nuts to butts

nuts to butts adverb: closely one behind the other.

Adverb

nuts to butts (not comparable)

(idiomatic, slang) Closely one behind the other.
- I’m a bastard jewboy in the promised land
  with a big hairy ass and a pocket full of sand
  livin’ nuts to butts and asshole to bell1984 May 4, Jon Sugar, “A Sweet and Sonr Look at Jon Sugar”, in Alex MacDonald, Bay Area Reporter, volume XIV, number 21, page 22
- Lawrence Rich gave away his iced tea and forced down two grape drinks before lining up "nuts to butts" to leave the room.1988 October 28, James M. Shannon, “Narrative” (chapter VI), in The Report of the Investigation of Attorney General James M. Shannon of the Class 12 Experience at the Edward W. Connelly Criminal...
(broadly, idiomatic, slang) Crowdedly, tightly, compactly.
- Many had never ridden on a train before and were excited as children. They piled in willy-nilly, everywhere, finding room where they could. It was so crowded that some had to stand up in the aisles, nuts to butts, but they didn’t mind.2005, Richard Lee Pulgham, The Hogs of Cold Harbor: The Civil War Saga of Private Johnny Hess, CSA, Whitmore Publishing Co., page 93
- “When I got down there they already had about 20 crazy fuckers packed together nuts to butts in the same cell smellin’ like fart. I was like, get me the fuck outta here.”2008, Nick Garafola, Hot Metal Boys, Cold Piece Books, page 48

nuts to butts (not comparable)

(idiomatic, slang) Arranged in close formation, one behind the other; nose to tail.
- There was a Marine in front of Puller, then Puller, and myself. We were nuts-to-butts, so to speak, and that Marine tripped a booby trap.1994, George I. Ellis, “Petty Officer Third Class”, in Harry Spiller, editor, Scars of Vietnam: Personal Accounts by Veterans and Their Families, McFarland & Company, pages 93-94
- They’d been led about the Court in a nuts-to-butts conga line, dancing for the amusement of His Royal Highness.1999, H. Jay Riker, chapter 14, in In Harm's Way, Avon Books, page 276
(idiomatic, slang) Tightly crowded, packed.
- The Angels’ current facilities, Sliwa emphasized, are “ ‘sardinelike’ or, to use the street euphemism, ‘nuts to butts.’ Females who have visited felt uncomfortable.”1994 August 29, Sliwa, “Angels with Smelly Armpits”, in Monica Corcoran, New York, volume 27, number 34, page 28
- There are no chairs on the floor, and by show time, it was "nuts-to-butts" out there.2000 March 28, “Tour Diary #1: Asleep At The Wheel Hug The Road With Bob Dylan”, in MTV, archived from the original on 25 Apr 2024

Another yelled out, “Let me see nuts to butts, c'mon, people, nuts to butts, ladies!2011, Dara Odoe Sok, Engagement in Peril, Xlibris, page 504:
The vehicles were stacked nuts to butts, with little room to pass between them.2017, Walt Browning, Charlie's Requiem: Resistance, →ISBN, page 15:
Moreover, the morning crowd would have soon been out, and the area overwhelmed with commuters walking, biking, and driving to work, or packed nuts to butts on public transportation.2017, William Hunter, Sanction, […], →ISBN, page 47:
But what if the damned village in question is nuts to butts full of idiots? —Lieutenant Jack Rivera2018, Lois Greiman, Unsweetened, NYLA, page 227:

alternative adjective	nuts-to-butts

What does nuts to butts mean?: Nuts to butts means closely one behind the other.
How do you use nuts to butts in a sentence?: Another yelled out, “Let me see nuts to butts, c'mon, people, nuts to butts, ladies!
What part of speech is nuts to butts?: Nuts to butts can be an adverb or an adjective.

Adapted from Wiktionary: nuts to butts (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-nuts to butts.wav.

Cite this entry: “nuts to butts.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nuts_to_butts. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.