knot
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: nŏt, IPA(key): /nɒt/
- (General American) enPR: nŏt, IPA(key): /nɑt/
Audio (US) (file) - Homophones: not, naught (in accents with the cot-caught merger)
- Rhymes: -ɒt
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English knotte, from Old English cnotta, from Proto-West Germanic *knottō, from Proto-Germanic *knuttô, *knudô (“knot”); (cognate with Old High German knoto (German Knoten, Dutch knot, Low German Knütte); compare also Old Norse knútr > Danish knude, Swedish knut, Norwegian knute, Faroese knútur, Icelandic hnútur). Probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gnod- (“to bind”), compare Latin nōdus and its Romance descendants. Doublet of knout, node, and nodus.
NounEdit
knot (plural knots)
- 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.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- 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.
- 1664, Robert South, A Sermon Preached Before the University at Christ-Church, Oxon
- 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.
- 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Elaine”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 185:
- [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 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.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
- his ancient knot of dangerous adversarie
- 1822, [Walter Scott], Peveril of the Peak. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC:
- 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.
- c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
- with nuptial knot
- 1646, Joseph Hall, The Balm of Gilead
- ere we knit the knot that can never be loosed
- (aviation, nautical) A unit of speed, equal to one nautical mile per hour. (From the practice of counting the number of knots in the log-line (as it is paid out) in a standard time. Traditionally spaced at one every 1⁄120 of a mile.)
- (aviation) 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.
- (nautical) A nautical mile.
- Synonym: nm
- (slang) The bulbus glandis.
- (fandom slang) In omegaverse fiction, a bulbus glandis-like structure on the penis of a male alpha, which ties him to an omega during intercourse.
- 2014, Mark Shrayber, "'Knotting' Is the Weird Fanfic Sex Trend That Cannot Be Unseen", Jezebel, 18 July 2014:
- Since the knot won't release until the alpha has finished and can't be controlled by either party, the sex has to go on until it's done.
- 2017, Taylor Boulware, "Fascination/Frustration: Slash Fandom, Genre, and Queer Uptake", dissertation submitted to the University of Washington, page 155:
- The pair cannot separate until the knot has subsided – anywhere from twenty minutes to hours, depending on the fic.
- 2017, Marianne Gunderson, "What is an omega? Rewriting sex and gender in omegaverse fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of Oslo, page 89:
- When John bites down on Sherlock's neck as his knot locks them together, the act which would otherwise be a tool for domination only reinforces the existing emotional bonds they have for each other.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:knot.
- 2014, Mark Shrayber, "'Knotting' Is the Weird Fanfic Sex Trend That Cannot Be Unseen", Jezebel, 18 July 2014:
Derived termsEdit
- 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
- blood knot
- bowstring knot
- butterfly knot
- Celtic knot
- Clytie knot
- constrictor knot
- Conway knot
- cut the Gordian knot
- cut the knot
- cystine knot
- dolly knot
- English knot
- Englishman's knot
- equalizer knot
- Euro death-knot
- fat knot
- Fintushel-Stern knot
- fire-escape knot
- fisherman's knot
- French knot
- garlic knot
- get knotted
- get one's knickers in a knot
- get one's shorts in a knot
- Ghiordes knot
- Gordian knot
- granny knot
- Grecian knot
- handcuff knot
- honda knot
- human knot
- jufti knot
- KCAS
- KEAS
- KIAS
- kn
- knot diagram
- knot span
- knot theory
- knotter
- knotty
- kt
- KTAS
- Lissajous knot
- love knot
- manharness knot
- milk knot
- miller's knot
- nail knot
- Nubian knot
- overhand knot
- Philadelphia knot
- porter's knot
- Pratt knot
- pretzel knot
- Psyche knot
- reef knot
- rose knot
- running knot
- sack knot
- schoolboy knot
- seek a knot in a bulrush
- Shelby knot
- shepherd's knot
- shroud knot
- simple knot
- slice knot
- slip knot
- slipknot
- square knot
- square knot
- Stafford knot
- stevedore's knot
- stopper knot
- Suebian knot
- surfer's knot
- surgeon's knot
- sword knot
- thief knot
- thumb knot
- tie the knot
- trefoil knot
- true lover's knot
- true-love knot
- true-love-knot
- Turkish knot
- unknot
- wall knot
- water knot
- waterman's knot
- weaver's knot
- Windsor knot
TranslationsEdit
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See alsoEdit
- (whorl in wood): shake
VerbEdit
knot (third-person singular simple present knots, present participle knotting, simple past and past participle knotted)
- (transitive) To form into a knot; to tie with a knot or knots.
- We knotted the ends of the rope to keep it from unravelling.
- 1833 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “St. Simeon Stylites”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 56:
- For many weeks about my loins I wore / The rope that haled the buckets from the well, / Twisted as tight as I could knot the noose, / And spake not of it to a single soul, / And spake not of it to a single soul, / Until the ulcer, eating through my skin, / Betray'd my secret penance, so that all / My brethren marvell'd greatly.
- (transitive) 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.
- a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a VVarre vvith Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany VVorks of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC:
- The party of the papists in England are become more knotted, both in dependence towards Spain, and amongst themselves.
- (transitive, obsolete, rare) To entangle or perplex; to puzzle.
- (intransitive) To form knots.
- (intransitive) To knit knots for a fringe.
SynonymsEdit
- (form into a knot): bind, tie
- (form wrinkles in forehead): knit
- (unite closely): attach, join, put together; see also Thesaurus:join
- (entangle or perplex): baffle, flummox; see also Thesaurus:confuse
AntonymsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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See alsoEdit
Etymology 2Edit
Supposed to be derived from the name of King Canute, with whom the bird was a favourite article of food. See the specific epithet canutus.
NounEdit
knot (plural knots or knot)
- One of a variety of shore birds; red-breasted sandpiper (variously Calidris canutus or Tringa canutus).
- c.1610, Ben Jonson, The Alchemist
- My foot-boy shall eat pheasants, calvered salmons, / Knots, godwits, lampreys: I myself will have / The beards of barbels, served instead of salads […]
- c.1610, Ben Jonson, The Alchemist
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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See alsoEdit
AnagramsEdit
CzechEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
knot m
DeclensionEdit
Further readingEdit
DutchEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle Dutch cnudde, Old Dutch *knotto, from Proto-Germanic *knuttan-, *knuttô.
Related to knod, English knot, West Frisian knotte, Middle High German Knotze, German Knoten, Danish knude, Norwegian knute, Swedish knut, etc.
NounEdit
knot f or m (plural knotten, diminutive knotje n)
- A knot, bun (of hair), skein
- The top or crest (with messy branches) of certain woody plants, notably willows
- A flax seed box
- (dialect) A marble to play with
- A prank, joke
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From the cognate English knot, possibly influenced by Vulgar Latin canutus (“grey-headed", "grizzled”).
NounEdit
knot f or m (plural knotten, diminutive knotje n)
- The bird species Calidris canutus (syn. Tringa canutis)
SynonymsEdit
AnagramsEdit
Middle EnglishEdit
NounEdit
knot
- Alternative form of knotte
PolishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Middle High German knotze.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
knot m inan (diminutive knotek or knocik)
- wick (of a candle)
DeclensionEdit
Further readingEdit
Upper SorbianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Slavic *krъtъ.
NounEdit
knot m anim
Further readingEdit
- “knot” in Soblex