Knot sb.1. World English Historical Dictionary

Knot sb.1. World English Historical Dictionary Dictionary Biographies Literary Criticism Welcome Terms of Service ⧏ Previous Next ⧐ Contents Slice Contents Key Bibliographic Record Murray’s New English Dictionary. 1901, rev. 2025. Knot sb.1 Forms: 1 cnotta, 3 cnot, 3–5 cnotte, 3–7 knotte, 5–8 knott, 3– knot. [OE. cnotta = Du. knot, LG. knütte, MG. knotte, MHG. knotze knob, knot, etc.:—OTeut. *knutton-, (whence KNIT v.); cf. OHG. chnodo, chnoto (MHG. knode, knote, G. knoten):—OTeut. *knóþon-, knoðón-, with variation of consonant due to difference of stress.

1   ON. had knûtr knot, knob, knûta knucklebone (Sw. knut Da. knude knot), which may be connected with the above forms, but the difference in vowel makes difficulties. The relationship (if any) of ON. knǫttr (:—*knattu-z) ball, and L. nōdus (perh. for gnōdus) knot, is also obscure.]

2   I.  1. An intertwining or complication of the parts of one or more ropes, cords or strips of anything flexible enough, made for the purpose of fastening them together or to another object, or to prevent slipping, and secured by being drawn tight; a tie in a rope, necktie, etc.; also, a tangle accidentally drawn tight. To make, † knit, or tie a knot (in), to knot a piece of string or a handkerchief, esp. as a reminder. Also in allusions to the knot in a halter for hanging.

3 c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., II. 28. He afunde … þa snode mid eallum cnottum swa fæste ʓewriðen swa heo ær wæs.

4 c. 1290.  Beket, 1445, in S. Eng. Leg., I. 148. Þe knottes gnowen al is flechs: a-boute bi eche side.

5 14[?].  Chaucer’s Sqr.’s T. 663 (Lansd.). Bot I wil here nowe maake a knotte To þe time it come next to my lotte.

6 c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., II. v. 166. Make a knot on his girdil.

7 1542–3.  Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII., c. 3. The bonde of euerywhiche faggotte to conteine three quarters of a yarde at the leaste, besyde the knotte.

8 1601.  Shaks., All’s Well, IV. iii. 163. This is Mounsieur Parrolles the gallant militarist,… that had the whole theoricke of warre in the knot of his scarfe.

9 1631.  R. Bolton, Comf. Affl. Consc. (1635), 333. One knot in a thread will stay the Needle’s Passage as well as five hundred.

10 1647.  Cowley, Mistr., The Tree, v. Go tye the dismal Knot (why shouldst thou live?).

11 1838.  Thirlwall, Greece, II. xiv. 200. He tied sixty knots in a leathern thong, and bade them unfasten one every day, till the prescribed interval had expired.

12 1873.  Act 36 & 37 Vict., c. 71 § 39. Such mesh [in a net] shall not be less than one and a half inch from knot to knot.

13   b.  Often with qualifying word, naming different forms of knots, as barber’s k., bowline k., diamond k., draw-k., fisher’s k., French k., granny’s k., loop-k., reef-k., † riding k., running k., slip-k., surgeon’s k., wall-k., water-k., weaver’s k., etc.; for the more important of these, see the first element.

14 c. 1320.  Sir Beues (MS. A), 3220. On a towaile ȝhe made knotte riding, Aboute his nekke ȝhe hit þrew.

15 1552.  Huloet, Knotte whiche runneth to, called a rydynge knot, capulum.

16 1726.  G. Roberts, Four Years Voy., 112. And making a running bowling Knot on the End of another Rope, I cast it over his Tail Fin.

17 1769.  Falconer, Dict. Marine (1789), Knot, a … knob formed on the extremity of a rope, by untwisting the ends … and interweaving them … amongst each other. There are several sorts, which differ in … form and size: the principal of these are the diamond-knot, the rose-knot, the wall-knot, or walnut.

18 1795.  Hutton, Math. Dict., s.v., Fig. 11, a Barber’s knot, or a knot for cawls of wigs.

19 1813.  J. Thomson, Lect. Inflam., 267. We passed,… a crooked needle under the artery, threaded with a double waxed thread, part whereof we passed above the aperture in the vessel, and the other below, which were afterwards tied with a double knot called the surgeon’s knot.

