/ nɪt; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb ( knit·ted , knit·ted )
HELP NOTE : In senses 3 and 4 knit is usually used for the past tense and past participle.
1.
to make clothes, etc. from wool or cotton thread using two long thin knitting needles or a machine :
[ vn ]
I knitted this cardigan myself.
[ vnn ]
She's knitting the baby a shawl.
[ v ]
Lucy was sitting on the sofa, knitting.
2.
to use a basic stitch in knitting :
[ vn ]
Knit one row, purl one row.
[also v ]
3.
knit (sb/sth) (together) to join people or things closely together or to be joined closely together :
[ vn ]
a closely / tightly knit community (= one in which relationships are very close)
Society is knit together by certain commonly held beliefs.
[also v ]
4.
( of broken bones ) to grow together again to form one piece; to make broken bones grow together again
SYN mend :
[ v ]
The bone failed to knit correctly.
[also vn ]
•
IDIOMS
- knit your brow(s)
■ noun
[ usually pl. ] a piece of clothing that has been knitted :
winter knits
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English cnyttan , of West Germanic origin; related to German dialect knütten , also to knot . The original sense was tie in or with a knot , hence join, unite (sense 3); an obsolete Middle English sense knot string to make a net gave rise to sense 1.