How to Use nub in a Sentence

nub

noun
  • The dog chewed his bone down to a nub.
  • The shoes have little nubs on the bottom that prevent you from slipping.
  • Antlers on males will grow from nubs to full racks in three months.
    — Juliana Hanle, Scientific American, 18 Nov. 2019
  • Old swordfish have even been caught with bills worn down to nubs.
    — Joe Cermele, Field & Stream, 9 Nov. 2023
  • How about a girl dinner with that leftover nub of cheese?
    — Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 11 Nov. 2025
  • How about a girl dinner with that leftover nub of cheese?
    — Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 11 Nov. 2025
  • The wooden handles have dips and nubs that fit the hand just right.
    — Celia Shatzman, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025
  • And that’s the nub of it; rhetoric alone cannot support the lira.
    — Washington Post, 2 May 2019
  • Wilson, who threw right and batted left, did it all with a nub for a right thumb.
    — Joseph Goodman | [email protected], al, 18 Feb. 2021
  • Heat a skillet or pan over medium heat and add a nub of butter.
    — CBS News, 21 Nov. 2025
  • Can’t tell if that little protruding nub is a stinger or not.
    — oregonlive.com, 12 July 2019
  • Or the eyeliner that's been sharpened down to no more than a nub.
    — Sophia Panych, Allure, 28 Feb. 2022
  • And the nub of the questions always cuts to the heart of what the issue was.
    — CBS News, 14 Dec. 2022
  • My rubber-shod toes were pressed on little nubs the size of chicken nuggets.
    — Emily Meg Weinstein september 5, Literary Hub, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Some bees nest in the stems of shrubs and perennials, so resist the urge to chop them down to nubs.
    — Kristin Hostetter, Outside Online, 9 Oct. 2024
  • That’s the nub of this entire case that’s turned into a media circus.
    — Maria Cramer, BostonGlobe.com, 15 Mar. 2018
  • That’s because the nub of your wrist bone prevents the sensor from laying flat.
    — Geoff Nudelman, WSJ, 22 Apr. 2021
  • Asparagus nubs were cut so small, the vegetable's flavor got lost in the heat.
    — Debbi Snook, cleveland.com, 23 June 2017
  • The end of one of the armrests in the back has been chewed into a foamy nub by some dog or another.
    — Ryan D'agostino, Town & Country, 19 Oct. 2020
  • Fumbling with the plastic nubs can be painful and frustrating.
    — Zoe Gates, Outside, 28 Oct. 2025
  • The pumpkin would not come off because its strap was lodged around the back of the deer's head, stuck on the nubs of his antlers.
    — Jennie Key, Cincinnati.com, 30 Oct. 2017
  • Her trick is to finely chop the ginger, instead of grating it, so there are spicy-sweet nubs in each bite.
    — Nina Moskowitz, Bon Appetit Magazine, 10 Mar. 2026
  • One climbs onto a fire hydrant, a yellow nub of an island in the flood, and arches her back.
    — Time, 13 Sep. 2017
  • Cut the hard nub end off the garlic clove, and smash it with the flat side of your knife; the skin should come right off (discard it).
    — Bethany Jean Clement, The Seattle Times, 18 July 2018
  • Fernanda sucked on the little nub of the spliff and then ground it into the cathedral step with her boot.
    — Lillian Fishman, New Yorker, 4 May 2025
  • Legs were wound down to nubs and heads inflated to egregious proportions.
    — Andrew Norman Wilson, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
  • In the Lims’ living room, a hula hoop with rubber nubs on the inside leaned against a wall.
    — Emma Allen, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2017
  • Nadal often kicks clean the nub of tape in the middle of the baseline before heading to his chair for a changeover.
    — New York Times, 29 May 2022
  • The nub of the argument is that there are trade-offs involved in decisions about how, when and where to work.
    — London Business School, Forbes, 2 Sep. 2021
  • Next, pull the nub off the top of the avocado to reveal the color of the flesh inside.
    — Daniel Holzman and Matt Rodbard, WSJ, 8 Feb. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nub.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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