20 1860.  All Year Round, No. 66. 382. ‘Which knot?’ asked Toby. ‘Single or double wall, single or double diamond, Matthew Walker, spritsail-sheet, stopper, or shroud?’

21 1881.  Hamersly, Naval Encycl., 421. They [knots] … are named either from the manner in which they are made, or the use to which they are applied, as stopper knot, diamond knot, double-diamond knot, single and double wall knots, etc.

22 c. 1885.  Weldon’s Pract. Needlework, III. 3/1. Flowers are mostly worked in satin stitch highly raised, embellished with French knots.

23 1899.  W. G. P. Townsend, Embroidery, vi. 90. French Knots—A very ancient stitch, much used by the Chinese for all kinds of elaborate embroidery.

24   † c.  Astron. The star α Piscium, situated in the ‘tie’ of the lines or ribbons imagined to connect the two fishes in the constellation Pisces. Obs.

25 1551.  Recorde, Cast. Knowl. (1556), 267. The Fyshes, tyed by the tayles with a common Lyne:… and where those two lines are knitte togyther, there is one starre more, whiche is called the Knotte.

26 1727–41.  Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Pisces, That [star] next the knot in the north. line…. 1st before the knot in the south. line.

27   2.  Such a tie used or worn as an ornament or adjunct to a dress; a bow of ribbon; a cockade or epaulette; esp. in obs. phrase a suit of knots.

28   Often with distinctive word prefixed: as breast, shoulder, sword, top, true-love knot, q.v.

29 a. 1400–50.  Alexander, 4917. With cumly knottis & with koyntis & knopis of perle.

30 1552.  Huloet, Knotte of a capbande, or hatbande, or lace.

31 1668.  Etheredge, She wou’d if She cou’d, III. i. We will only fancy a suit of Knots or two at this shop.

32 1708.  Brit. Apollo, No. 75. 4/2. The Officers to wear … a mourning Knot on their left Arm.

33 1713.  Gay, Guard., No. 149, ¶ 18. A lady of genius will give a genteel air to her whole dress by a well-fancied suit of knots.

34 1891.  Mrs. Newman, Begun in Jest, I. 209. Her grey morning gown, with its soft frillings of lace and knots of pale, coral-coloured ribbon.

35   b.  Her. (See quot. 1892.)

36 1828–40.  Berry, Encycl. Her.

37 1865.  Kingsley, Herew., Prel. The badge in the ‘Wake Knot,’ in which … two monks’ girdles are worked into the form of the letter W.

38 1892.  Woodward & Burne, Heraldry, II. 585. Knots of particular form were not infrequently used as badges; e.g. the Stafford knot, the Bourchier knot, the Wake and Ormond knot; in all these the silk is twined having some resemblance to the initial letter of the family name. In the Bowen knot the allusion is double, it is formed of four bows, or loops, and each bears a resemblance to one form of the Greek letter Β. Knots were also used to unite the badges of two families which had merged into one; or the badge of an office to a personal one.

39   3.  Naut. A piece of knotted string fastened to the log-line, one of a series fixed at such intervals that the number of them that run out while the sand-glass is running indicates the ship’s speed in nautical miles per hour; hence, each of the divisions so marked on the log-line, as a measure of the rate of motion of the ship (or of a current, etc.). Also attrib. with prefixed numeral = ‘running (so many) knots.’

40 1633.  T. James, Voy., 24. It did runne two knots and a halfe in two glasses.

41 1669.  Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., IV. 146. The distance between every one of the Knots must be 50 Foot; as many of these as run out in half a Minute, so many Miles or Minutes the Ship saileth in an Hour.

42 1760–72.  trans. Juan & Ulloa’s Voy. (ed. 3), I. 9. The distance between the knots on the log-line should contain 1/120 of a mile, supposing the glass to run exactly half a minute.

43 1840.  R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, xxvi. 87. A light wind … carrying us at the rate of four or five knots.

44 1860.  Merc. Marine Mag., VII. 169. A ten-knot breeze was blowing.

45 1900.  Daily News, 10 Jan., 5/2. A torpedo-boat destroyer … had made a record speed of 351/2 knots, which was almost exactly equal to 41 miles an hour.

46   b.  Hence loosely used as if equivalent to ‘nautical mile,’ in such phrases as 20 knots an hour.

47 1748.  Anson’s Voy., I. iii. 24. The ship went ten knots an hour.

48 1772–84.  Cook, Voy. (1799), V. 1828. The strong tide, though even here it ran five knots an hour.

