nub
Americannoun
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nubs
plural
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the point, gist, or heart of something.
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a knob or protuberance.
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a lump or small piece.
a nub of coal; a nub of pencil.
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a small mass of fibers produced on a card, dyed brilliant colors, and introduced into yarn during the spinning process.
noun
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a small lump or protuberance
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a small piece or chunk
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the point or gist
the nub of a story
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a small fibrous knot in yarn
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of nub
1585–95; < Low German, Middle Low German knubbe; cf. knob
Explanation
A nub is a little piece of something, especially one that sticks out. The raised rubber buttons on your TV remote control are nubs. Tiny lumps or bits are nubs, like the nubs on tree branches that will become buds in the spring, or the nubs on a crocheted blanket, little woven bumps. Another kind of nub is the heart or essence of something: one incriminating piece of evidence might be the nub of a judge's decision in a case. The "lump" meaning is older, stemming from knob, while the "essence" meaning dates from the nineteenth century.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There lies the nub of the dilemma for Qatar and the five other Gulf states facing the brunt of the backlash from a war they tried to avert through diplomacy.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026
But voices were growing for stronger action, saying the monarch was failing to get at the nub of the problem: in the public’s eye, the disgraced prince continues to live…well, like a prince.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
When resting, it appears as a small white nub between their eyes, but when raised, it becomes a hooked, barbed organ covered in teeth.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2025
The nub of this is the forever grey area of what is perceived to be a responsible approach to freedom of speech.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2023
Which meant that he never went anywhere without Lolly and her missing eye and that one ear Nunu had chewed on until it was practically gone, worn down to a hard, spit-dark, threadbare nub.
From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers
She would run her fingers along the pointed nubs of the beans — almost like someone would press prayer beads between their fingertips — and stare at the black-eyed Susans coming up in her backyard.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2023
From specks the size of dust grains to nubs as big as raisins, the farm produces about 1,000 pounds of seeds a year.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
I had chewed my chile rellenos to nubs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2023
Pushing the origin of panda pseudothumbs back millions of years raises a perplexing question: Why have these nubs never developed into versatile, true thumbs?
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2022
She said—as she had every other time I’d attended Support Group—that she felt strong, which felt like bragging to me as the oxygen-drizzling nubs tickled my nostrils.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
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