Dictionary

nugget en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈnʌɡət/
• (Australia) audio
• nŭg'ət

Etymology

Uncertain, first attested in reference to animals & people in Scotland and in reference to ore chunks in Australia. Possibly from southern English nug (“lump, block”) or Scottish knudge/nudge (“short, sturdy person or animal”) + -et (“forming diminutives”) or from rebracketed alteration of an ingot as a ni(n)got.

Meanings

1. (countable) A small, compact chunk or clump.
   • Rough men brought pickle bottles full of nuggets. Mysterious dirty-looking calico bags were opened, disclosing small quantities of water-worn flaky gold, which had been washed out of the beds of rivers with a cradle. 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 146:
   • a gold nugget
2. (countable) A chicken nugget.
   • By now, we hope you have said “no” to processed nuggets and fingers. Instead, how about taking some real chicken, tossing it with real eggs, a little tangy mustard, and a crunchy quinoa coating? 2014, Laurie David, The Family Cooks:
3. (countable) A tidbit of something valuable.
   • a nugget of wisdom
   • As he has in superb works like “The Source” (based on the Afghanistan war logs leaked by Chelsea Manning) and “Sound From the Bench” (which set excerpts from Supreme Court proceedings), Hearne takes these found-text nuggets and gives them music that moves from lushly meditative to frenetic and obsessively repetitive […] 2023 July 10, Zachary Woolfe, “Review: Ted Hearne’s Sweet, Sad American Elegy”, in The New York Times:
   • a nugget of truth
4. (countable) A small piece of tasty food, a tidbit.
5. (uncountable) A type of boot polish.
6. (countable) A bud from the Cannabis sativa plant, especially one that is potent.
7. (countable, slang) An inexperienced, newly trained fighter pilot.
   • Jack stifled a smirk at the ensign's expressionless non-reaction. He'd been a nugget himself once, the new guy fresh from training. 2009, Nick Scipio, Nereids:
8. (countable, uncountable) A partial description gleaned from data mining.
   • We have previously said that the heuristic algorithms produce good nuggets for most classes and most λ values […] 2002, Data Mining: A Heuristic Approach, (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 93:
9. (countable, offensive, slang) A person with no arms or legs; a basket case.
10. (Australia, countable, slang) An item that is typically old and of dubious quality or poor condition.

Forms

Deriveds

gold nugget pleco · red nugget galaxy · nuggety · nugg · butt nugget · nugget of truth · McNuggets · nuggetlike · nuggies · quark nugget · chicken nugget · fuck nugget

Descendants

nugget

Translations (46)

et raas (small piece of food) · es pepita (small chunk or clump) · lv tīrradnis (small chunk or clump) · ca palleta (d'or) (small chunk or clump) · scn feḍḍa (small piece of food) · nl steen (small chunk or clump) · fi makupala (small piece of food) · it pepita (small chunk or clump) · fr pépite (small chunk or clump) · ca grumoll (small chunk or clump) · et paluke (small piece of food) · gl baluga (small chunk or clump) · scn muḍḍica (small piece of food) · ru кусо́к (small chunk or clump) · nl klomp (small chunk or clump) · ja ナゲット (small chunk or clump) · pt pepita (small chunk or clump) · et kanepiõisik (bud of Cannabis plant) · cmn 塊 /块 (small chunk or clump) · ka თვითნაბადი (small chunk or clump) · es dato valioso (tidbit of something valuable) · mi kongakonga (small chunk or clump) · ko 금덩이 (small chunk or clump) · eo grajno (small chunk or clump) · de Klumpen (small chunk or clump) · scn muzzicuni (small piece of food) · hu rög (small chunk or clump) · fi hippu (small chunk or clump) · et viks (type of boot polish) · fi jyvä (tidbit of something valuable) · bg ха́пка (small piece of food) · el βώλος χρυσού (small chunk or clump) · hy բնակտոր (small chunk or clump) · ka თვითნაბადი ოქრო (small chunk or clump) · ru саморо́док (small chunk or clump) · bg къс самородно злато (small chunk or clump) · pl bryłka (small chunk or clump) · gl baluz (small chunk or clump) · fr bleu (inexperienced fighter pilot) · ca gra (small chunk or clump) · da klump (small chunk or clump) · cs valoun (small chunk or clump) · ro pepită (small chunk or clump) · scn çuri (bud of Cannabis plant) · ka ბრაწულა (small piece of food) · sv klimp (small chunk or clump)

nugget en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈnʌɡət/
• (Australia) audio
• nŭg'ət

Etymology

Uncertain, first attested in reference to animals & people in Scotland and in reference to ore chunks in Australia. Possibly from southern English nug (“lump, block”) or Scottish knudge/nudge (“short, sturdy person or animal”) + -et (“forming diminutives”) or from rebracketed alteration of an ingot as a ni(n)got.

Meanings

1. To find nuggets (of something valuable)
   • The other day, you are told, a fellow nuggetted ten or twenty pounds weight, and, of course, you see no reason why half a hundred weight might not be lying snugly ensconced awaiting the revelations of your pick. 1852, James Bonwick, Notes of a Gold Digger: and Gold Digger's Guide, Melbourne: R. Connebee, page 8:
2. (Australia, New-Zealand, slang) To smear a male's genitals or anus with boot polish or similar substance against his will.
   • Among the complaints to Dart, “blackballing” or “nuggetting” was the most common form of sexual abuse carried out by recruits, and referred to a boy being forcibly held down “while boot polish, toothpaste or another substance was forcibly smeared on his genitals or anal area, sometimes with a hard brush.” 2014 June 17, Helen Davidson, “Blackballing and blanket beatings: decades of abuse at defence training school revealed”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Forms