knot 1
— knotless , adj. — knotlike , adj.
/not/ , n. , v. , knotted, knotting .
n.
1. an interlacing, twining, looping, etc., of a cord, rope, or the like, drawn tight into a knob or lump, for fastening, binding, or connecting two cords together or a cord to something else.
2. a piece of ribbon or similar material tied or folded upon itself and used or worn as an ornament.
3. a group or cluster of persons or things: a knot of spectators.
4. the hard, cross-grained mass of wood at the place where a branch joins the trunk of a tree.
5. a part of this mass showing in a piece of lumber, wood panel, etc.
6. Anat. , Zool. a protuberance or swelling on or in a part or process, as in a muscle.
7. a protuberance in the tissue of a plant; an excrescence on a stem, branch, or root; a node or joint in a stem, esp. when of swollen form.
8. any of various fungal diseases of trees characterized by the formation of an excrescence, knob, or gnarl.
9. an involved, intricate, or difficult matter; complicated problem.
10. Naut.
a. a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile or about 1.15 statute miles per hour.
b. a unit of 47 feet 3 inches (13.79 meters) on a log line, marked off by knots.
c. a nautical mile.
11. a bond or tie: the knot of matrimony.
12. Also called joint, node . Math. in interpolation, one of the points at which the values of a function are assigned.
13. tie the knot , Informal. to marry: They will tie the knot in November.
v.t.
14. to tie in a knot; form a knot in.
15. to secure or fasten by a knot.
16. to form protuberances, bosses, or knobs in; make knotty.
v.i.
17. to become tied or tangled in a knot.
18. to form knots or joints.
[ bef. 1000; (n.) ME knot ( te ), OE cnotta; c. D knot, G knoten to KNIT; (v.) ME, deriv. of the n. ]
Syn. 3. company, band, crew, gang, crowd. 7. lump, knob, gnarl. 9. perplexity, puzzle, conundrum.
knot 2
/not/ , n.
either of two large sandpipers, Calidris canutus or C. tenuirostris, that breed in the Arctic and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Also called grayback .
[ 1425-75; late ME; orig. uncert. ]