49 1833.  Marryat, P. Simple, xxxviii. We were going twelve knots an hour, and running away from them as fast as we could.

50   4.  A definite quantity of thread, yarn, etc., varying with the commodity, being a certain number of coils tied by a knot.

51 c. 1540.  Churchw. Acc. St. Dunstan’s, Canterbury (MS.). For a knott of sylke ijd.

52 1641.  Best, Farm. Bks. (Surtees), 16. A loose kinde of two plettes, which is usually sold for 3 half-pence and sometimes for 2d. a knotte; there should bee in everie knotte 18 fathames.

53 1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, III. vi. 288/2. A knot is a Hundred Threds round the Reel, at which place Housewives make a Katch, as some call it, or an Hank.

54 1875.  Temple & Sheldon, Hist. Northfield, Mass., 161. A run of yarn consisted of twenty knots, a knot was composed of forty threads, and a thread was seventy-four inches in length, or once round the reel.

55   5.  More fully Porter’s knot: ‘A kind of double shoulder-pad, with a loop passing round the forehead, the whole roughly resembling a horse-collar, used by London market-porters for carrying their burdens’ (Cassell’s Encycl. Dict.).

56   (Perh. originally a rope tied or knotted into a loop.)

57 1719.  D’Urfey, Pills (1872), V. 75. Tom the Porter, Companion of the Pot, Who stands in the Street with his Rope and Knot.

58 c. 1737.  in Boswell, Johnson, an. 1737. Mr Wilcox … eyed his robust frame attentively, and with a significant look, said, ‘You had better buy a porter’s knot.’

59 1840.  Dickens, Barn. Rudge, xlix. Preceded by a man who carried the immense petition on a porter’s knot through the lobby to the door of the House of Commons.

60 1866.  Daily Tel., 12 Jan., 5/5. Fathers of families who should have carried porters’ knots, so heavy was their fardel of toys.

61   6.  A design or figure formed of crossing lines; an intricate flourish of the pen. † Endless knot, the five-pointed figure consisting of a continuous self-crossing line, otherwise called pentacle, pentagram or pentangle.

62 13[?].  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 630. Fyue poyntez, & vche lyne vmbe-lappez & loukez in oþer, & ay quere hit is endelez, & englych hit callen Ouer-al, as I here, þe endeles knot.

63 1638.  Sir T. Herbert, Trav. (ed. 2), 197. In blew, red, and yellow tinctures, commixt with Arabiq knots and letters.

64 a. 1680.  Butler, Rem. (1759), I. 210. As Scriveners take more Pains to learn the Slight Of making Knots, than all the Hands they write.

65   7.  A flower-bed laid out in a fanciful or intricate design; also, more generally, Any laid-out garden plot; a flower-knot. Now chiefly dial.

66 1494.  Fabyan, Chron., VII. ccxxxviii. 277. An howse wrought lyke vnto a knot in a garden, called a mase.

67 1502.  Acc., in A. Amherst, Gardening (1895), 84. For diligence in making knottes in the Duke’s garden. Clypping of knottes, and sweeping the said garden.

68 1577.  B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb. (1586), 66. Basyell … is an hearbe that is used to be set in the middest of knottes,… for the excellent savour that it hath.

69 1622.  Peacham, Compl. Gentl., xix. (1634), 235. Here are the goodliest walkes in Europe, for the trees themselves are placed in curious knots as we use to set our herbes in gardens.

70 1667.  H. More, Div. Dial., II. v. (1713), 97. They do not water the Walks of the Garden, but only the Beds or Knots wherein the Flowers grow.

71 1737.  G. Smith, Cur. Relat., I. i. 49. The Borders of the Beds were lin’d with Box, and beautifully garnish’d with choice Flowers, as were the Knots, in each of which stood a handsome Pot of a choice foreign Plant.

72 1758.  L. Temple, Sketches, 14. More pleasing and beautiful than that insipid, childish, uncomfortable Bauble called a Flower-knot.

73 1824.  Miss Ferrier, Inher., lxviii. I must see if my flower knots are arranged according to rule.

74   8.  A central thickened meeting-point of lines, nerves, etc.; esp. in Phys. Geog., an elevated point or region in which several mountain-chains meet.

75 1861.  Herschel, Phys. Geog., § 144. The knot of Pasco, a great ganglion, as it were, of the system [of the Andes].

