knot 
knot (nät)
noun
- a lump or knob in a thread, cord, etc., formed by passing one free end through a loop and drawing it tight, or by a tangle drawn tight
- a fastening made by intertwining or tying together pieces of string, cord, rope, etc.
- an ornamental bow of ribbon or twist of braid; cockade; epaulet
- a small group or cluster
- something that ties or fastens closely or intricately; bond of union; esp., the bond of marriage
- a problem; difficulty; entanglement
- a knotlike part; node or lump [a knot in a tense muscle]; specif.,
- a hard lump on a tree where a branch grows out
- a cross section of such a lump, appearing as cross-grained in a board or log
- a joint on a plant stem where two leaves grow out
- any of several fungal diseases of trees, in which abnormal protuberances appear
- Naut.
- Historical any of the knots tied at regular intervals in a line used in measuring a ship's speed
- a unit of speed of one nautical mile (6,076.12 feet or 1,852 meters) an hour: abbrev. kn or kt to average a speed of 10 knots
- loosely nautical mile
Etymology: ME knotte < OE cnotta, akin to Du knot, Swed knut, Ger knoten < IE *gn-eu-t < base *gen-, to press together > knob, knead
transitive verb knot′·ted, knot′·ting
- to tie, fasten, or intertwine in or with a knot or knots; make a knot or knots in
- to tie or unite closely or intricately; entangle
- to make (fringe) by tying knots
intransitive verb
- to form a knot or knots; become entangled
- to make knots for fringe
tie the knot
Informal to get married
knot (nät)
noun
any of various sandpipers (genus Calidris); esp., a large, migratory species (C. canutus) that breeds in arctic regions
Etymology: rare ME knotte < ?
knot
n.
An arrangement of strands
tie, hitch, splice, ligature, bond, bow. Types of knots include: anchor, sheet bend, timber hitch, bowknot, clove hitch, carrick bend, half crown, diamond hitch, figure-of-eight, fisherman's bend, flat, Windsor, square, granny, half hitch, inside clinch, thief, outside clinch, lanyard, loop, mesh, midshipman's hitch, open hand, overhand, rolling hitch, round seizing, bowline on a bight, running bowline, sheepshank, shroud, running, slide, single, slip, stopper, surgeon's, trefoil, weaver's hitch, stevedore's, harness hitch, reef, cat's-paw, Blackwall hitch, magnus hitch, halyard bend.
A hard or twisted portion
snarl, tangle, gnarl, snag, bunch, contortion, coil, spiral, warp, screw, helix, perplexity, entanglement, twist, twirl, whirl, whorl. A group
cluster, clump, assortment, gathering; see bunch 1, collection 2.
tie the knot*
Object
- handkerchief: As one of his tricks, he has a child ( a young girl approximately 9 years old ) holding two handkerchiefs knotted together.
Converse of object
- tie: The last two episodes tied the knot off nicely!
- untie: Let's untie that knot in the elephant's trunk together!
- untangle: Understanding helped a lot, and the inner healing helped to untangle the knots that bound me in ways of behaving.
- undo: This was absurd, as it was impossible for him to get the partially paralyzed left hand above his head and undo the knots.
- unravel: The children had a long piece of rope and were not allowed to let go as they tried to unravel the knots.
Adjective modifier
- Gordian: Slaves to detail must not win urban battle We have wound ourselves into a Gordian knot.
- overhand: Then using the end of the line with the knot in it, tie another overhand knot around the length of the line.
- Celtic: The secret of a good Celtic knot is regularity.
- tangled: My mind is a tangled knot I can no longer untie.
Modifies a noun
- gusting: Dublin Port Radio advised of wind blowing 29 knots gusting to 36 knots.
- nematode: A color photographs of the root knot nematode is also provided.
- invariant: Defines knots invariants: group of a knot, Alexander polynomial, Jones polynomial.
Noun used with modifier
- grinner: Using braid, tie them to the trace with a sliding five turn grinner knot for a neat set up.
- trefoil: In particular, the reader may want to construct a depth map for something else like a trefoil knot or a fish.
- stopper: Covered are stopper knots, binding knots, bends, hitches, loops, plaits, and splices.
- reef: In all cases, the ties are tied with a reef knot, designed a ' purpose.
Preposition: in
- handkerchief: It may be a knot in a handkerchief, tho with widespread use of tissues that has probably gone out of fashion.
Preposition: of
- breeze: Both yachts charged across the finish line at 24 knots - in 22 knots of breeze.
Preposition: with
- gust: By the time race 2 began it was blowing a steady 18 knots with gusts to 25 knots.
We're going faster and lower than anything out there. And we can bomb the knot off a tree.
Come sleep,O sleep, the certain knot of peace, The baiting place of wit, the balm of woe, The poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release, The indifferent judge between the high and low.
And all shall be well and All manner of thing shall be well When the tongues of flame are in-folded Into a crowned knot of fire And the fire and the rose are one.
Round and round the circle Completing the charm So the knot be unknotted The cross be uncrossed The crooked be made straight And the curse be ended.
Battle, n. A method of untying with the teeth a political knot that would not yield to the tongue.
Our style should be as a skein of silk, to be carried and found by the right thread, not ravelled and perplexed; then all is a knot, a heap.
Browse dictionary entries near knot
- ‹ Knossos
- ‹ knop
- ‹ knoll
- ‹ knockwurst
- ‹ knockout drops
- ‹ knockout
- ‹ knockoff
- ‹ knocker
- ‹ knocked down
- ‹ knockdown
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