noun
- a lump of something, as of precious metal.
- a lump of native gold.
- anything of great value, significance, or the like: nuggets of wisdom.
- a bite-size piece of chicken, fish, etc., usually batter-fried.
- Welding. (in a spot-weld) the metal fused.
- Australian.
- a powerful, heavy animal.
- a strong, thickset man.
adjective
- of or resembling a nugget
- Australian and NZ informal (of a person) thickset; stocky
noun
- a small piece or lump, esp of gold in its natural state
- something small but valuable or excellent
noun
- trademark shoe polish
verb
- (tr; sometimes not capital) informal to shine (shoes)
n.1852, “lump of gold,” probably from southwestern England dialectal nug “lump,” of unknown origin [OED]. Another theory is that it is from a misdivision of an ingot. Transferred sense is from 1859.