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 Word Forms

• nuts-and-bolts adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of nuts and bolts¹

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

Her firm, West Special Fasteners, makes nuts and bolts, and has been doing since 1999.

From BBC

He also extended the levies to include hundreds of metal products from nuts and bolts to drinks cans.

From BBC

He was the nuts and bolts of all of this s— .

From Los Angeles Times

In turn, those qualities dictate the nuts and bolts of an actual intervention strategy.

From Science Daily

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

From Los Angeles Times