nutcracker

English

Etymology

From nut +‎ cracker.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnʌtˌkɹækɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

nutcracker (plural nutcrackers)

1. An implement for cracking nuts.
   1. (by extension) Ellipsis of nutcracker doll.
2. (ornithology) Any bird of the genus Nucifraga in the crow family.
3. (US, New York City) A bootleg mixed drink made from a blend of alcohols and fruit juices.
   • 2019 August 17, Aaron Randle, “Banned on the Beach? It’s Still Nutcracker Summer”, in New York Times‎:

     The colorful bottles have popped up every summer in black and Hispanic communities — from the bodegas of Washington Heights to the stoops of Fort Greene — since the early 1990s. On beach boardwalks, at neighborhood basketball courts and block parties, New Yorkers are drinking nutcrackers, boozy homespun cocktails made from a blend of alcohol and fruit juices.

5. (informal) Something that is difficult to figure out; a puzzle.

   Synonym: head-scratcher

   • 1978, The Laboregister, volume 2, Michigan Department of Labor, page 177:

     I hadn't been to school for a while so the math was a real nutcracker

Derived terms

• Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana)
• spotted nutcracker, Eurasian nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)
• nutcracker doll
• nutcracker phenomenon
• nutcracker syndrome
• son of a nutcracker

Related terms

• crack open

Translations

implement for cracking nuts

Afrikaans: notenkraker Albanian: arrëthyese (sq) Arabic: كَسَّارَة جَوْز f (kassārat jawz), كَسَّارَة بُنْدُق f (kassārat bunduq) Armenian: ընկույզկոտրիչ (hy) (ənkuyzkotričʻ), պոպոքջարդիչ (popokʻǰardičʻ) (colloquial) Azerbaijani: fındıqqıran Basque: intxaurkraskagailu Belarusian: шчаўку́нчык n (ščawkúnčyk) Bulgarian: орехотрошачка f (orehotrošačka) Catalan: trencanous m Chinese: Mandarin: 癟嘴食管 / 瘪嘴食管 (biě zuǐ shí guǎn), 胡桃夾子 / 胡桃夹子 (hútáo jiázi), 胡桃鉗 / 胡桃钳 (hútáo qián) Czech: louskáček (cs) m Danish: nøddeknækker (da) c Dutch: notenkraker (nl) m Faroese: nøtubrótari m Finnish: pähkinänsärkijä (fi) French: casse-noix (fr) m, casse-noisettes (fr) m Georgian: მაკნატუნა (maḳnaṭuna) German: Nussknacker (de) m Greek: καρυοθραύστης (el) m (karyothráfstis) Gujarati: સૂડી (sūḍī) Hindi: सरौता (hi) (sarautā) Hungarian: diótörő (hu) Icelandic: hnetubrjótur (is) m Ido: nucoruptilo (io) Indonesian: alat pemecah buah keras, pemecah kacang, kacip geluk Italian: schiaccianoci (it) m Japanese: くるみ割り (kurumiwari) Korean: 호두까기 (hodukkagi) Latvian: riekstu knaibles f pl Macedonian: оревокршачка f (orevokršačka) Malay: pemecah buah keras, kacip (ms) Norman: craque-nouaix m Norwegian: Bokmål: nøtteknekker m Ottoman Turkish: فندق قیران (fındık kıran) Persian: فندق‌شکن (fandoq-šekan) Polish: dziadek do orzechów (pl) m Portuguese: quebra-nozes (pt) m Romanian: spărgător de nuci n Russian: щипцы́ для оре́хов m pl (ščipcý dlja oréxov), щелку́нчик (ru) m (ščelkúnčik) Serbo-Croatian: Latin: krcaljka (sh), krckalica (sh), krcalica Silesian: nusknaker m Slovak: luskáčik m Spanish: cascanueces (es) m Swedish: nötknäppare (sv) c or c pl Tagalog: pandurog ng nuwes Tajik: фундуқшикан (funduqšikan) Tatar: çikləwek watuçı Telugu: అడకత్తెర (te) (aḍakattera) Turkish: fındıkkıran (tr) Ukrainian: лускунчик (luskunčyk) Uzbek: yongʻoq chaqadigan Vietnamese: cái kẹp để kẹp trái de Welsh: gefail gnau f

bird of the genus Nucifraga

Bulgarian: орешарка (bg) f (orešarka) Catalan: trencanous m Czech: ořešník (cs) m Danish: nøddekrige Dutch: notenkraker (nl) m Estonian: mänsak sg Finnish: pähkinähakki (fi) French: cassenoix (fr) m German: Tannenhäher (de) m Hungarian: fenyőszajkó (hu) sg Icelandic: notbrjótur Irish: cnóire Italian: nocciolaia (it) Korean: 잣까마귀 (jatkkamagwi) Latvian: riekstrozis m Lithuanian: riešutinė Macedonian: лешникарка f (lešnikarka) Navajo: bitsiichįįshgahí Northern Sami: niehttegarjá Polish: orzechówka (pl) f Portuguese: quebra-nozes (pt) m Romanian: alunar (ro) m Russian: кедро́вка (ru) f (kedróvka), оре́ховка (ru) f (oréxovka) Scottish Gaelic: cnòthair Serbo-Croatian: kreja (sh) f Slovak: orešnica f Slovene: krekovt Spanish: cascanueces (es) m Swedish: nötkråka (sv) Ukrainian: горіхівка (horixivka)

See also

• nutpick

Further reading

• nutcracker on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Nutcracker (bird) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• nutcracker doll on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Nucifraga on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Nucifraga on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• Category:Nutcrackers on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons