Praise for a dimension that lands right on nominal, or a setup that indicates with no visible needle movement. It also describes alignment, as in dead nuts on center. The phrase carries pride, and it is usually said just after the mic reading, before somebody checks it again.
Bore came in dead nuts at 1.2500, first try, somebody write that down because it won't happen again.
Hitting dead nuts once is luck; hitting it on the fiftieth part is process.
Also heard as
- dead nuts on
- dead on
Related terms
Nominal
The stated target size of a feature before any tolerance is applied.
Tolerance
The total amount a dimension is allowed to vary from nominal and still be a good part.
Mic
Short for micrometer, pronounced mike, and the verb for measuring a part with one.
Thou
One thousandth of an inch (0.001 in, about 25 microns), the everyday unit of machining talk in inch shops.