🔩 A hand-turned nut 🌳 A tree or fruit

wing-nut

5.3

A metal nut with two flat wings for tightening by hand

noun
/wɪŋ nʌt/

Specialized

: tuerca mariposa

The shelf came with wing-nuts for easy assembly by hand.

Examples

Make sure the wing-nut is securely fastened before using the machine.
He replaced the regular nut with a wing-nut so he could adjust it without a wrench.
He tightened the wing-nut by hand.
The wing-nut is essential for easy assembly.
He replaced the regular nut with a wing-nut so he could adjust it without a wrench.
Make sure the wing-nut is securely fastened before using the machine.
The shelf came with wing-nuts for easy assembly by hand.

Synonyms

wing nut

vswing-nut

Specialized

1 2.8

A small metal piece with two flat wings you turn by hand

is the same concept written as a single hyphenated form

butterfly nut

vswing-nut

6.1

A metal piece with two flat wings you turn by hand to hold things together

is the same hardware but uses a different common name

thumbnut

vswing-nut

9.2

A small nut with ridged wings you can turn by hand

is larger and uses flat projections rather than small ridges

How Secure

locknut

Specialized

1 6.8

lock washer

Specialized

5.1

nut

63 4.4

wing-nut

Specialized

5.3

Surface Forms

wing-nut singular

wing-nuts plural

Morphology

wing-nut = wing + nut (transparent) = wing + nut

A clear descriptive compound: a nut with wing-like projections; learners can derive the meaning from 'wing' + 'nut'.

Etymology

The word wing-nut comes from the parts wing and nut. The 'wing' part means 'flat, wing-like tabs' that let you turn the nut by hand, so a wing-nut is a nut you can tighten or loosen without tools.