Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A nut with wing-like projections to provide leverage in turning; a thumbnut.
  • noun slang One who advocates extreme measures or changes; a radical.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any tree of the genus Pterocarya; fruit is a small winged nutlet; Caucasus to southeastern Asia
  • noun a threaded nut with winglike projections for thumb and forefinger leverage in turning

Etymologies

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Examples

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Comments

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  • While I wouldn't contest the spelling wing nut, there are a couple of attestations here that are missing the mark. In the one the top of the page, "just because some right wing nut job takes offense" There is a compound adjective right wing, and then the compound noun nut job. There is no wing nut in this example. Same issue with some of the tweets you're picking up. Perhaps that's just a feature of the search engine . . .

    April 28, 2012