76 1865.  Chambers’ Encycl., VII. 436/1. The Knot [of Cuzco in Peru] comprises six minor mountain-chains, and has an area thrice larger than that of Switzerland.

77   fig.  18[?].  Stevenson, Manse, Wks. 1894, Misc. I. 160. He [grandfather] moves in my blood … and sits efficient in the very knot and centre of my being.

78   9.  Geom. A unicursal curve in three-dimensional space, which, on being distorted in any way so as to bring it into a plane without passing one part through another, will always have nodes.

79 1877.  Tait, in Trans. R. Soc. Edin., XXVIII. 145. I was led to the consideration of the forms of knots by Sir W. Thomson’s Theory of Vortex Atoms. Ibid., 164. Thus this 4-fold knot, in each of its forms, can be deformed into its own perversion. In what follows all knots possessing this property will be called Amphicheiral.

80 1884.  Kirkman, ibid. XXXII. 281. Nothing general seems to have been written on knots of more than seven crossings.

81   II.  Figurative applications of 1.

82   10.  fig. Something intricate, involved, or difficult to trace out or explain; a tangle or difficulty; a knotty point or problem. Gordian knot: see GORDIAN 1 c.

83 c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., II. 386. ʓet her is oðer cnotta ealswa earfoðe, þæt is, ‘Nan man ne astihð to heofenum, buton se ðe of heofenum astah.’

84 a. 1225.  Leg. Kath., 1157. Ich habbe uncnut summe of þeos cnotti cnotten.

85 c. 1400.  Rom. Rose, 4698. Unto hym that love wole flee, The knotte may unclosed bee.

86 1638–48.  G. Daniel, Eclog., iii. 185. All the Subtle Knotts, which crabbed Heads Have twist.

87 1676.  Temple, Lett., to Sir J. Williamson, Wks. 1731, II. 397. This Knot is of those that must be cut through, and cannot be untied.

88 1784.  Cowper, Task, II. 520. Knots worthy of solution, which alone A Deity could solve.

89 1876.  Freeman, Norm. Conq., V. xxvii. 719. The death of John cut the knot.

90 1876.  T. Hardy, Ethelberta, I. xx. 212. ’Tis one of the greatest knots in service—the smoke question.

91   b.  The central or main point of something intricate, involved or difficult; the main point in a problem; the complication in the plot of a tale or drama; that in which the difficulty of anything centers.

92 c. 1386.  Chaucer, Sqr.’s T., 393. The knotte why þat euery tale is toold If it be taried til that lust be coold … The sauour passeth euer lenger the moore.

93 c. 1418.  Pol. Poems (Rolls), II. 243. He that can be Cristes clerc, And knowe the knottes of his crede.

94 1573–80.  Baret, Alv., K 122. The knot and principall point of the matter.

95 1653.  Urquhart, Rabelais, I. xiii. By and by shall you … know the whole mysterie and knot of the matter.

96 1881.  Gladstone, Sp., 7 April. The small holdings … the very knot of the difficulty not yet overcome.

97   11.  Something that forms or maintains a union of any kind; a tie, bond, link.

98 1393.  Langl., P. Pl., C. XVIII. 127. [Holy Church is] Charite,… Lyf, and loue, and leaute, in o by-leyue and lawe, And loue a knotte of leaute, and of leel by-leyue.

99 c. 1460.  G. Ashby, Dicta Philos., 1142. Thre thinges be in a right simpul knot, First goode counseil in hym that is not herde [etc.].

100 1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 285 b. And therfore it is called of Saynt Paule the knot of perfeccyon.

101 1538.  Starkey, England, II. ii. 178. I remembyr the knot betwyx the body and the soule.

102 1587.  Fleming, Contn. Holinshed, III. 1576/2. Ingratitude … and treason … linked togither with manie knots of other shamefull sinnes.

103 1692.  Dryden, St. Euremont’s Ess., 362. Policy had not as yet united Men by the Knots of a reasonable Society.

104 1701.  Rowe, Amb. Step-Moth., I. i. To draw The Knot, which holds our common Interest, closer.

105   b.  spec. The tie or bond of wedlock; the marriage or wedding knot.

106 a. 1225.  Leg. Kath., 1525. Swa wit beoð ifestnet & iteiet in an, & swa þe cnotte is icnut bituhhen unc tweien.

107 c. 1230.  Hali Meid., 33. Beo þe cnot icnute anes of wedlac.

