knot
nounEtymology
From Middle English knotte, from Old English cnotta, from Proto-West Germanic *knottō, from Proto-Germanic *knuttô, *knudô (“knot”); probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gnod- (“to bind”). See also Old High German knoto (German Knoten, Dutch knot, Low German Knütte; also Old Norse knútr > Danish knude, Swedish knut, Norwegian knute, Faroese knútur, Icelandic hnútur; also Latin nōdus and its Romance descendants. Doublet of knout, node, and nodus. * (unit of speed): From the practice of counting the number of knots in the logline (as it is paid out) in a standard time. Traditionally spaced at one every ¹⁄₁₂₀ of a mile.
Definitions
A looping of a piece of string or of any other long, flexible material that cannot be…
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.
A tangled clump of hair or similar.
- The nurse was brushing knots from the protesting child's hair.
A maze-like pattern.
- 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.
›+ 24 more definitionsshow fewer
A non-self-intersecting closed curve in (e.g., three-dimensional) space that is an…
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 difficult situation.
- I got into a knot when I inadvertently insulted a policeman.
- 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 tightened and contracted part of a muscle that feels like a hard lump under the skin.
A protuberant joint in a plant.
Any knob, lump, swelling, or protuberance.
- [T]he Queen who sat / With lips severely placid, felt the knot / Climb in her throat, […]
The swelling of the bulbus glandis in members of the dog family, Canidae.
The point on which the action of a story depends
The point on which the action of a story depends; the gist of a matter.
- the knot of the tale
A node (point at which the lines of a funicular machine meet from different angular…
A node (point at which the lines of a funicular machine meet from different angular directions)
A kind of epaulet
A kind of epaulet; a shoulder knot.
A group of people or things.
- his ancient knot of dangerous adversarie
- As they sat together in small, separate knots, they discussed doctrinal and metaphysical points of belief.
A bond of union
A bond of union; a connection; a tie.
- [I come] to crave a league of amity, And lastly, to confirm that amity With nuptial knot […]
- [I]t were very fit, […] to observe carefully this previous betrothing of ourselves, ere we knit the knot that can never be loosed.
- Indeed I would advise every ſingle lady, if poſſible, to attend her inamorato, pretty frequently at the card table; […] if he is haſty or pettiſh with any one else in company, she may depend on the ſame fate when once the knot is tied.
A unit of speed, equal to one nautical mile per hour.
- Cedric claimed his old yacht could make 12 knots.
A unit of indicated airspeed, calibrated airspeed, or equivalent airspeed, which varies…
A unit of indicated airspeed, calibrated airspeed, or equivalent airspeed, which varies in its relation to the unit of speed so as to compensate for the effects of different ambient atmospheric conditions on aircraft performance.
- In the early stages of reentry, due to the extremely-rarefied air at these altitudes, the space shuttle flew at only one to a few knots equivalent airspeed, even when its actual speed was many thousands of knots.
A nautical mile.
The bulbus glandis.
To form into a knot
To form into a knot; to tie with a knot or knots.
- We knotted the ends of the rope to keep it from unravelling.
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 unite closely; to knit together.
- The party of the papists in England are become more knotted, both in dependence towards Spain, and amongst themselves.
To entangle or perplex
To entangle or perplex; to puzzle.
To form knots.
To knit knots for a fringe.
One of a variety of shore birds
One of a variety of shore birds; red-breasted sandpiper (variously Calidris canutus or Tringa canutus).
- My foot-boy shall eat pheasants, calvered salmons, / Knots, godwits, lampreys: I myself will have / The beards of barbels, served instead of salads […]
The neighborhood
- synonymjoin
- synonymput together
- synonymflummox
- synonymconfuse
- antonymloosenantonym(s) of “form into a knot”
- antonymunbindantonym(s) of “form into a knot”
- antonymunknotantonym(s) of “form into a knot”
- antonymuntieantonym(s) of “form into a knot”
- neighborbraid
- neighborbruise
- neighborhickey
- neighborknit
- neighborloop
- neighborplait
- neighbortangle
- neighbortie
- neighborweave
Derived
Albright knot, alpine butterfly knot, alternating knot, angler's knot, arbor knot, Ashley's stopper knot, Bachmann knot, bag knot, balloon knot, Bantu knot, barrel knot, beer knot, binding knot, black knot, blood knot, bowknot, bowstring knot, breastknot, burr knot, butterfly knot, Celtic knot, Clytie knot, constrictor knot, Conway knot, cut the Gordian knot, cut the knot, cystine knot, dolly knot, double fisherman's knot, electrician's knot, endknot, English knot, Englishman's knot, equalizer knot, Euro death-knot, fat knot, Fintushel-Stern knot, fire-escape knot, fireman's chair knot, fisherman's knot · +113 more
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at knot. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at knot. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
10 hops · closes at knot
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA