Knot

1. To entangle or perplex; to puzzle.
2. A kind of epaulet. See Shoulder knot.
3. A protuberant joint in a plant.
4. To form knots or joints, as in a cord, a plant, etc.; to become entangled.
5. An ornamental tie, as of a ribbon.
6. A cluster of persons or things; a collection; a group; a hand; a clique; as, a knot of politicians.
7. A fastening together of the pars or ends of one or more threads, cords, ropes, etc., by any one of various ways of tying or entangling.
8. A sandpiper (Tringa canutus), found in the northern parts of all the continents, in summer. It is grayish or ashy above, with the rump and upper tail coverts white, barred with dusky. The lower parts are pale brown, with the flanks and under tail coverts white. When fat it is prized by epicures. Called also dunne.
9. A knob, lump, swelling, or protuberance.
10. A nautical mile, or 6080.27 feet; as, when a ship goes eight miles an hour, her speed is said to be eight knots.
11. To tie in or with, or form into, a knot or knots; to form a knot on, as a rope; to entangle.
12. A lump or loop formed in a thread, cord, rope. etc., as at the end, by tying or interweaving it upon itself.
13. To knit knots for fringe or trimming.
14. To copulate; -- said of toads.
15. Something not easily solved; an intricacy; a difficulty; a perplexity; a problem.
16. A division of the log line, serving to measure the rate of the vessel's motion. Each knot on the line bears the same proportion to a mile that thirty seconds do to an hour. The number of knots which run off from the reel in half a minute, therefore, shows the number of miles the vessel sails in an hour.
17. A portion of a branch of a tree that forms a mass of woody fiber running at an angle with the grain of the main stock and making a hard place in the timber. A loose knot is generally the remains of a dead branch of a tree covered by later woody growth.
18. The point on which the action of a story depends; the gist of a matter.
19. A bond of union; a connection; a tie.
20. To unite closely; to knit together.
21. A figure the lines of which are interlaced or intricately interwoven, as in embroidery, gardening, etc.