108 1592.  Shaks., Rom. & Jul., IV. ii. 24. Send for the Countie,… Ile haue this knot knit vp to morrow morning.

109 1698.  Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 94. But the Cazy … can loose the Knot when they plead a Divorce.

110 1828.  Craven Dial., s.v., ‘To tie a knot wi the tongue, at yan cannot louze wi yan’s teeth,’ i. e. to get married.

111   † 12.  A bond or obligation; a binding condition; a spell that binds. Obs.

112 c. 1460.  Towneley Myst., vii. 107. Shall I nowsyng you a fytt, With my mynstrelsy; loke ye do it well in wrytt, And theron a knot knytt, ffor it is prophecy.

113 1534.  More, Treat. on Passion, Wks. 1286/1. All these supernaturall giftes he gaue him with the knot of thys condicion, that yf hee brake hys commaundement, then shuld be leese them al.

114 a. 1627.  Middleton, Witch, I. ii. (1885), V. 374. Knit with these charms and retentive knots, Neither the man begets nor woman breeds.

115 1651.  Hobbes, Leviath., IV. xlvii. 384. This was the first knot upon their Liberty.

116 1813.  Scott, Trierm., Introd. viii. Of the dread knot a wizard tied, In punishment of maiden’s pride.

117   III.  transf. A hard or firm mass such as is formed by a knot tied in a string, etc.

118   13.  A hard lump in an animal body, either in a softer tissue, or on a smooth surface; a swelling or protuberance in a muscle, nerve, gland, etc.; a knob or enlargement in a bone; a tumor, ganglion, wart, pimple, or the like; the lump that seems to gather in the throat in strong emotion.

119 a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 2. Þe on riwleð þe heorte, þe makeð hire efne & smeðe, wiðute knotte & dolke of woh inwit.

120 13[?].  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1334. Þen brek þay þe bale, þe balez out token Lystily forlancyng & bere of þe knot.

121 c. 1400.  Beryn, 2513. Strecching forth his fyngirs, in siȝt,… Without[en] knot or knor, or eny signe of goute.

122 c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 280/2. Knotte yn the fleshe, vndyr the skynne, glandula.

123 a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546), L vj. Thei found his handes hard and ful of hard knottes.

124 1606.  Shaks., Tr. & Cr., V. iii. 33. Let grow thy Sinews till their knots be strong.

125 1688.  Lond. Gaz., No. 2351/4. A Sorrel Horse,… a dry knot on the near Leg behind.

126 1718.  Rowe, trans. Lucan, Notes 32. The Knots of Love. These are little Excrescences of Flesh upon the Forehead of Foals.

127 1774.  Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), III. 62. They [the horns of the ibex] are bent backward, full of knots; and it is generally asserted that there is a knot added every year.

128 1859.  Tennyson, Elaine, 736. The Queen, who sat With lips severely placid, felt the knot Climb in her throat.

129   14.  A thickened part or protuberance in the tissue of a plant; an excrescence on a stem, branch or root; a node on a stem, esp. when of swollen form, as the joints in grasses; the hard mass formed in a trunk at the insertion of a branch or round the place of insertion of an abortive or dead branch, causing a rounded cross-grained piece in a board, which is apt to fall out, and leave a knot-hole. Also, a bud; in (the) knot, in bud, budding. Also (pl.) a disease that attacks plum and cherry trees (see quot. 1845).

130 1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVII. i. (MS. Bodl.), lf. 105 b/1. Euerich tree herbe and gras haþ a rote: and in euerich rote manye maner knottes and stringes. Ibid., lxxiii. lf. 207/2.

131 c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 118. He may not breke a knotte of a straw wiþ hise teeþ.

132 1523.  Fitzherb., Husb., § 25. Quyche … hath many knottes towarde the roote. Ibid., § 130. Apple trees that haue knottes in the bowes.

133 1601.  Holland, Pliny (1634), II. 165. If any person … gather one of these tender knots or buds [of the pomegranate] with 2 fingers only.

134 1606.  Shaks., Tr. & Cr., I. iii. 316. Blunt wedges riue hard knots.

135 a. 1670.  Hacket, Abp. Williams, II. 88. The Citron Tree…. It bore some ripe ones [fruits], and some sour ones, some in the Knot, and some in the Blossom altogether.

136 1703.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 111. In Deal-boards, those Boughs or Branches are Knots.

