nuts and bolts

• nuts-and-bolts (attributive use)

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nuts and bolts pl (plural only)

1. (idiomatic) The basic inner workings of something; the fundamentals; that which makes something operate.

   It's really not so hard, once you know the nuts and bolts of the editing process.

   • 1999, Daniel E. Price, Islamic Political Culture, Democracy, and Human Rights: A Comparative Study, page 31:

     Perhaps those who analyze the prospects for government in an Islamic state based on the works of these theorists forget that, after the revolution, lofty ideals and Utopias are discarded for the nuts and bolts of day-to-day governing.

   • 2010, Virginia A. Walter, Twenty-First-Century Kids, Twenty-First-Century Librarians, page 77:

     It also involves working with the nuts and bolts of management and leadership.

   • 2011, Antonella Cupillari, The Nuts and Bolts of Proofs: An Introduction to Mathematical Proofs, page 71:

     The information presented in the previous chapters gives the nuts and bolts of the most common and basic techniques used to prove the truth of mathematical results.

• (basic or fundamental workings): brass tacks, nitty-gritty; See also Thesaurus:gist

• low-level (adjective)