Crossword clues for nutcracker
nutcracker
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Nutcracker \Nut"crack`er\, n.
An instrument for cracking nuts.
-
(Zo["o]l.)
A European bird ( Nucifraga caryocatactes), allied to the magpie and crow. Its color is dark brown, spotted with white. It feeds on nuts, seeds, and insects.
The American, or Clarke's, nutcracker ( Picicorvus Columbianus) of Western North America.
Wiktionary
n. 1 An implement for cracking nuts. 2 Either of two birds of the genus ''Nucifraga'' in the crow family.
WordNet
n. a compound lever used to crack nuts open [syn: nutcrackers]
any of various small short-tailed sharp-beaked birds that creep on trees and feed on small nuts and insects [syn: nuthatch]
speckled birds that feed on nuts
Wikipedia
A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. A well-known type portrays a person whose mouth forms the jaws of the nutcracker, though many of these are meant for decorative use.
The nutcrackers (Nucifraga) are a genus of three species of passerine bird, in the family Corvidae, related to the jays and crows. The genus name is a New Latin translation of German Nussbrecher, "nut-breaker".
The spotted nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes), occurs in Europe and Asia, and the large-spotted nutcracker (N. multipunctata), which occurs in the Himalayas, and is sometimes considered a subspecies of the spotted. The Clark's nutcracker (N. columbiana), occurs in western North America.
The most important food resources for both these species are the seeds ( pine nuts) of various pines (Pinus sp.), principally the cold-climate (far northern or high altitude) species of white pine (Pinus subgenus Strobus) with large seeds: P. albicaulis, P. armandii, P. cembra, P. flexilis, P. koraiensis, P. parviflora, P. peuce, P. pumila, P. sibirica and P. wallichiana, and also the pinyon and lacebark pines in subgenus Ducampopinus. In some regions, where none of these pines occur, the seeds of spruce (Picea sp.) and hazelnuts (Corylus sp.) form an important part of the diet too. The bills of these birds are specialized tools for extracting seeds from pine cones.
Surplus seed is always stored for later use, and it is this genus that is responsible for the re-establishment of their favoured pines over large areas either burnt in forest fires or cleared by man. The nutcracker can store as many as 30,000 pine nuts in a single season, remembering the location of as many as 70% of their stash, even when buried in snow.
Various insects are also taken, including bee and wasp larvae, and also birds' eggs and nestlings, and carrion if it is found.
Nesting is always early in this genus, so as to make the best use of pine nuts stored the previous autumn. The nest is usually built high in a conifer. There are normally 2–4 eggs laid and incubated for 18 days. Both sexes feed the young which are usually fledged by about 23 days and stay with their parents for many months, following them to learn food storage techniques.
None of the species are migratory, but they will leave their usual ranges if a cone crop failure causes a food shortage.
Nutcracker is a 1982 British drama film directed by Anwar Kawadri and starring Joan Collins, Carol White and Paul Nicholas. Set during the Cold War, the story concerns a Soviet ballerina, who attempts to defect to the West and settle in London.
A nutcracker is a tool for cracking nuts.
Nutcracker or The Nutcracker may also refer to:
-
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, an 1816 story by E.T.A. Hoffmann
- The Nutcracker (Histoire d'un casse-noisette, 1844): a revision by Alexandre Dumas, père
-
The Nutcracker, a ballet by Tchaikovsky, choreographed by Petipa and Ivanov. and adapted from Dumas' revision of the Hoffmann tale
- The Nutcracker (Willam Christensen), a 1944 version for the San Francisco Ballet by Willam Christensen
-
The Nutcracker (Balanchine), a 1954 version for New York City Ballet by George Balanchine
- List of productions of The Nutcracker provides other versions and revisions of The Nutcracker
- The Nutcracker (1973 film), a Soviet animated film based on the story and the ballet
- The Nutcracker (1993 film), an American film of the ballet
- The Nutcracker in 3D, a 2010 American CGI live action film based on the story and the ballet
- Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale, a 2007 Tom and Jerry film
- The Nutcracker, International Television Contest for Young Musicians
- Nutcracker (film), a 1982 British drama film
- Nutcracker (bird), a genus of birds
- NuTCRACKER, a software suite that included the MKS Toolkit
- Nutcrackers or tow grippers, a type of ski tow
- Barbie in the Nutcracker a 2001 Barbie movie
- Nutcracker: The Motion Picture, 1986 film
Usage examples of "nutcracker".
Heath met first at a place in Whitechapel where Conky somebody was fighting the Nutcracker.
Venus de Milos framing the Credit Lyonnaise Building, and a line of fifteen-foot nutcrackers standing guard against the columns of the Paine-Webber, but no Ellis Sinclair.
The river Pregel, now Pregolya, divides around an island and then divides again, imagine nutcrackers with one bridge across each of the handles and one across the hinge and four bridges on to the island which would be the walnut if you were cracking walnuts.
He would need to hold Gawilghur between his redcoats like a nut, and hope that when he squeezed it was the nut, and not the nutcracker, that broke.
Pocket's falling into a discussion with Drummle respecting two baronetcies, while she ate a sliced orange steeped in sugar and wine, and forgetting all about the baby on her lap: who did most appalling things with the nutcrackers.
Pocket’s falling into a discussion with Drummle respecting two baronetcies, while she ate a sliced orange steeped in sugar and wine, and forgetting all about the baby on her lap: who did most appalling things with the nutcrackers.
Measurable by him who hath time, weighable by a good weigher, attainable by strong pinions, divinable by divine nutcrackers: thus did my dream find the world:- My dream, a bold sailor, half-ship, half-hurricane, silent as the butterfly, impatient as the falcon: how had it the patience and leisure to-day for world-weighing!
Noth would have needed a nutcracker to eat hazelnuts or brazil nuts, and a millstone to process grains like wheat and barley.
The nutcracker shaped like an alligator, a lone mother-of pearl cuff link, the broken lighter, the cruet stand minus the vinegar.
Your bar-bar is smarter than your Runner, and these pre-sapients are smarter in turn than the pongid species, the Elves and Nutcrackers.
And I just bet you had one of those swanky fancy nutcrackers like a big thumbscrew,' said the Senior Wrangler.