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knot

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A looping of a piece of string or of any other long.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

naht
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈnɑt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A looping of a piece of string or of any other long, flexible material that cannot be untangled without passing one or both ends of the material through its loops.

  2. A maze-like pattern.

  3. Local swelling in a tissue area, especially skin, often due to injury.

  4. A tightened and contracted part of a muscle that feels like a hard lump under the skin.

  5. Any knob, lump, swelling, or protuberance.

  6. The swelling of the bulbus glandis in members of the dog family, Canidae.

verb

  1. To unite closely; to knit together.

  2. transitive

    To form wrinkles in the forehead, as a sign of concentration, concern, surprise, etc.

  3. Tie or fasten into a knot

  4. transitive

    To form into a knot; to tie with a knot or knots.

  5. Make into knots; make knots out of

  6. intransitive

    To knit knots for a fringe.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A looping of a piece of string or of any other long, flexible material that cannot be untangled without passing one or both ends of the material through its loops.

Used this way, knot is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use knot

  • “A small knot of women listened to his sermon.”noun
  • “The saw buckled when it hit a knot.”noun
  • “Their muscles stood out in knots.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

square knotslip knotoverhand knotpine knotsmall knottight knothard knotroot knot

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • knotted marjoramnounCompound term

    Aromatic European plant native to Mediterranean and Turkey.

  • bowline knotnounCompound term

    A loop knot that neither slips nor jams.

  • fisherman's knotnounCompound term

    A knot for tying the ends of two lines together.

  • flat knotnounCompound term

    A square knot used in a reef line.

  • french knotnounCompound term

    A stitch made by looping the thread several times around the needle before inserting it into the fabric.

  • gordian knotnounCompound term

    Any very difficult problem.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • knotty pinenounRelated term

    Pine lumber with many knots.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: to unite closely

untangle

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.