137 1787.  Winter, Syst. Husb., 51. Couch and some other weeds vegetate at every joint or knot.

138 1796.  C. Marshall, Garden., ii. (1813), 21. The flowers of many proceed from a bud or knot.

139 1845.  Downing, Fruits Amer., 270. The knots is a disease attacking bark and wood … [with] the appearance of large, irregular black lumps, with a hard, cracked, uneven surface, quite dry within.

140 Mod. dial., The may is in knot.

141   † b.  Phr. To seek (search for, look for, find) a knot or knots in a rush or bulrush (Lat. nodum in scirpo quærere), to seek or make difficulties where there are none; also, to seek a knot in a ring. Obs.

142 1340.  Ayenb., 253. Þet zekþ þet uel ine þe aye oþer þane knotte ine þe resse.

143 1563–87.  Foxe, A. & M. (1684), II. 387. To strain at gnats, to stumble at straws, to seek knots in rushes.

144 a. 1592.  Greene, Jas. IV., III. ii. They seek a knot in a ring that would wrong my master or his servants in this court.

145 1625.  Hart, Anat. Ur., I. iii. 36. To enquire after [this], were to search for a knot in a rush.

146 1712.  Oldisworth, Odes Horace, II. 7/2. The Grammarians therefore do in this place look for a Knot in a Bull-rush.

147 a. 1734.  North, Exam., III. vii. § 43 (1740), 533. Those, that sought Knots in Bulrushes to obstruct the King’s Affairs in Parliament.

148   15.  A knob or embossed ornamentation in carved or hammered work; a stud employed as an ornament or for fastening; a boss; also, the carved foliage on the capital of a column (Parker, Gloss. Archit., 1875). Friar’s knots: see FRIAR 9.

149 13[?].  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 577. Greuez, With polaynez piched þer-to, policed ful clene, Aboute his knez knaged wyth knotez of golde.

150 c. 1394.  P. Pl. Crede, 161. Þe pileres weren … queynteli i-coruen wiþ curiouse knottes.

151 1412–20.  Lydg., Chron. Troy, II. xi. Eche caruer and curious ioyner To make knottes w’ many a queynt floure.

152 1534.  in Peacock, Eng. Ch. Furniture (1866), 191. Item a shaft of siluer for the same crosse with a roll gilte & iij knottes gilte of the whiche knottes euery one hath vj roses enamelid with asure.

153 1664.  in Bradshaw & Wordsworth, Lincoln Stat. (1897), 645. Vehemently suspected to haue secretly purloyned … much of the lead and soulder … and many of the ould window knotts; and to haue sould them to diuerse pewterers.

154 1683.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Printing, xx. ¶ 3. These Knots are small square pieces of Box-wood.

155 1812–6.  J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, I. 163. A boss or knot at the centre intersections.

156 1849–50.  Weale, Dict. Terms, Knot or Knob, a boss; a round bunch of leaves or flowers, or other ornament of a similar kind.

157   16.  A hill or eminence of moderate height; esp. a rocky hill or summit. Frequent in proper names of hills in the north-west of England. Cf. KNOB 2.

158 13[?].  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1431. In a knot, bi a clyffe, at þe kerre syde, Þer as þe rogh rocher vn-rydely watz fallen.

159 1594.  Norden, Spec. Brit., Essex, 11. Sundrie valleis ther are, which of necessitie require hills; but they are but small knottes,… makinge a difference betwene the valley and the higher grounde.

160 1785.  Hutton, Bran New Wark, Prol. 10. Whilst I grovel amongst these knots and barrows.

161 1828.  Craven Dial., Knot, a rocky summit, as Bolland knot, Nursaw knot.

162 1887.  Pall Mall Gaz., 25 June, 6/1. The loyal bonfires were descried by the watchers on Arnside Knott…. Some mischievous boys had set light to the gorse and undergrowth at the foot of the knott.

163   17.  A mass formed by the aggregation and cohesion of particles; esp. one that has formed as a hard kernel in the surrounding softer material; a lump, clot, concretion.

164   Glass-making. In crown glass, = KNOB sb. 1, BULL’S EYE 1 (Dict. Archit., 1863–9); in flint glass, a defect caused by the presence of foreign matter. Geol. A concretion of foreign matter in some schistose rocks. (Quot. 1625 is doubtful.)

165 1625.  B. Jonson, Staple of N., II. iii. I haue lost two stone Of suet … posting hither, You might haue followed me like a watering pot, And seene the knots I made along the street.

