nooks and crannies
3
4.2
- noun
- /nʊks ənd ˈkræniz/
- Informal
:
rincones y recovecos
- While exploring the ancient castle, we discovered hidden treasures in its many nooks and crannies.
- explore the nooks and crannies
- plenty of nooks and crannies
- lots of nooks and crannies
And then it could get into the little nooks and crannies, if you will, of the of the tumor.
- And then it could get into the little nooks and crannies, if you will, of the of the tumor.
- Luggage that was fitted for all sorts of weird and interesting nooks and crannies throughout the Carrera GT.
- And I'm telling you this story because there are nooks and crannies all over your college campus just waiting to be discovered.
- Obviously he's been through all the nooks and crannies of of, you know, sexual discussion and thought probably in his own head.
- So it could survive a trip through space as a stowaway in the nooks and crannies on a rock that got catapulted from one planet to another.
- But one thing I started noticing is I started missing all the little nooks and crannies and that's an equipment issue.
- Outside every nook and cranny of your body is a veritable cesspool of bacteria, viruses and fungus.
Examples
-
It's a big room with plenty of nooks and crannies for somebody to be hiding in.
Fiction book (1998) -
I have been moving stuff out each week, taking all the stuff out of the nooks and crannies of the house, working my way to the surface stuff, with very little change in the outward appearance.
Blog text (18) -
OK, so we'll get in all the nooks and crannies as best we can.
-
Well, I like to get involved and to explore all the various nooks and crannies of any city that I live in.
-
Most of it is open, but they have nooks and crannies as well.
Blog text (26) -
And I'm telling you this story because there are nooks and crannies all over your college campus just waiting to be discovered.
-
These coral complexes are full of nooks and crannies that house and protect countless life forms.
-
Eyestalks stretch, searching nooks and crannies for tidbits of food.
Fiction book (2001) -
Walking up the long stream of white beachfront, I could see nooks and crannies where a pair desiring to spend time apart from the crowds could retreat.
Blog text (16) -
Crowds of tourists pushed past him toward the shops, brightly garlanded with lights, that filled the nooks and crannies of the old San Francisco warehouses.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
10
3.8
All the small hidden parts of a place
7
4.1
Every small or hidden part of a place where things can hide
How Hidden
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase's meaning is directly built from its constituents: 'nook' (a secluded corner) + 'cranny' (a small opening) joined by 'and' to indicate various small or hidden places. This compositional pattern is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the component words can reliably infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase nooks and crannies comes from two simple words: a nook is a small corner and a cranny is a narrow crack or hole. Together they paint the picture of tiny, hard-to-find spaces, so the phrase now means 'very small or hidden parts'.