Free translatorFree translator
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Knot   /nɑt/   Listen
noun
Knot  n.  
1.
(a)
A fastening together of the parts or ends of one or more threads, cords, ropes, etc., by any one of various ways of tying or entangling.
(b)
A lump or loop formed in a thread, cord, rope. etc., as at the end, by tying or interweaving it upon itself.
(c)
An ornamental tie, as of a ribbon. Note: The names of knots vary according to the manner of their making, or the use for which they are intended; as, dowknot, reef knot, stopper knot, diamond knot, etc.
2.
A bond of union; a connection; a tie. "With nuptial knot." "Ere we knit the knot that can never be loosed."
3.
Something not easily solved; an intricacy; a difficulty; a perplexity; a problem. "Knots worthy of solution." "A man shall be perplexed with knots, and problems of business, and contrary affairs."
4.
A figure the lines of which are interlaced or intricately interwoven, as in embroidery, gardening, etc. "Garden knots." "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."
5.
A cluster of persons or things; a collection; a group; a hand; a clique; as, a knot of politicians. "Knots of talk." "His ancient knot of dangerous adversaries." "Palms in cluster, knots of Paradise." "As they sat together in small, separate knots, they discussed doctrinal and metaphysical points of belief."
6.
A portion of a branch of a tree that forms a mass of woody fiber running at an angle with the grain of the main stock and making a hard place in the timber. A loose knot is generally the remains of a dead branch of a tree covered by later woody growth.
7.
A knob, lump, swelling, or protuberance. "With lips serenely placid, felt the knot Climb in her throat."
8.
A protuberant joint in a plant.
9.
The point on which the action of a story depends; the gist of a matter. (Obs.) "I shoulde to the knotte condescend, And maken of her walking soon an end."
10.
(Mech.) See Node.
11.
(Naut.)
(a)
A division of the log line, serving to measure the rate of the vessel's motion. Each knot on the line bears the same proportion to a mile that thirty seconds do to an hour. The number of knots which run off from the reel in half a minute, therefore, shows the number of miles the vessel sails in an hour. Hence:
(b)
A nautical mile, or 6080.27 feet; as, when a ship goes nautical eight miles an hour, her speed is said to be eight knots.
12.
A kind of epaulet. See Shoulder knot.
13.
(Zool.) A sandpiper (Tringa canutus), found in the northern parts of all the continents, in summer. It is grayish or ashy above, with the rump and upper tail coverts white, barred with dusky. The lower parts are pale brown, with the flanks and under tail coverts white. When fat it is prized by epicures. Called also dunne. Note: The name is said to be derived from King Canute, this bird being a favorite article of food with him. "The knot that called was Canutus' bird of old, Of that great king of Danes his name that still doth hold, His appetite to please that far and near was sought."



verb
Knot  v. t.  (past & past part. knotted; pres. part. knotting)  
1.
To tie in or with, or form into, a knot or knots; to form a knot on, as a rope; to entangle. "Knotted curls." "As tight as I could knot the noose."
2.
To unite closely; to knit together.
3.
To entangle or perplex; to puzzle. (Obs. or R.)



Knot  v. i.  
1.
To form knots or joints, as in a cord, a plant, etc.; to become entangled. "Cut hay when it begins to knot."
2.
To knit knots for fringe or trimming.
3.
To copulate; said of toads. (R.)






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |





"Knot" Quotes from Famous Books



... the part of her husband, that boded less good than the offer made by "the Laird's Jock," (Johnny Armstrong's henchman,) to give "Dick o' the Cow" a piece of his own ox, which he came to ask reparation for, and, not having got it, tied with St. Mary's knot (hamstringed) thirty good horses. To this good housewife, in fact, might be traced, if antiquaries would renounce for it less important investigations, the old saying, that stolen joys (qu. queys?) are sweetest, undoubtedly a Border aphorism, and now received into the ...
— Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 2 - Historical, Traditional, and Imaginative • Alexander Leighton

... neared the women, when he broke into a run and soon all gathered in a little knot, looking and pointing toward the fugitives. Some of the women broke away and evidently told some Bavarian soldiers who had been searching. The latter had already been firing into the woods to flush them out ...
— The Escape of a Princess Pat • George Pearson

... airiest, fairiest slip of a thing, With a Gainsborough hat, like a butterfly's wing, Tilted up at one side with the jauntiest air, And a knot of red roses sown in under there Where the shadows are lost in ...
— Riley Love-Lyrics • James Whitcomb Riley

... with the stylus, an iron instrument like a pencil in size and shape, on thin slips of wood or ivory covered with wax, and folded together with the writing on the inside. The slips were tied together by a string, and the knot was sealed with wax and stamped with a signet ring. Letters were also written on parchment with ink. Special messengers were employed to carry letters, as there was no regular mail service. Roman letters ...
— History of Rome from the Earliest times down to 476 AD • Robert F. Pennell

... his shirt-tail from his breeches and proceeded to knot the cornelian heart secure therein. Maisie fled rapidly on the verge of hysterics, After that the school treat had but one meaning for Paul. He fed, it is true, in Pantagruelian fashion on luscious viands, transcending his imagination of those which lay behind Blinks the ...
— The Fortunate Youth • William J. Locke


More quotes...



Copyright © 2024 Free Translator.org