Knot

Pronunciation

• enPR: nŏt, IPA: /nÉ’t/
• Homophones: not, naught some dialects

From Old English cnotta, from Proto-Germanic *knuttan-; (cognate with Old High German knoto (German Knoten, Dutch knot, Low German Knütte); compare also Old Norse knútr >

Danish knude, Swedish knut, Norwegian knute, Icelandic hnútur). Probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nod- ("to bind"), cf. Latin nodus and its Romance successors.

Full definition of knot

Noun

1. A looping of a piece of string or of any other long, flexible material that cannot be untangled without passing one or both ends of the material through its loops.Climbers must make sure that all knots are both secure and of types that will not weaken the rope.
2. (of hair, etc) A tangled clump.The nurse was brushing knots from the protesting child's hair.
3. A maze-like pattern.
• MiltonFlowers worthy of paradise, which, not nice art
  In beds and curious knots, but nature boon
  Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain.
4. (mathematics) A non-self-intersecting closed curve in (e.g., three-dimensional) space that is an abstraction of a knot (in sense 1 above).A knot can be defined as a non-self-intersecting broken line whose endpoints coincide: when such a knot is constrained to lie in a plane, then it is simply a polygon.    ''A knot in its original sense can be modeled as a mathematical knot (or link) as follows: if the knot is made with a single piece of rope, then abstract the shape of that rope and then extend the working end to merge it with the standing end, yielding a mathematical knot. If the knot is attached to a metal ring, then that metal ring can be modeled as a trivial knot and the pair of knots become a link. If more than one mathematical knot (or link) can be thus obtained, then the simplest one (avoiding detours) is probably the one which one would want.
5. A difficult situation.I got into a knot when I inadvertently insulted a policeman.
• SouthA man shall be perplexed with knots, and problems of business, and contrary affairs.
6. The whorl left in lumber by the base of a branch growing out of the tree's trunk. When preparing to tell stories at a campfire, I like to set aside a pile of pine logs with lots of knots, since they burn brighter and make dramatic pops and cracks.
7. Local swelling in a tissue area, especially skin, often due to injury.Jeremy had a knot on his head where he had bumped it on the bedframe.
8. A protuberant joint in a plant.
9. Any knob, lump, swelling, or protuberance.
• TennysonWith lips serenely placid, felt the knot
  Climb in her throat.
10. The point on which the action of a story depends; the gist of a matter.the knot of the tale
11. (engineering) A node.
12. A kind of epaulet; a shoulder knot.
13. A group of people or things.
• Shakespearehis ancient knot of dangerous adversaries
• Sir Walter ScottAs they sat together in small, separate knots, they discussed doctrinal and metaphysical points of belief.
• 1968, Bryce Walton, Harpoon Gunner, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, NY, (1968), page 20,He pushed through knots of whalemen grouped with their families and friends, and surrounded by piles of luggage.
14. A bond of union; a connection; a tie.
• Shakespearewith nuptial knot
• Bishop Hallere we knit the knot that can never be loosed

Related terms

Verb

1. To form into a knot; to tie with a knot or knots.We knotted the ends of the rope to keep it from unravelling.
• Tennysonas tight as I could knot the noose
2. To form wrinkles in the forehead, as a sign of concentration, concern, surprise, etc.She knotted her brow in concentration while attempting to unravel the tangled strands.
3. To unite closely; to knit together.
4. (obsolete, rare) To entangle or perplex; to puzzle.

Synonyms

• (form into a knot) bind, tie
• (form wrinkles in forehead) knit

Antonyms

• (form into a knot) loosen, unbind, unknot, untie

From the practice of counting the number of knots in the log-line (as it plays out) in a standard time. Traditionally spaced at one every 1/120th of a mile.

Noun

1. (nautical) A unit of speed, equal to one nautical mile per hour.Cedric claimed his old yacht could make 12 knots.
2. (slang) A nautical mile incorrectly

Supposed to be derived from the name of King Canute, with whom the bird was a favourite article of food. See the species epithet canutus.

Noun

1. One of a variety of shore birds; the red-breasted sandpiper (variously Calidris canutus or ).

Anagrams

• tonk, Tonk