knot

«knot» in Mova's school dictionary: A place where a piece of string, rope or ribbon is tied… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a knot, knots); verb (knot, knots, knotted, knotting)

meaning for a pupil

1) A place where a piece of string, rope or ribbon is tied around itself or another piece. tree →

2) To tie a knot or to become tangled. tree →

3) A tangled lump in hair or thread. tree →

4) A hard, dark round spot in wood where a branch grew. tree →

5) A unit of speed for ships, boats, planes and wind: one nautical mile per hour. tree →

6) A tight, uncomfortable feeling (a knot in my stomach from nerves). tree →

7) A lightered knot is a piece of resin-rich wood that burns well and is used as a torch. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life: tying shoelaces, ropes, parcels and hair ties. In scouting and sailing safety, strong knots (reef knot, bowline) hold boats and climbers safely. In science and geography, wind and boat speeds are given in knots. In stories «a knot in my stomach» shows worry. Phrases: tie a knot, untie a knot, tie the knot (get married), in knots, knotted hair.

examples

• I tied a knot in my shoelace. tree →
• Can you help me undo this knot? tree →
• My hair is full of knots after the wind. tree →
• The sailor tied the boat with a strong knot. tree →
• The ship sailed at twenty knots. tree →
• I had a knot in my stomach before the test. tree →
• Wood with knots can be harder to cut. tree →
• Aunt Sarah and Tom are tying the knot next year. tree →
• ‘I should like nothing better,’ said the man, as he stooped to undo the big knot. tree →

note

Silent «k»: knot sounds like «not». Homophone trap: knot / not. Past: knotted (double «t»). A knot as a speed is about 1.85 km/h, a bit faster than 1 mile per hour.

In the corpora

• Teshumai hugs Taffy, and the Head Chief grabs Tegumai by his top-knot feathers and shakes him.
• Plastic bags are tied in a knot and kept up high so a small child cannot pull one over the head.
• Lily's hair got a knot, she cried, and Tom felt awful all afternoon.
• Sam stood at the back with his stomach in knots, not knowing what to do.
• They had no writing as we know it, but kept records with knotted strings called quipu.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «knot» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.