\u2018Dead nuts\u2019 is an idiom used by skilled workers or machinists to refer to something accurate\u2014not just \u2018good enough\u2019 accurate but precise, dead center, right on the spot accurate. The word \u2018dead\u2019 here could be connected to \u2018dead on,\u2019 which means \u2018exact\u2019 or \u2018exactly right.\u2019 As for \u2018nuts,\u2019 it could be referring to the threaded metal screws used as fastening devices.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re tightening a nut and you reach the point that you can\u2019t turn it anymore, that\u2019s zero set or the limit of the thread\u2014you can't go any farther than that. It\u2019s dead nuts.<\/p>\n
Today, \u2018dead nuts\u2019 is used to describe anything that\u2019s a hundred percent accurate, and it\u2019s not just about metal fasteners. It expresses how something\u2019s so precisely right that there can be no doubt about its rightness. It can also refer to anything that\u2019s in perfect alignment.<\/p>\n
Additionally, \u2018dead nuts\u2019 can refer to being dead, as in lifeless. In the late 1800s, however, people were using the idiom to describe as being sure-handed or dexterous.<\/p>\n
Although not as common as other more popular idioms, \u2018dead nuts\u2019 is still useful to know and keep in your idiom arsenal. You never know when you need to describe something that shows flawless precision, right? As the phrase has more than one meaning, you should be familiar with its different uses and how it\u2019s used contextually.<\/p>\n
Below are a few examples of sentences that use this phrase.<\/p>\n
The idiom is generally known to mean absolute accuracy and is said to have originated among machinists in the late 20th<\/sup> century. However, American slang dictionaries list the idiom as early as the late 1800s, albeit with different meanings. One dictionary\u2019s definition for it is showing mastery over or being an expert at something.<\/p>\n Another defines \u2018dead nuts\u2019 as \u2018completely dead\u2019 (\u2018dead\u2019 combined with \u2018nuts,\u2019 which can also refer to \u2018testicles\u2019). In this context, however, the idiom is considered vulgar. Since the idiom isn\u2019t that popular, no other explanations are given regarding the phrase's origin in these contexts, except in the context of \u2018absolute accuracy,\u2019 as discussed earlier.<\/p>\n Furthermore, there\u2019s a possibility that the \u2018nuts\u2019 came from \u2018naughts,\u2019 which means \u2018zero,\u2019 so dead nuts<\/em> could have been dead naughts. <\/em>In this case, it\u2019s also related to \u2018dead plumb,\u2019 a term used in carpentry and nautical measurement that means \u2018accurate.\u2019<\/p>\n The double naughts or double zero (00) is usually found in measurements and surveying equipment that indicates the most precise or accurate measurement you\u2019ll get with that particular device.<\/p>\n There are a few idioms that convey similar meanings. For example, the following idioms all mean the same thing: precisely or extremely accurate.<\/p>\n The idiom is also used to describe something that\u2019s dead or lifeless. Other idiomatic phrases that convey the same meaning are dead as a doornail<\/u>, dead as a dodo<\/u>, and dead in the water<\/u>. What\u2019s more, it can refer to someone who\u2019s skilled at something. In that sense, its closest synonyms are:<\/p>\n Since \u2018dead nuts\u2019 has the meaning of \u2018absolute accuracy,\u2019 the antonyms would be:<\/p>\n If it\u2019s used to describe a skillful individual, several idiomatic phrases with an opposite meaning would be:<\/p>\n Some meanings of this idiom are rather archaic, so you might get a few puzzled looks if you use \u2018dead nuts\u2019 in such context. If you\u2019re going to use the phrase, it\u2019s better to do so in the modern context; that is, as a description for something that\u2019s highly accurate.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s not commonly known in that context, either, as the ones who use the phrase seem to be machinists, engineers, and other skilled laborers like plumbers. They say it whenever they want to describe a part that\u2019s been manufactured to exact specifications or something that\u2019s been calibrated very accurately.<\/p>\n As an idiom, \u2018dead nuts\u2019 seems to be dead in the water. But it still pays to know idioms like it since you might come across the phrase once in a while. If you understand the context in which the idiom\u2019s used, you won\u2019t be left in the dark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What Does \u2018Dead Nuts\u2019 Mean? \u2018Dead nuts\u2019 is an idiom used by skilled workers or machinists to refer to something accurate\u2014not just \u2018good enough\u2019 accurate but precise, dead center, right on the spot accurate. The word \u2018dead\u2019 here could be connected to \u2018dead on,\u2019 which means \u2018exact\u2019 or \u2018exactly right.\u2019 As for \u2018nuts,\u2019 it could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions\/146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Idioms Similar To Dead Nuts<\/h2>\n
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Opposite Of Dead Nuts<\/h2>\n
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Using The Idiom Properly<\/h2>\n
Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n