nut

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

nut, n. [OE. nute, note, AS. hnutu; akin to D. noot, G. nuss, OHG. nuz, Icel. hnot, Sw. nöt, Dan. nöd.].

•  The fruit of certain trees and shrubs (as of the almond, walnut, hickory, beech, filbert, etc.), consisting of a hard and indehiscent shell inclosing a kernel.  [1913 Webster]
•  A perforated block (usually a small piece of metal), provided with an internal or female screw thread, used on a bolt, or screw, for tightening or holding something, or for transmitting motion. See Illust. of 1st Bolt.  [1913 Webster]
•  The tumbler of a gunlock.  Knight.  [1913 Webster]
•  A projection on each side of the shank of an anchor, to secure the stock in place.  [1913 Webster]
•  Testicles.  [PJC]

Check nut, Jam nut, Lock nut, a nut which is screwed up tightly against another nut on the same bolt or screw, in order to prevent accidental unscrewing of the first nut. -- Nut buoy. See under Buoy. -- Nut coal, screened coal of a size smaller than stove coal and larger than pea coal; -- called also chestnut coal. -- Nut crab (Zoöl.), any leucosoid crab of the genus Ebalia as, Ebalia tuberosa of Europe. -- Nut grass (Bot.), See nut grass in the vocabulary. -- Nut lock, a device, as a metal plate bent up at the corners, to prevent a nut from becoming unscrewed, as by jarring.<-- = lock nut --> -- Nut pine. (Bot.) See under Pine. -- Nut rush (Bot.), a genus of cyperaceous plants (Scleria) having a hard bony achene. Several species are found in the United States and many more in tropical regions. -- Nut tree, a tree that bears nuts. -- Nut weevil (Zoöl.), any species of weevils of the genus Balaninus and other allied genera, which in the larval state live in nuts.

nut, v. i. 

 To gather nuts.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

nut, abbr. (in the UK) National Union of Teachers.

nut, n. & v.
--n.
1 a a fruit consisting of a hard or tough shell around an edible kernel. b this kernel.
2 a pod containing hard seeds.
3 a small usu. square or hexagonal flat piece of metal or other material with a threaded hole through it for screwing on the end of a bolt to secure it.
4 sl. a person's head.
5 sl. a a crazy or eccentric person. b an obsessive enthusiast or devotee (a health-food nut).
6 a small lump of coal, butter, etc.
7 a a device fitted to the bow of a violin for adjusting its tension. b the fixed ridge on the neck of a stringed instrument over which the strings pass.
8 (in pl.) coarse sl. the testicles.
--v.intr. (nutted, nutting) seek or gather nuts (go nutting).

Idiom

do one's nut sl. be extremely angry or agitated. for nuts colloq. even tolerably well (cannot sing for nuts). nut cutlet a cutlet-shaped portion of meat-substitute, made from nuts etc. nut-house sl. a mental home or hospital. nut-oil an oil obtained from hazelnuts and walnuts and used in paints and varnishes. nuts and bolts colloq. the practical details. nut-tree any tree bearing nuts, esp. a hazel. off one's nut sl. crazy.

Derivative

nutlike adj.

Etymology

OE hnutu f. Gmc

THESAURUS

nut

Brazil nut, English walnut, Macadamia nut, acorn, addict, aficionado, alien, aliene, almond, almond paste, amande, amande douce, amandes mondees, amateur, authority, bean, bedlamite, beechnut, ben nut, berry, betel nut, bigot, bird seed, bitter almond, black walnut, blanched almonds, bonduc nut, borderline case, bring in, buff, bug, burnt almond, butternut, candlenut, case, cashew, cashew nut, character, chestnut, chinquapin, cobnut, coconut, collector, conk, connoisseur, corozo nut, crackbrain, crackpot, crank, critic, crop, crop herbs, cuckoo, cumara nut, cut, dement, demon, demoniac, devotee, dig, dika nut, dilettante, ding-a-ling, dome, eager beaver, eccentric, energumen, enthusiast, erratic, expert, faddist, fan, fanatic, fanatico, fiend, flake, flaxseed, fou, freak, fruit, gather, gather in, glean, goober, goober pea, grabble, grain, great one for, ground-pea, groundnut, harebrain, harvest, hay, hayseed, head, hermit, hickory nut, hobbyist, hobo, horse chestnut, hound, idiot, infatuate, issue, kernel, kola, kola nut, kook, linseed, litchi nut, lone wolf, loner, loon, loony, lunatic, lunatic fringe, madman, maniac, maverick, meat, meshuggenah, monomaniac, mow, natural, nigger toe, noddle, noggin, noisette, noix, non compos, noncompos, nonconformist, noodle, odd fellow, oddball, oddity, original, outsider, palm nut, pariah, peanut, peanut butter, pecan, phrenetic, pick, pine nut, pip, pistachio, pit, pluck, poll, pundit, pursuer, queer duck, queer fish, queer specimen, question, rara avis, raving lunatic, reap, reap and carry, recluse, rhapsodist, salted peanuts, sassafras nut, savant, scholar, screwball, seed, solitary, souari nut, specialist, stone, strange duck, sucker for, sweet almond, technical expert, technician, tramp, type, visionary, walnut, weirdo, zealot