nuts and bolts

noun

1. the essential or basic aspects:

   to learn the nuts and bolts of a new job.

nuts and bolts

plural noun

1. informal.
   the essential or practical details

Other Words From

• nuts-and-bolts adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of nuts and bolts¹

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

But at the nuts and bolts, it’s still humanity.

From Los Angeles Times

Most of them were what might be called nuts and bolts pieces about the process.

From Salon

Those materials from third-party vendors will be the physical and metaphorical nuts and bolts that are used to construct each satellite.

From Seattle Times

“It was a huge gift that basically saved us two weeks of rehearsal, as we worked out fight choreography, physical comedy timing and the nuts and bolts of farce,” FastHorse said.

From Los Angeles Times

“Constellation” has elements of 1970s-style paranoid thrillers like “Capricorn One” and “The Parallax View,” combined with scenes showing the nuts and bolts of space travel, as in Apple TV’s “For All Mankind.”

From New York Times