nuts and bolts

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noun

the essential or basic aspects: to learn the nuts and bolts of a new job.

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True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

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Origin of nuts and bolts

First recorded in 1955–60

OTHER WORDS FROM nuts and bolts

nuts-and-bolts, adjective

Words nearby nuts and bolts

nutritional yeast, nutritionist, nutritious, nutritive, nuts, nuts and bolts, nut sedge, nutshell, nutso, nutsy, nutter

How to use nuts and bolts in a sentence

As an example of good science-and-society policymaking, the history of fluoride may be more of a cautionary tale.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
As this list shows, punishments typically run to a short-ish jail sentence and/or a moderately hefty fine.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Yes, Byrd—dead four-and-a-half years now—was a Kleagle in the Ku Klux Klan.
Steve Scalise and the Right’s Ridiculous Racial Blame Game|Michael Tomasky|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Later that night, that same black-and-red banner would be seen again—in the column of marchers chanting for dead cops.
The Monsters Who Screamed for Dead Cops|Jacob Siegel|December 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The kids are out of school, Mom is out of get-up-and-go, Dad is out of work.
Congress’ Gift That Keeps on Giving|P. J. O’Rourke|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She also practises etching, pen-and-ink drawing, as well as crayon and water-color sketching.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
No law of that country must exceed in words the number of letters in their alphabet, which consists only in two-and-twenty.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift
Mr. Spurrell came down to see a horse, and we shall be very glad to have the benefit of his opinion by-and-by.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 107, November 3, 1894|Various
They were eaten too quickly, in long gulps of four-and-twenty hours at a time.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling
The nuts are cut into thin slices and wrapped in the leaves of a singular plant called buyo.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin|Mary Hazelton Wade

British Dictionary definitions for nuts and bolts

nuts and bolts

pl n

informal the essential or practical details

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

nuts and bolts

Origin of nuts and bolts

OTHER WORDS FROM nuts and bolts

Words nearby nuts and bolts

Words related to nuts and bolts

How to use nuts and bolts in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for nuts and bolts