nitty-gritty

Noun nitty-gritty has 1 sense

• nitty-gritty(n = noun.cognition) center, centre, core, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, nub, pith, substance, sum - the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story"
is a kind of cognitive content, content, mental object
has particulars: bare bones, hypostasis, haecceity, quiddity, quintessence, stuff