wing nut

or wing·nut

noun

a nut having two flat, widely projecting pieces such that it can be readily tightened with the thumb and forefinger.

Origin of wing nut

First recorded in 1895–1900

Also called butterfly nut, thumbnut.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for wingnut

Contemporary Examples of wingnut

His views might be extreme, but he did not come off as a wingnut while presenting them.
Barry Goldwater, Father of the Tea Party
Nicolaus Mills
July 16, 2014
Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) is a grifter and a wingnut, but is he possibly a felon too?
Ethics Office Sees Evidence Republican Congressman Broke the Law
Ben Jacobs
June 11, 2014
This idea is really the spawn of Mark Levin, the wingnut radio host, who has (of course) written a book about it.
Mark Levin's Nutty Constitutional Convention Idea
Michael Tomasky
August 29, 2013
Well, we learned something new about what's going on in wingnut land.
The Obama Press Conference
Michael Tomasky
April 30, 2013
Floridians will die so that he can be first in the wingnut line.
The Resistance Begins: Rick Scott Announces Florida Won't Take Medicaid Money
Michael Tomasky
July 2, 2012

Historical Examples of wingnut

It has no latch and the throttle lever is held in any desired setting by the wingnut and quadrant shown in figure 18.
The 'Pioneer': Light Passenger Locomotive of 1851
John H. White

British Dictionary definitions for wingnut

wing nut

noun

a threaded nut tightened by hand by means of two flat lugs or wings projecting from the central bodyAlso called: butterfly nut

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

Word Origin and History for wingnut

"nut with flared sides for turning with the thumb and forefinger;" so called for its shape. Meaning "weird person" recorded by 1989, probably not from the literal sense but from the secondary sense of nut, influenced perhaps by slang senses of wing in wing-ding "wild party," originally "fit, spasm" (1937). An earlier, British, sense of wingnut was "person with large, protruding ears" (1986).