166 1703.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 250. It must be extreamly beaten, which will break all the knots of Lime.

167 a. 1728.  Woodward, Nat. Hist. Fossils (1729), I. I. 186. A Knot of Black-Lead, that, happening to be form’d within the Verge of another, has a Sinus.

168 1821.  Clare, Vill. Minstr., I. 135. Insects of mysterious birth … Doubtless brought by moisture forth, Hid in knots of spittle white.

169 1838.  Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7), XVII. 7. The straining of the stuff [pulp], and thereby keeping out of the paper all the knots and hard substances.

170   18.  A small group, cluster, band or company of persons or things (gathered together in one place, or associated in any way). Of a knot, in union or combination, associated together. a. Of persons.

171 13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., B. 787. Sant Iohan hem syȝ al in a knot, On þe hyl of Syon.

172 a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Edw. IV., 216. All they came together in one knot to the citie.

173 1601.  Shaks., Jul. C., III. i. 117. So often shall the knot of vs be call’d, The Men that gaue their Country liberty.

174 1639.  W. Mountagu, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 278. My Lord Sey and my Lord Brooke, and some of that knott.

175 1662.  Pepys, Diary, 16 Dec. All do conclude Mr. Coventry, and Pett, and me, to be of a knot.

176 1704.  Swift, Mech. Operat. Spir., Misc. (1711), 287. A Knot of Irish Men and Women.

177 1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vii. II. 225. There was scarcely a market town in England without at least a knot of separatists.

178 1874.  Green, Short Hist., viii. § 9. 557. Within the House … a vigorous knot of politicians was resolved to prolong its existence.

179   b.  Of things.

180 1607–12.  Bacon, Ess., Fortune (Arb.), 376. The Milken Way in the Sky … is a meeting or knot of a number of smalle Starres.

181 1698.  Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 6. We were close under St. Iago, another Island of the same Knot.

182 1825.  Scott, Talism., ii. They had now arrived at the knot of palm-trees.

183 a. 1853.  Robertson, Lect., ii. (1858), 84. You will have … not an institution, but a knot of clubs.

184 1875.  Whitney, Life Lang., xii. 263. A host of lesser knots of idioms.

185   IV.  19. attrib. and Comb., as knot-bed, -garden (see sense 7); knot-maker, -tier, -tightener; knot-free, -green, -haired, -like adjs.; knot-hole, (a) a hole in a board, etc., caused by the falling out of a knot; (b) the hollow formed in the trunk of a tree, by the decay of a branch; knot-horn moth, a moth of the genus Phycita; knot-ribbon, ribbon used in making bows or knots; knot-stitch, a stitch by which ornamental knots are made; knot-wood, wood that is full of knots; esp. pine.

186 1665–76.  Rea, Flora (ed. 2), 232. Directions for the … making of a *Knot-bed.

187 1648.  Herrick, Hesper., Charm for Stables. The Manes shall be, Of your horses, all *knot-free.

188 1519.  Horman, Vulg., 172. The *knot-garden serueth for pleasure: the potte garden for profitte.

189 a. 1722.  Lisle, Husb. (1757), 208 (E. D. S.). Red-straw wheat must be gathered *knot-green, that is, whilst the knots in the straw are green.

190 1659.  T. Pecke, Parnassi Puerp., 125. *Knot-hair’d Sicambrians And Natures frisled Æthiopians.

191 1726.  G. Roberts, Four Years Voy., 284. I found one great Leak, which was a *Knot Hole.

192 1889.  Baring-Gould, Arminell (1890), I. i. 12. Fanny … detected an eye inspecting her through a knot-hole, laughed, and then turned crimson.

193 1894.  Spectator, 18 Aug., 216/1. The various species of *knot-horn moths (Phycidæ).

194 1776–96.  Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), II. 347. Leaves with *knot-like joints.

195 1888.  Pall Mall Gaz., 26 Jan., 10/1. The trade of *‘knot-maker,’ or ‘tier of cravats,’ is not one of the least lucrative callings in Paris just now.

196 1851.  Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib., 1145. Ribbon for military decorations. *Knot ribbon.

197 1645.  Milton, Tetrach., Wks. (1851), 163 (Gen. ii. 24). This vers … is the great *knot tier, which hath undon by tying, and by tangling, millions of guiltles consciences.

198 © 2025 WEHD.com