Skip navigation.

knot - What does it mean?

Definition of 'knot'

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) cnotta, from (etyl) , compare Latin nodus and its Romance successors.

Noun

(en-noun)
  • 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.
  • (of hair|etc) A tangled clump.
    • The nurse was brushing knots from the protesting child's hair.
  • A maze-like pattern.
  • * Milton
    • Flowers worthy of paradise, which, not nice art / In beds and curious knots , but nature boon / Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain.
  • (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.
  • A difficult situation.
    • I got into a knot when I inadvertently insulted a policeman.
  • * South
    • A man shall be perplexed with knots , and problems of business, and contrary affairs.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • A protuberant joint in a plant.
  • Any knob, lump, swelling, or protuberance.
  • * Tennyson
    • With lips serenely placid, felt the knot / Climb in her throat.
  • The point on which the action of a story depends; the gist of a matter.
    • the knot of the tale
  • (engineering) A node.
  • A kind of epaulet; a shoulder knot.
  • A group of people or things.
  • * Shakespeare
    • his ancient knot of dangerous adversaries
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • As 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.
  • A bond of union; a connection; a tie.
  • * Shakespeare
    • with nuptial knot
  • * Bishop Hall
    • ere we knit the knot that can never be loosed
    Related terms
    (top2) * get knotted * Gordian knot * granny knot * knot theory * knotty (mid2) * red knot * reef knot * slipknot * unknot * Windsor knot (bottom)

    Verb

    (knott)
  • To form into a knot; to tie with a knot or knots.
    • We knotted the ends of the rope to keep it from unravelling.
  • * Tennyson
    • as tight as I could knot the noose
  • 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.
  • To unite closely; to knit together.
    • (Francis Bacon)
  • (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

    See also

    (top2) * * braid * bruise * hickey * knit (mid2) * loop * plait * tangle * tie * weave (bottom)

    Etymology 2

    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

    (en-noun)
  • (nautical) A unit of speed, equal to one nautical mile per hour.
    • Cedric claimed his old yacht could make 12 knots .
  • (slang) A nautical mile (incorrectly)
    • See also
    *

    Etymology 3

    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

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

    • See also

    * (Red Knot)

    Anagrams

    * ----

    Similar to 'knot'

    knit, kent, knout, kanat, kmet, knut