Antonyms for knot


Grammar : Noun, verb
Spell : not
Phonetic Transcription : nÉ’t


Definition of knot

Origin :
  • Old English cnotta "intertwining of ropes, cords, etc.," from Proto-Germanic *knuttan- (cf. Low German knütte, Old Frisian knotta "knot," Dutch knot, Old High German knoto, German Knoten, perhaps also Old Norse knutr "knot, knob"). Figurative sense of "difficult problem" was in Old English (cf. Gordian knot). Symbolic of the bond of wedlock, early 13c. As an ornament of dress, first attested c.1400. Meaning "thickened part or protuberance on tissue of a plant" is from late 14c. The nautical unit of measure (1630s) is from the practice of attaching knotted string to the log line. The ship's speed can be measured by the number of knots that play out while the sand glass is running.
  • 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. [Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa, "A Voyage to South America" 1760]
  • noun bow, loop
  • noun lump; crowd
  • verb weave, complicate
Example sentences :
  • "Stand to it, my hearts of gold," said the old bowman as he passed from knot to knot.
  • Extract from : « The White Company » by Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Wherever there was a knot of midnight roisterers, they quaffed her health.
  • Extract from : « The Sister Years (From "Twice Told Tales") » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • She tied a knot with flashing eyes, as if it throttled a foe.
  • Extract from : « A Tale of Two Cities » by Charles Dickens
  • All the time that she was speaking she was working at a knot in the corner of her handkerchief.
  • Extract from : « Southern Lights and Shadows » by Various
  • There is one question that cuts the knot—that decides where you stand—and where I stand.
  • Extract from : « The Coryston Family » by Mrs. Humphry Ward
  • You have just seen me untie the knot, dissociate the electrons, or what you will.
  • Extract from : « Astounding Stories of Super-Science, November, 1930 » by Various
  • You have tied a lover's-knot here which must be cut asunder.
  • Extract from : « Barnaby Rudge » by Charles Dickens
  • Her thick black hair was twisted into a knot about her head.
  • Extract from : « The First Violin » by Jessie Fothergill
  • She wore a white gown, and her hair was loosely gathered in a knot.
  • Extract from : « The Prisoner of Zenda » by Anthony Hope
  • He was irritated to find that he could not unfasten the knot in which he had tied his reins.
  • Extract from : « Abbe Mouret's Transgression » by Emile Zola

Synonyms for knot

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019