nutty slack

nut·ty slack
UK/ˌnʌti ˈslæk/US[-ɾi-]

noun

A cheap fuel consisting of slack (“coal dust”) and nuts (“small lumps of coal”); unlike other solid fuels it was not rationed during the period after World War II.

Meanings

nounnutty slack (uncountable)
  1. UKhistoricaluncountableA cheap fuel consisting of slack (“coal dust”) and nuts (“small lumps of coal”); unlike other solid fuels it was not rationed during the period after World War II.
    1 more example

    Mr. Nabarro asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the calorific value of nutty slack currently being marketed to domestic consumers, ration-free, by the National Coal Board, compared with normal house coals; what quantity of nutty slack is to be available, in total, during the present coal-winter; the market response to date; how much nutty slack it is estimated will be sold this winter; and whether nutty slack is to be a permanent, ration-free feature of our domestic fuel economy.

    1953 February 2, Gerald Nabarro, Member of Parliament for Kidderminster, “Nutty Slack”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): House of Commons Official Report (House of Commons of the United Kingdom), volume 510, London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, columns 1460–1461

Origin

From nutty (“containing nuts”) + slack.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish hiilipuru
  • hiilipurucheap fuel consisting of slack and nuts

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with nutty slack

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

nutty slack. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nutty%20slack

MLA

“nutty slack.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nutty%20slack. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nutty slack,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nutty%20slack.

Source: nutty slack on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.