knot 
3306 
The Knot of 1'asco, a great ganglion, as it were, of the How evil an historian are you, that leave out the chief 
stem lot the Andes]. knot of all the discourse. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, n. 
system [of the Andes], 
Sir J. Herschel, Physical Geography, p. 130. 
() Naut.: (1) A division of the log-line, so called from 
the aeries of pieces of string stuck through the strands and 
knotted at equal distances on the line, being the space 
between any consecutive two of such knots. When the 
28-second glass is used, the length of the knot is 47.3 feet. 
See log?. (2) A nautical mile. The length of a sea-mile 
varies with the latitude, according to some authorities; 
but the United States Hydrographic Office and Dnited 
States Coast Survey have adopted 6,080.2" feet as its con- 
stant length, the English Admiralty 6,080 feet. See mile. 
In order to remove all uncertainty and to introduce uni- 
formity, this office adopted, several years ago, the value 
which results from considering the nautical mile as equal 
to the one sixtieth part of the length of a degree on the 
great circle of a sphere whose surface is equal to the sur- 
face of the earth. This value, computed on Clarke's sphe- 
roid, is : One nautical mile = 1853.248 metres = 6080. 27 feet, 
a value which corresponds to the adopted length of the 
Admiralty Knot = 6080 feet. 
Report U. S. Coast and dead. Survey, 1881, p. 364. 
(n) In geom., a universal curve in three-dimensional space, 
which, upon being brought into a plane by any process 
of distortion whatever without the crossing of one part 
through another (that is, without passing through a nodal 
form), will always have nodes or crossings. A knot differs 
from a link in being unicursal, while a linking consists of 
two curves or ovals in space, which, after being brought 
into a plane by the above process, are always crossed the 
one with the other ; a lacing consists of three which are 
similarly joined together, independently of any linking of 
pairs of them. An amphichiral knot is one which is its 
own perversion that is, whose image in a mirror does 
not differ from the knot itself in respect to right- or left- 
handedness. (o) In Essex, England, eighty rounds of the 
reel of baize, wool, or yarn, (p) In her. , a piece or two or 
Heraldic Knots. 
i.Lacyknot; 2, Dacre knot; 3,Bowenknot; 4, Wake (Ormondt 
knot ; 5, Stafford knot ; 6, knot of Savoy (of the Order of the Annun- 
ciation ) ; 7, Harrington or true-love knot ; 8, Bouchier knot ; 9, Hene- 
age knot. 
more pieces of cord so intertwined as to form an ornamen- 
tal figure. There are many forms which were in common 
use as badges of certain noble families in the middle ages, 
which have been adopted as bearings in heraldry proper. 
(3) In lace-making, a small and simple ornament project- 
ing from the outer edge of the cordonnet, a variety of the 
fleur-volant. (r) Any figure the lines of which frequent- 
ly intersect each other : as, a garden knot (a parterre). 
The pileres weren y-peynt and pulched ful clene, 
And queynteli i-coruen with curiouse knottes, 
With wyndowes well y-wrougt wide vp o-lofte. 
Piers Plowman's Crede (E. E. T. B.\ 1. 161. 
Flowers worthy of Paradise ; which not nice art 
In beds and curious knots, but nature boon 
Pour'd forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain. 
Milton, P. L., iv. 242. 
Next the streete side, and more contiguous to ye house, 
are knotts in trayle or grasse worke, where likewise runs a 
fountaine. Evelyn, Diary, April 1, 1644. 
() A cluster ; a collection ; a group. 
Not a soul, without thine own foul knot, 
But fears and hates thee. B. Jonson, Catiline, iv. 2. 
A certain knot of ladies took him for a wit. 
Addison, A Beau's Head, 
(f) A swirling wave. [Rare.] 
A knot of the sea washed our tub overboard, wherein our 
fish was a-watering. Winthrop, Hist. New England, 1. 11. 
4. A bond of association ; a close union or tie : 
as, the nuptial knot. 
His owne two hands the holy knotts did knit t, 
That none but death for ever can divide. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. xii. 37. 
night and shades ! 
How are ye join'd with hell in triple knot ! 
Hilton, Comus, 1. 581. 
5. A difficulty, intricacy, or perplexity ; some- 
thing not easily solved; a puzzle. 
It is too hard a knot for me. Shak., T. N., ii. 2, 42. 
A man shall be perplexed with knots, and problems of 
business, and contrary affairs. South, Sermons. 
6. The point on which the action or develop- 
ment of a narrative depends; the gist of a 
matter ; the nucleus or kernel. 
The knotte why that every tale is told, 
If it be taried til that lust be cold 
Of hem that ban it after herkned yore, 
The savour passeth ever lenger the more, 
For fulsomnesse of his prolixitee. 
Chaucer, Squire's Tale, 1. 39:!. 
All the while, no doubt, and even as I write the phrase, 
he [grandfather] moves in my blood, and whispers words 
to nie, and sits efficient in the very knot and centre of my 
being R- L. Stevenson, The Manse. 
