knot meaning

UK /nɒt/ US /nɑt/ 1 syllable

knot (noun): a tight cluster of people or things.

knot has 10 meanings in this dictionary, as noun and verb.

knot as a noun

  1. a tight cluster of people or things
    • a small knot of women listened to his sermon
    • the bird had a knot of feathers forming a crest

    Type of: bunch

  2. any of various fastenings formed by looping and tying a rope (or cord) upon itself or to another rope or to another object

    Type of: fastener

    Kinds: barrel knot, bow, carrick bend, clove hitch, figure eight, fisherman's bend, fisherman's knot, Gordian knot, half hitch, hawser bend, hitch, loop knot

    Related forms: knotty

  3. a hard cross-grained round piece of wood in a board where a branch emerged
    • the saw buckled when it hit a knot

    Type of: wood

  4. (of ships and wind) a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour or about 1.15 statute miles per hour

    Type of: rate

  5. something twisted and tight and swollen
    • their muscles stood out in knots
    • the old man's fists were two great gnarls
    • his stomach was in knots

    Synonyms: gnarl

    Type of: distorted shape

    Related forms: knotty

  6. soft lump or unevenness in a yarn; either an imperfection or created by design

    Synonyms: slub, burl

    Type of: roughness

  7. a sandpiper that breeds in the Arctic and winters in the southern hemisphere

    Synonyms: greyback, grayback, Calidris canutus

    Type of: sandpiper

knot as a verb

  1. make into knots; make knots out of
    • She knotted her fingers

    Type of: create from raw material

    Kinds: macrame

  2. tie or fasten into a knot
    • knot the shoelaces

    Type of: tie

  3. tangle or complicate
    • a ravelled story

    Synonyms: ravel, tangle

    Opposite: unknot

    Type of: intertwine

How to pronounce knot

knot is pronounced /nɒt/ in British English and /nɑt/ in American English. It has 1 syllable.

Words that rhyme with knot

Scrabble score: 8 (letter breakdown)

Word lists: words starting with KN · words ending in OT · 4-letter words

More about knot on Wikipedia.