nub
/nʌb/ noun, verb
Forms nubs nubbing nubbed
- noun (obsolete) The innermost section of a chrysalis in a silk cocoon.
- noun A small knob or lump.
- noun The essence or core of an issue, argument etc. “What do you think is the nub of the problem?”
- noun (euphemistic or vulgar slang) The clitoris.
- noun (computing, colloquial) A pointing stick.
- noun (theater) A passage of Shakespearean blank verse.
- noun (informal) The genital tubercle. “nub theory”
- verb (baseball) To hit the ball weakly.
- verb To push; to nudge.
- verb To beckon.
- verb To extemporize a passage of Shakespearean blank verse
Synonyms
nubbin crux gist bowels sum brass tacks core essence drift guts gravamen heart heart and soul heartstring heartstrings inwardness kernel marrow meat moral of the story nubble stub substance center centre pith nitty-gritty
Etymology
Either directly from Middle Low German, or from knub, from a Middle Low German word (compare Low German Knubbel, Knobbel (“knot; lump”)). Compare knob.
Alternative form.
Acronym.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To push; to nudge; also, to beckon. [Prov. Eng.]
- noun A jag, or snag; a knob; a protuberance; also, the point or gist, as of a story. [Colloq.]
Etymology [Cf. Knob.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “nub”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details