7f. In hunting, one of certain morsels of flesh 
from the fore quarters of a stag. 
Sythen rytte thay the foure lymmes, & rent of the hyde, 
Then brek thay the bale, the balez out token, 
LystUy forlancyng, & bere of the knot. 
Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. S.X L 1S34. 
8. A rocky summit. [Prov. Eng.] Anglers' 
doable knot, a neat and secure knot used in joining 
gut-lengths. The ends are laid together pointing in op- 
posite directions, and are passed round each other twice. 
When drawn together, the knot is oblong, and the ends may 
be cut off asclose as can be done with a sharp knife without 
a possibility of their drawing. This knot is indispensable in 
making leaders for trout-fishing and casting-lines for sal- 
mon-fishing. Morris. Artificers' knot. See artificer. 
Bowline-knot, a common form of sailors' knot, in which 
the loop can be made of any size, and does not jam nor ren- 
der. See cut under def. 1. Builders' knot, a clove-hitch. 
See hitch, 6. Daore knot, in her., a knot forming a device 
orbadgeusedbythe Dacre family, and of ten appearing as a 
heraldic bearing. Seecutunderdef.3(p). English knot 
(iiauf.X a method of tying two rope-ends or pieces of gut 
together by making an overhand knot in each around the 
other. Figure-of-eight knot, a form of knot much used 
by sailors, shaped like the figure 8. See cut under def. 1. 
Flemish knot. Same as figure of-eight knot. Qor- 
dian knot. See Gordian. Hard knot, a knot tied in 
such a manner as not to be easily loosened. Harring- 
ton knot, in her., a knot or pattern made of interlacing 
bands, usually torsed or twisted like ropes, showing 
two strands crossing each other saltierwise and passing 
through a lozenge : a badge of the ancient family of Har- 
rington. Compare cut under fret, in which the interlacing 
strips are similarly disposed. See cut under def. 3 (p). 
Heneage knot, in her., a heart-shaped knot or twist of 
rope, the badge of the Heneage family. See cut under.def . 
3 (p\ Herculean knot, a knot which cannot be sev- 
ered. Josephine knot, a knot used to join two pieces 
of thread when both the ends are afterward needed for use. 
Diet, of Needlework. Light-wood knot. See light-wood. 
Man-rope knot, a knot made on the end of a rope by 
opening out the strands, and forming a double wall and 
double crown. 
Matthew Walk- 
er knot (naut.\ 
a knot made by 
interlacing the 
strands at the end 
of a rope in the 
manner shown in 
the cut, used espe- , tf (/m \l I I/* 
cially for the Ian- VC Fj Jl }/ 
yards of the lower 
rigging, to keep 
the end from draw- 
ing through the 
hole in the dead- 
eye : named from 
the inventor. Order Of the Knot, a military order of 
short duration, founded at Naples in the fourteenth cen- 
tury. Overhand knot. See the cut below. Porters' 
knot, a pad for supporting burdens on the head. 
To a Coblers Aul, or Butcher's Knife, 
Or Porter's Knot, commend me ; 
But from a Souldier's Lazy Life, 
Good Heaven pray defend me. 
Quoted in Ashton's Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, 
[II. 201. 
One of the publishers to whom Johnson applied for em- 
ployment . . . exclaimed, " You had better get a porter's 
knot, and cany trunks." Macaulay, Samuel Johnson. 
One Thames Street porter would take the whole seven 
and their bundles on his knot. 
O'Keefe, Fontainebleau, i. 1. 
Matthew Walker Knot. 
a, overhand knot ; b, square or reef knot ; f, granny's-knot. 
Square knot, a knot used in tying reef -points, so formed 
that the ends come out alongside of the standing parts 
and the knot does not jam. Also called reef-knot. Sur- 
geons' knot, a square or reef knot : used in tying a liga- 
ture around a cut artery. To cut the knot. See cut. 
To tie with St. Mary's knott, to hamstring. [Old slang, 
North. Eng. and Scotch.] 
He has tied them a' ui' St. Mary's knot, 
A' these horses but barely three. 
IMck o' the Cow (Child's Ballads, VI. 72). 
True-love or true-lovers' knot, (a) A kind of double 
knot, made with two bows on each side interlacing each 
other, and with two ends : the emblem of interwoven affec- 
tions or of engagement. 
I'll knit it up in silken strings, 
With twenty odd-conceited true-love knots. 
Shak., T. Q. of V., ii. 7, 48. 
They grew till they grew unto the church top, 
And then they could grow no higher ; 
And there they tyed in a true lovers knot, 
Which made all the people admire. 
Fair Margaret ami Sweet William (Child's Ballads. II. 144). 
knot-grass 
Three Times a True-Love's Knot I tye secure ; 
Firm he the Knot, firm may his Love endure. 
Gay, Shepherd's Week, Thursday, 1. 115. 
