nub

nub  (nb)

n.

1. A protuberance or knob.

2. A small lump.

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

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

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nubby adj.

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nub

Noun

the point or gist: this is the nub of his theory [Middle Low German knubbe knob]

Thesaurus

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"

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nub

noun gist, point, heart, core, essence, nucleus, kernel, crux, pith