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Definition of "nuts and bolts" []

  • Slang The basic working components or practical aspects: "[proposing] lofty goals without specifying the nuts and bolts of how they are to be achieved” ( Village Voice). (noun-plural)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "nuts and bolts" in a sentence
  • "Chests of nuts and bolts were scattered everywhere, harvested prematurely by the wind."
  • ""Well, here's this big, long report with all this crap about this proposed development-all the nuts and bolts about lighting and sewer and paving and so on-just like they designed it around existing knowledge of everything any reasonable person would want to know about the area, geologically speaking."