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KNOT
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Irregular inflected forms: knotted , knotting
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A sandpiper that breeds in the Arctic and winters in the southern hemisphere
Synonyms:
Calidris canutus; grayback; greyback; knot
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("knot" is a kind of...):
sandpiper (any of numerous usually small wading birds having a slender bill and piping call; closely related to the plovers)
Holonyms ("knot" is a member of...):
Calidris; genus Calidris (a genus of Scolopacidae)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Any of various fastenings formed by looping and tying a rope (or cord) upon itself or to another rope or to another object
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("knot" is a kind of...):
fastener; fastening; fixing; holdfast (restraint that attaches to something or holds something in place)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "knot"):
Turk's head (an ornamental knot that resembles a small turban)
surgeon's knot (any of several knots used in tying stitches or ligatures)
stopper knot (a knot that prevents a rope from passing through a hole)
square knot (a double knot made of two half hitches and used to join the ends of two cords)
slipknot (a knot at the end of a cord or rope that can slip along the cord or rope around which it is made)
sheepshank (a knot for shortening a line)
prolonge knot; sailor's breastplate (a knot in the rope used to drag a gun carriage)
overhand knot (a simple small knot (often used as part of other knots))
love knot; lover's knot; lovers' knot; true lover's knot; true lovers' knot (a stylized or decorative knot used as an emblem of love)
loop knot (any of various knots used to make a fixed loop in a rope)
hitch (a knot that can be undone by pulling against the strain that holds it; a temporary knot)
hawser bend (a knot uniting the ends of two lines)
half hitch (a knot used to fasten a rope temporarily to an object; usually tied double)
Gordian knot (an intricate knot tied by Gordius, the king of Phrygia, and cut by the sword of Alexander the Great after he heard that whoever undid it would become ruler of Asia)
fisherman's knot; true lover's knot; truelove knot (a knot for tying the ends of two lines together)
fisherman's bend (a knot for tying a line to a spar or ring)
figure eight; figure of eight (a knot having the shape of the numeral 8; tied in a rope that has been passed through a hole or pulley and that prevents the rope from coming loose)
clove hitch (a knot used to fasten a line temporarily to a post or spar)
carrick bend (a knot used to connect the ends of two large ropes or hawsers)
bow; bowknot (a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces)
barrel knot; blood knot (a knot used for tying fishing leaders together; the ends of the two leaders are wrapped around each other two or three times)
Derivation:
knot (tie or fasten into a knot)
knotty (tangled in knots or snarls)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Soft lump or unevenness in a yarn; either an imperfection or created by design
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("knot" is a kind of...):
raggedness; roughness (a texture of a surface or edge that is not smooth but is irregular and uneven)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A tight cluster of people or things
Example:
the bird had a knot of feathers forming a crest
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("knot" is a kind of...):
bunch; clump; cluster; clustering (a grouping of a number of similar things)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Something twisted and tight and swollen
Example:
his stomach was in knots
Synonyms:
gnarl; knot
Classified under:
Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes
Hypernyms ("knot" is a kind of...):
distorted shape; distortion (a shape resulting from distortion)
Derivation:
knot (tangle or complicate)
knot (make into knots; make knots out of)
knotty (tangled in knots or snarls)
Sense 6
Meaning:
A hard cross-grained round piece of wood in a board where a branch emerged
Example:
the saw buckled when it hit a knot
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("knot" is a kind of...):
wood (the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees)
Holonyms ("knot" is a part of...):
board; plank (a stout length of sawn timber; made in a wide variety of sizes and used for many purposes)
Sense 7
Meaning:
(of ships and wind) a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour or about 1.15 statute miles per hour
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("knot" is a kind of...):
rate (a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they knot ... he / she / it knots
Past simple: knotted
Past participle: knotted
-ing form: knotting
Sense 1
Meaning:
Tie or fasten into a knot
Example:
knot the shoelaces
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "knot" is one way to...):
bind; tie (fasten or secure with a rope, string, or cord)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
knot (any of various fastenings formed by looping and tying a rope (or cord) upon itself or to another rope or to another object)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Tangle or complicate
Example:
a ravelled story
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "knot" is one way to...):
enlace; entwine; interlace; intertwine; lace; twine (spin, wind, or twist together)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Antonym:
unknot (become or cause to become undone by separating the fibers or threads of)
Derivation:
knot (something twisted and tight and swollen)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Make into knots; make knots out of
Example:
She knotted her fingers
Classified under:
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing
Hypernyms (to "knot" is one way to...):
create from raw material; create from raw stuff (make from scratch)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "knot"):
macrame (make knotted patterns)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
knot (something twisted and tight and swollen)
Context examples:
The reel of silk has run smoothly enough so far; but I always knew there would come a knot and a puzzle: here it is.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Behind us were grouped the two swarthy half-breeds and the little knot of Indians, while in front and above us towered those huge, ruddy ribs of rocks which kept us from our goal.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The coastguard said the man must have tied up his own hands, fastening the knots with his teeth.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
His whole body was gathered compactly together in the tremendous effort, the muscles writhing and knotting like live things under the silky fur.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
Ten minutes may have passed, and then I heard the clatter of many steps, and a knot of men came clustering through the door.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I found myself one of these, frantically imploring a knot of sailors whom I knew, not to let those two lost creatures perish before our eyes.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The first seemed to be an assembly of heroes and demigods; the other, a knot of pedlars, pick-pockets, highwayman, and bullies.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Sterndale’s fierce face turned to a dusky red, his eyes glared, and the knotted, passionate veins started out in his forehead, while he sprang forward with clenched hands towards my companion.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Neutral particles provide the buoyancy the gnarled knots of magnetic energy need to rise through the sun’s boiling plasma and reach the chromosphere.
(Scientists Uncover Origins of the Sun’s Swirling Spicules, NASA)
He worked the sack of gold out between the lashings and carried it to the water- hole. Already a new skin of ice had formed. This he broke with his fist. Untying the knotted mouth with his teeth, he emptied the contents of the sack into the water.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
