nut graf

noun

plural nut grafs

: a summary paragraph that usually follows the lede of a news story

Journalists call the first sentence of an article the lede, the last the kicker … and the paragraph that encapsulates its argument the nut graf …

—Caleb Crain

… I prefer to think of news stories as a tree. The nut graf of the story is the trunk. Create a sturdy trunk, and then you can support as many branches and leaves as you need.

—Craig Brown

Whenever you read a newspaper story and ask yourself, "What in the world is this about?" which is probably too often it's because there's no nut graf, or a shoddy one, or one contradicted by the rest of the story.

—J. Patrick Coolican

Word History

First Known Use

2001, in the meaning defined above