(!/) In her., same as Harrington knot. (See also bow-knot, 
granny's-knot, slide-knot, slip-knot, wall-knot.) 
knot 1 (not), >.; pret. aud pp. knotted, ppr. knot- 
ting. [< ME. knotten; < knot 1 , n. The older 
verb is knit.] I. trans. 1. To complicate or tie 
in a knot or knots ; form a knot or knots in or 
on: as, to knot a cord or a handkerchief. 
But here's a queen when she rides abroad 
Is always knotting threads. Sealey. 
For many weeks about my loins I wore 
The rope that haled the buckets from the well, 
Twisted as tight as I could knot the noose. 
Tennyson, St. Simeon Stylites. 
2. To fasten or secure by a knot. 
She has knotted the keys upon a string, 
And with her she has them ta'en. 
The Laidleu Worm of Spindleston-heuah (Child's Ballads, 
[I. 282). 
At his side a wretched scrip was hung, 
Wide-patch'd, and knotted to a twisted thong. 
Pope, Odyssey, xiil. 
Hence 3. To entangle; perplex. 
They are catched in knotted law, like nets. 
5. Butter, Hudibras, II. iii. 18. 
4f. To unite or knit closely. 
The party of the Papists in England are become more 
knotted, both in dependence towards Spain, and amongst 
themselves. . 'Bacon, War with Spain. 
5. To remove the knots from, as a woven fabric, 
by pulling them out with small pliers. 6. To 
cover the knots of: a preliminary process in 
painting on wood, so that the knots shall not 
show through. 7. To cover (metals, etc.) with 
knotting. See knotting, 3. 
II. intrans. 1. To form knots or joints, ag in 
plants. 2. To knit knots for fringe; produce 
fancy work made by tying knots in cords. Com- 
pare knotting, knotwork, knotted-bar work. 3. 
To gather in knots ; unite as in a knot. 
Keep it as a cistern, for foul toads 
To knot and gender in ! Shak. , Othello, iv. 2, 62. 
4f. To form flower-buds. 
You cannot have an apple or a cherry but you must 
stay its proper periods, and let It blossom and knot, and 
grow and ripen. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 794. 
knot 2 (not), n. [Also gnat, and dial. Tciuit, Tenet; 
said to be " named after King Canute [AS. Cnuf] , 
who was very fond of it"; but no connecting 
ME. form appears, and if it existed it would 
give a mod. form (see knoutberry) ; there is no 
evidence that Canute was very fond of this bird, 
and no probability that so common a bird would 
be named after a particular person.] 1. The 
robin-snipe; the red-breasted or gray-backed 
sandpiper, Tringa canutus, a bird of the snipe 
family, Scolopatida?. It breeds within the arctic cir- 
cle, and at other seasons than the summer is dispersed 
along most of the sea-coasts of the world. The knot is 10J 
inches long, and 20J inches in extent of wings. In sum- 
mer the under parts are brownish-red; in winter, white. 
The upper parts of the adult are brownish-black, varied 
with tawny and white. The young are ashy above, varied 
with white, and with dark edgings of individual feathers. 
The knot usually goes in flocks, like other small waders, 
and when it is fat its flesh is delicious. 
2. The ring-plover, jEgialitis hiaticnla, whose 
habits on the beach resemble those of the knot. 
Rev. C. Swainson. [Belfast, Ireland.] 
knotberry (not'ber"i), . ; pi. knotberries (-iz). 
[< fcwoi 1 + berry 1 . Cf. knoutberry.] The cloud- 
berry, Rubus Chamwmorus. 
knote (not), n. [Also knot ; appar. a sort of cross 
between knot and node.] Ln mecJi., the point 
where cords, ropes, etc., meet from angular 
directions in funicular machines. More prop- 
erly called node. 
knotfulness (not'ful-nes), n. In geom., the 
number of knots of less knottiness of which a 
given knot is built up. See knotl, 3 (). 
As soon as we come to 8 folds we have some knots which 
may preserve their knottiness even when this condition 
[taking the crossings alternately over and under] is not 
fulfilled. These ought, therefore, to be regarded as proper 
knots and to be included in the census as new and distinct 
types. This is a difficulty of a very formidable order. It 
depends upon the property which I have called knotful- 
ness. Tait, Trans. Koy. Soc. of Edin., XXXII. iii. 504. 
knot-grass (npt'gras), M. 1. A weed of almost 
world-wide distribution, Polygotium anculare : 
so called from the numerous nodes in its stems 
iind its thickly spreading habit, it is a tough 
trailing and branching plant, common in trodden ground, 
and often carpeting dooryards, etc. (Also called knot- 
weed, goose-grass, cow-grass, doonceed, etc.) An infusion of 
H was formerly supposed to retard bodily growth, whence 
shakspere calls it " hindering knot-grass." 
Get you gone, you dwarf ; 
You minimus, of hindering knot-grass made. 
Shak., JL N. D., iii. 2, 329. 
We want a boy extremely for this function 
Kept under for a year with milk and knotgrass. 
Beau, and Fl., Coxcomb, ii. 
