NUT

I. noun Etymology: Middle English ~e, note, from Old English h~u; akin to Old High German nuz ~ and perhaps to Latin nux ~ Date: before 12th century 1. a. a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel, the kernel of a ~, a dry indehiscent one-seeded fruit with a woody pericarp, 2. a hard problem or undertaking, core , heart , a perforated block usually of metal that has an internal screw thread and is used on a bolt or screw for tightening or holding something, the ridge in a stringed instrument (as a violin) over which the strings pass on the upper end of the fingerboard, a small lump (as of butter), 6. a foolish, eccentric, or crazy person, enthusiast , nonsense , a person's head, testis , the amount of money that must be earned in order to break even, en 1, ~like adjective II. intransitive verb (~ted; ~ting) Date: 1604 to gather or seek ~s