nutcracker

Etymology

nut + cracker

noun

  1. An implement for cracking nuts.
  2. (ornithology) Either of two birds 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.
    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. 2019-08-17, Aaron Randle, “Banned on the Beach? It’s Still Nutcracker Summer”, in New York Times
  4. (informal) Something difficult to figure out; a puzzle
    I hadn't been to school for a while so the math was a real nutcracker 1978, The Laboregister, volume 2, Michigan Department of Labor, page 177

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