cat’s meow, get one’s nuts, hot rocks, numb-nuts

noun phrase

The very best; the GREATEST: eulogizing anything as ”the nuts”

Related Terms

the cat’s meow

[first form 1932+, second 1934+; probably a shortening of the cat’s nuts]

noun

Related Terms

gripe one’s ass, off one’s nut, tough nut, a tough nut to crack

[insanity sense probably fr late 1800s off one’s nut, that is, head; senses 4, 5, and 6 fr the custom of taking the retaining nut from the wheel of a circus wagon, to be returned when all bills were paid]

were among the presents Jacob sent into Egypt for the purpose of conciliating Joseph (Gen. 43:11). This was the fruit of the pistachio tree, which resembles the sumac. It is of the size of an olive. In Cant. 6:11 a different Hebrew word (‘egoz), which means “walnuts,” is used.

In addition to the idioms beginning with nut
,

Read Also:

  • Nuts about

    adjective phrase (Variations: nutty may replace nuts) Very enthusiastic about; devoted to; crazy about: I think I’m nuts about you/ I’d be simply nutty about the quadrangles at Oxford [1918+; fr British slang nutty, ”piquant, fascinating,” fr earlier sense ”rich, tasty, desirable, like the kernel of a delicious nut,” altered in slang to nuts and […]

  • Nuts-and-bolts

    noun 1. the essential or basic aspects: to learn the nuts and bolts of a new job. plural noun 1. (informal) the essential or practical details modifier : Berger’s nuts-and-bolts discussion of film-TV music noun phrase The fundamentals; the practical basics: the nuts and bolts of wildland preservation/ men who are dealing with the nuts […]

  • Nut-sedge

    noun 1. .

  • Nutshell

    [nuht-shel] /ˈnʌtˌʃɛl/ noun 1. the shell of a nut. Idioms 2. in a nutshell, in very brief form; in a few words: Just tell me the story in a nutshell. /ˈnʌtˌʃɛl/ noun 1. the shell around the kernel of a nut 2. in a nutshell, in essence; briefly n. c.1200, nute-scalen; see nut + shell […]

  • Nutso

    /ˈnʌtsəʊ/ adjective 1. (informal, mainly US) insane adjective Crazy; nutty: I have to keep up with 29 (mostly nutso) ballot initiatives/ drove each other nutsy with crashing self-confidence (first form 1975+, second 1923+)


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