| nut | 1. <botany> 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. 3. The tumbler of a gunlock. 4. 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 Buoy. Nut coal, screened coal of a size smaller than stove coal and larger than pea coal; called also chestnut coal. <zoology> Nut crab, any leucosoid crab of the genus Ebalia as, Ebalia tuberosa of Europe. <botany> Nut grass, any species of weevils of the genus Balaninus and other allied genera, which in the larval state live in nuts. Origin: OE. Nute, note, AS. Hnutu; akin to D. Noot, G. Nuss, OHG. Nuz, Icel. Hnot, Sw. Not, Dan. Nod. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| queensland nut | <botany> The nut of an Australian tree (Macadamia ternifolia). It is about an inch in diameter, and contains a single round edible seed, or sometimes two hemispherical seeds. So called from Queensland in Australia. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| taqua-nut | <botany> A Central American name for the ivory nut. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |