as in ropes
the specific practical details of something
after the usual introductions and requisite pleasantries, we got down to the brass tacks of our business proposal
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Recent Examples of brass tacks
Carefully discuss each function and brainstorm down to brass tacks.
—
Kelly Starman, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
Back from holiday after a month away, John Oliver wasted no time in getting down to brass tacks, spending the beginning 10 minutes of Last Week Tonight addressing Donald Trump‘s desperate attempts to redirect national conversation away from the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 27 July 2025
The trade that brought Butler to San Francisco also forced Kerr, his staff, and the Warriors roster to get down to brass tacks.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 24 Feb. 2025
All this gets caught up in relatively broad and esoteric debates about immigration as a virtue and levels of enforcement, but at brass tacks, this is a practical issue.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brass tacks
Kelly Starman, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
Back from holiday after a month away, John Oliver wasted no time in getting down to brass tacks, spending the beginning 10 minutes of Last Week Tonight addressing Donald Trump‘s desperate attempts to redirect national conversation away from the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 27 July 2025
The trade that brought Butler to San Francisco also forced Kerr, his staff, and the Warriors roster to get down to brass tacks.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 24 Feb. 2025
All this gets caught up in relatively broad and esoteric debates about immigration as a virtue and levels of enforcement, but at brass tacks, this is a practical issue.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brass tacks
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brass tacks
nuts and bolts
Plural Noun
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Mamdani has also spent much of his effort directing New Yorkers’ attention to the nuts and bolts of city government, like filling potholes and enforcing workplace regulations, carting a jumbo calendar to his press conferences across the city to highlight his work in his first stretch of governance.—
Josephine Stratman,
New York Daily News,
9 Apr. 2026
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No one knows the nuts and bolts of DeLauter’s setup better than Fink, who’s studied the swing since the Guardians were surveying their draft options four years ago.—
Zack Meisel,
New York Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Brass tacks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brass%20tacks. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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