nub

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nub

(nŭb)

1. A protuberance or knob.

2. A small lump.

3. The essence; the core: the nub of a story.

[Variant of knub, probably from Low German knubbe, from Middle Low German, variant of knobbe.]

nub′by adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

nub

(nʌb)

1. a small lump or protuberance

2. a small piece or chunk

3. the point or gist: the nub of a story.

4. (Textiles) a small fibrous knot in yarn

[C16: variant of knub, from Middle Low German knubbe knob]

ˈnubbly adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

nub

(nʌb)

n.

1. the point, gist, or heart of something.

2. a knob or protuberance.

3. a small piece.

[1585–95; < Low German knubbe]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	nub - a small lump or protuberance nubble excrescence, extrusion, gibbosity, gibbousness, hump, jut, bulge, protrusion, protuberance, swelling, bump, prominence - something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings; "the gun in his pocket made an obvious bulge"; "the hump of a camel"; "he stood on the rocky prominence"; "the occipital protuberance was well developed"; "the bony excrescence between its horns"
	2.	nub - a small piece; "a nub of coal"; "a stub of a pencil" stub nubbin - a small nub (especially an undeveloped fruit or ear of corn) part, piece - a portion of a natural object; "they analyzed the river into three parts"; "he needed a piece of granite"
	3.	nub - the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story" essence, heart and soul, inwardness, nitty-gritty, pith, substance, gist, kernel, meat, core, sum, marrow, heart, center, centre cognitive content, mental object, content - the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned bare bones - (plural) the most basic facts or elements; "he told us only the bare bones of the story" hypostasis - (metaphysics) essential nature or underlying reality haecceity, quiddity - the essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and makes it different from any other quintessence - the purest and most concentrated essence of something stuff - a critically important or characteristic component; "suspense is the very stuff of narrative"

nub

noun gist, point, heart, core, essence, nucleus, kernel, crux, pith That, I think, is the nub of the problem.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

nub

noun

1. An unevenness or elevation on a surface:

bump, hump, knob, knot, lump, protuberance.

2. The most central and material part:

core, essence, gist, heart, kernel, marrow, meat, pith, quintessence, root, soul, spirit, stuff, substance.

Law: gravamen.

Translations

Stummel

nœud noyau

nocciolo piccolo pezzo

nub

[nʌb] N (= piece) → pedazo m, trozo m; (= protuberance) → protuberancia f (fig) → lo esencial, parte f esencial
that's the nub of the question → ahí está el quid del asunto

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

nub

(= piece) → Stückchen nt, → Klümpchen nt

(fig) the nub of the matter → der springende Punkt, der Kernpunkt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

nub

[nʌb] n the nub of the matter → il nocciolo del problema

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

He told them a good many humorous anecdotes, and always forgot the nub, but they were always able to furnish it, for these yarns were of a pretty early vintage, and they had had many a rejuvenating pull at them before.

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With such a cargo on board, digestion is a slow process, and we must sit long in the cool chambers and smoke--and read French newspapers, which have a strange fashion of telling a perfectly straight story till you get to the "nub" of it, and then a word drops in that no man can translate, and that story is ruined.

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"I had one of them on this ranch five years ago, and I'll tell you about it, so that you can see the nub of this whole question.

View in context

Men told anecdotes that were terrific to hear, but nobody blushed; and when the nub was sprung, the assemblage let go with a horse-laugh that shook the fortress.

View in context

Djor Kantos had not come running like a willing slave when she had expected him, and, ah, here was the nub of the whole thing!

View in context

The state government of Hessen rejected this court ruling and confirmed that the Consensus Paper 2 of three German medical societies was sufficient evidence to support NUB payment.

EndoBarrier Advances Toward German Reimbursement of Diabetes, Obesity Device

"We're excited to be working with Mark and Guy at Nub Music," said Michael Stover of MTS Management Group, who handles publicity, management and label services for Roman.

MTS Management Group's Canadian Singer Songwriter Ed Roman Signs with Nub Music for UK Album Promotion

It's the small nub of plastic that cools and solidifies inside the nozzle tip during the cooling phase of the injection cycle.

Don't forget the cold slug well

Tucked in the woods near Jumbo Road outside of Melbourne, Arkansas, an ancient white oak grows straight up 10 feet before its trunk curves horizontally, forms a nub, and shoots back up toward the sky.

Old fashioned map app

The benefits of European membership both in terms of keeping the peace and strengthening economies cannot be doubted - not withstanding the Euro crisis - but there is the nub of the argument.

Dangers of European bear pit of the past; LETTERS

THE sheer arrogance to expect the main gate to be opened to leave Downing Street when perfectly capable of wheeling a bike through the side gate is what seems to me the real nub of the 'plebgate' issue.