nub

Here, perhaps, we are coming to the nub of the issue, the gap of expectations between the governed and those who seek to govern.

From BBC ● May 16, 2026

There lies the nub of the dilemma for Qatar and the five other Gulf states facing the brunt of the backlash from a war they tried to avert through diplomacy.

From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026

But voices were growing for stronger action, saying the monarch was failing to get at the nub of the problem: in the public’s eye, the disgraced prince continues to live…well, like a prince.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025

But the nub of the issue for him is “how” they produce this art, the range of artists they’re inviting in, the openness to new forms and collaborative modalities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2024

Florida, which was just an ingrown nub at America’s foot, barely there.

From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs

Now he spits out armadillo facts between the nubs of incoming front teeth in their mobile home, then points to his favorite ornament on their white, plastic Christmas tree.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 23, 2023

She would run her fingers along the pointed nubs of the beans — almost like someone would press prayer beads between their fingertips — and stare at the black-eyed Susans coming up in her backyard.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2023

Now both colonies — which had slowly spread, with tiny nubs reaching toward filtering sunlight — were being damaged as water temperatures spiked.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2023

South African ceramist Jabulile Nala casts traditional beer pots whose glistening dark exteriors are embellished with symmetrical arrangements of nubs and gashes, echoing those etched into human skin by some African tribes.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2022

It’s only two o’clock but I already done cleaned the house down to the nubs, polished the bathrooms, washed the clothes.

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett