-nut-

n. [ OE. nute, note, AS. hnutu; akin to D. noot, G. nuss, OHG. nuz, Icel. hnot, Sw. nöt, Dan. nöd. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 1st Bolt. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The tumbler of a gunlock. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Naut.) A projection on each side of the shank of an anchor, to secure the stock in place. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. Testicles. [ vulgar slang ] [ 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 (Zool.), 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. --
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 (Zool.), any species of weevils of the genus Balaninus and other allied genera, which in the larval state live in nuts. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. nutans, p. pr. of nutare to nod, v. intens. fr. nuere (in comp.) to nod; cf. Gr. &unr_;. ] Nodding; having the top bent downward. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. to rock, sway, or nod; usually involuntarily. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. nutatio a nodding, fr. nutare to nod: cf. F. nutation. ] 1. The act of nodding. [ 1913 Webster ]

So from the midmost the nutation spreads,
Round and more round, o'er all the sea of heads. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Astron.) A very small libratory motion of the earth's axis, by which its inclination to the plane of the ecliptic is constantly varying by a small amount. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) (a) The motion of a flower in following the apparent movement of the sun, from the east in the morning to the west in the evening. (b) Circumnutation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) (a) The European nuthatch. (b) The nutcracker. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Brown as a nut long kept and dried. “The spicy nutbrown ale.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. An instrument for cracking nuts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) (a) A European bird (Nucifraga caryocatactes), allied to the magpie and crow. Its color is dark brown, spotted with white. It feeds on nuts, seeds, and insects. (b) The American, or Clarke's, nutcracker (Picicorvus Columbianus) of Western North America. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A more or less round gall resembling a nut, esp. one of those produced on the oak and used in the arts. See Gall, Gallnut. [ 1913 Webster ]