knot
verb
- preforming a craft of interlacing or tying linear material to form knots
noun
- embedding of a circle in R³
- unit of speed
- arrangement of a rope or other linear material for the purpose of fastening
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /nɒt/ / /nɑt/
noun
Etymology: 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.
- 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 […]”
verb
Etymology: 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.
- To form into a knot; to tie with a knot or knots.
“We knotted the ends of the rope to keep it from unravelling.”
“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.”
- 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.
“The party of the papists in England are become more knotted, both in dependence towards Spain, and amongst themselves.”
- To entangle or perplex; to puzzle.
- To form knots.
- To knit knots for a fringe.