nub

1 a small uneven mass throw a nub of butter into the frying pan Synonyms blob, chunk, clod, clot, clump, dollop, glob, gob, gobbet, hunk, knob, lump, nubble, nugget, wadRelated Words bead, drop, globule; block, body, bulk; particle, piece, portion; bit, chip, crumb, granule, morsel, nubbin, patch, scrap

2 the central part or aspect of something under consideration the nub of the argument is that the intelligence agencies failed the country Synonyms bottom line, bull's-eye, centerpiece, core, essence, gist, heart, kernel, keynote, meat, meat and potatoes, net, crux, nubbin, nucleus, pith, pivot, point, root, sumRelated Words course, direction, drift, tenor; body, content, substance; hypothesis, proposition, purport, subject, theme, thesis