Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Nut?

\Nut\, n. [OE. nute, note, AS. hnutu; akin to D. noot, G. nuss, OHG. nuz, Icel. hnot, Sw. n["o]t, Dan. n["o]d.] 1. (Bot.) 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. 2. 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 lst {Bolt}. 3. The tumbler of a gunlock. --Knight. 4. (Naut.) A projection on each side of the shank of an anchor, to secure the stock in place. {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} (Zo["o]l.), any leucosoid crab of the genus {Ebalia} as, {Ebalia tuberosa} of Europe. {Nut grass} (Bot.), a plant of the Sedge family ({Cyperus rotundus}, var. Hydra), which has slender rootstocks bearing small, nutlike tubers, by which the plant multiplies exceedingly, especially in cotton fields. {Nut lock}, a device, as a metal plate bent up at the corners, to prevent a nut from becoming unscrewed, as by jarring. {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} (Zo["o]l.), any species of weevils of the genus {Balaninus} and other allied genera, which in the larval state live in nuts.
\Nut\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Nutted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Nutting}.] To gather nuts.