- nut
-
—nutlike, adj./nut/, n., v., nutted, nutting.n.1. a dry fruit consisting of an edible kernel or meat enclosed in a woody or leathery shell.2. the kernel itself.3. Bot. a hard, indehiscent, one-seeded fruit, as the chestnut or the acorn.4. any of various devices or ornaments resembling a nut.5. a block, usually of metal and generally square or hexagonal, perforated with a threaded hole so that it can be screwed down on a bolt to hold together objects through which the bolt passes.6. Slang. the head.7. Slang.a. a person who is very enthusiastic about something; buff; enthusiast; devotee: He's a real circus nut.b. an extremely concerned or zealous person: My boss is a nut on double-checking everything.8. Slang.a. a foolish, silly, or eccentric person.b. Offensive. an insane person; psychotic.9. Slang (vulgar). a testis.10. Informal.a. the operating expenses, usually figured weekly, of a theatrical production or other commercial enterprise; a break-even point.b. the total cost of producing a theatrical production or of forming and opening any new business venture.11. Music. (in instruments of the violin family)a. the ledge, as of ebony, at the upper end of the fingerboard, over which the strings pass.b. the movable piece at the lower end of the bow, by means of which the hairs may be slackened or tightened.12. Print. en (def. 2).14. hard nut to crack,a. a problem difficult to solve; a formidable undertaking.b. a person difficult to know, understand, or convince. Also, tough nut to crack.15. off one's nut, Slang.a. Sometimes Offensive. foolish, silly, or insane.b. confused; unreasonable.c. mistaken or wrong: You're off your nut if you think such a plan can succeed.v.i.16. to seek for or gather nuts: to go nutting in late autumn.[bef. 900; 1900-05 for def. 8b; ME nute, OE hnutu; c. D noot, G Nuss, ON hnot; akin to L nux]
* * *
In Egyptian religion, a goddess of the sky.She represented the vault of the heavens and was often depicted as a woman arched over the earth god Geb. Nut was believed to swallow the sun in the evening and to give birth to it again in the morning. She was sometimes portrayed as a cow, the form she took to carry the sun god, Re, on her back to the sky. On five days preceding the New Year, Nut gave birth successively to the deities Osiris, Horus, Seth, Isis, and Nephthys.* * *
▪ Egyptian goddessin Egyptian religion, a goddess of the sky, vault of the heavens, often depicted as a woman arched over the earth god Geb. Most cultures of regions where there is rain personify the sky as masculine, the rain being the seed which fructifies mother Earth. In Egypt, however, rain plays no role in fertility; all the useful water is on the earth (from the Nile River). Egyptian religion is unique in the genders of its deities of earth and sky. As the goddess of the sky, Nut swallowed the sun in the evening and gave birth to it again in the morning.Nut was also represented as a cow, for this was the form she took in order to carry the sun god Re on her back to the sky. On five special days preceding the New Year, Nut gave birth successively to the deities Osiris, Horus, Seth, Isis, and Nephthys. These gods, with the exception of Horus, were commonly referred to as the “children of Nut.”* * *
Universalium. 2010.