🪢 A rope fastening 🚤 A speed unit 🪵 A hard lump 👥 A small group 🪢 To tie together 🐦 A shorebird 🧠 To tangle

to knot

2 6.5

To make something tangled and difficult to understand

verb
/nɑt/

: enredar

The muscles in my back were knotting up.

With crushed up foam maybe then it wouldn't get knotted round the mechanism.

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Examples

The child began to knot the string as he played, creating an intricate design that took a lot of time.
I need a little something to stop my stomach from knotting up.

Homefront (2013)
His face appeared unconcerned, but fear was knotting his stomach.

Fiction book (2001)
Lynne feels her palms start to sweat and her intestines knot up.

Fiction book (1992)
Mary watched the erratic circling of the gulls, held on to her silence, tension knotting hard under her ribs.

Fiction book (1990)
She managed to knot the tangled threads into a complicated mess, making it hard to separate them.
As he tried to organize the cables, they continued to knot together, becoming increasingly difficult to untangle.

Synonyms

to complicate

vsto knot

101 4.1

To make something harder to understand or do

adds the sense of becoming involved and hard to unravel rather than only complex

to intertwine

vsto knot

46 5.4

Twist things together so they become joined or tangled

is about making things involved and difficult to unravel rather than forming patterns

to tangle

vsto knot

28 4.7

To make a story or idea hard to understand

focuses more on being involved and difficult to unravel overall

to snarl

vsto knot

6 7.1

To make something more confused or tangled

emphasizes the resulting involvement and difficulty to undo rather than just mess

to entangle

vsto knot

6 4.9

Twist things together so they are hard to separate

stresses causing involvement and difficulty to unravel rather than only twisting

to snarl up

vsto knot

1 7.8

Make things tangled or blocked so progress slows

is about increasing involvement and difficulty to undo rather than only delay

to entangle around

vsto knot

1 6.4

To twist something so it wraps around another thing and gets stuck

covers making things involved and hard to undo rather than only neat winding

to embrangle

vsto knot

Archaic

9.9

To make something more confused or tangled

focuses on making things involved and difficult to unravel

to ravel

vsto knot

8.4

To make a situation or story more confusing

highlights becoming involved and hard to undo rather than only messy

to remuddle the issue

vsto knot

9.3

To make a problem more confusing instead of clearer

stresses becoming involved and hard to unravel rather than only unclear

Antonyms

to simplify

99 2.5

Make something easier to understand or use

to unknot

1 5.1

To make a tied rope or string loose so it comes apart

Idioms

to tie the knot

Informal

26 3.1

To get married and begin life together as a couple

to get one's knickers in a knot

1 9.8

To become upset or worried about something not important

to get one's shorts in a knot

Informal

9.9

To become upset over a small problem

to get your shorts in a knot

Informal

9.9

Get very upset or worried about something small

Phrasal Verbs

to unloose (a) knot

Archaic

5.9

To untie a knot so it comes apart

Compounds

Gordian knot

Literature

1 9.9

A very difficult problem with no easy solution

square knot

Specialized

1 3.9

A knot used to join two ends of rope or cord by tying two opposite small knots

Windsor knot

1 4.4

A wide, triangular knot for tying a tie that gives a formal look

bowline knot

Specialized

1 7.3

A way of tying a rope to make a fixed loop that will not slip or jam

barrel knot

Jargon

1 8.6

A knot people who fish use to join two lines by wrapping the ends together

fisherman's knot

Specialized

1 6.1

A way of tying two fishing lines together so they hold well

loop knot

1 5.3

A fixed ring in a rope that does not slip or change size

lover's knot

1 6.4

A knot used to show love and a close connection

granny knot

Specialized

1 8.5

A weak way of tying rope or laces that slips open easily

overhand knot

1 4.4

You make it by passing the rope end over itself and pulling it through the loop

blood knot

Specialized

7.7

A strong knot for joining two fishing lines by wrapping their ends

black knot

Specialized

8.8

A disease that makes black, hard lumps on cherry and plum branches

balloon knot

3.9

A knot that keeps air or helium inside a balloon

flat knot

Specialized

3.6

A simple tie that joins two ropes securely, often used in sailing and wrapping packages

French knot

Jargon

7.2

A small raised knot on fabric made by winding thread around a needle

love knot

5.4

A decorative loop of rope or ribbon used as a sign of love

lovers' knot

7.3

A decorative knot used on jewelry to show love between two people

Matthew Walker knot

Specialized

9.9

A knot tied at the end of a rope to stop the end passing through an opening

prolonge knot

Archaic

9.9

A way of tying a rope to attach and pull a cannon carriage

reef knot

Specialized

5.2

A way of tying two rope ends by crossing them left then right to hold bandages or sails

pine knot

7.9

A hard piece of pine wood from where a branch meets the trunk that burns brightly

surgeon's knot

Specialized

7.7

A knot with an extra twist used to tie stitches or join two lines

sword knot

9.7

A small decorative cord or tassel that hangs from a sword hilt and keeps the sword tied to the wrist

true lovers' knot

7.5

A decorative knot used as a sign of love, often seen in jewelry

true lover's knot

7.6

A decorative knot design that shows love and loyalty in jewelry

true lover's knot

7.9

A knot used to join the ends of two ropes so they stay together

truelove knot

8.8

A way of joining two ropes used as a symbol of love

stopper knot

Specialized

5.8

A way of tying the end of a rope to stop it slipping through a hole

weaver's knot

Specialized

8.9

To tie one rope or thread temporarily to the middle of another rope to join them

How Tangled

to snarl

6 7.1

to knot

2 6.5

to tangle

46 3.7

to twist

231 1.7

Surface Forms

knot infinitive

knotted past

knotted past participle

knotting present participle

knots third person singular

Etymology

Knot (verb, to tangle) comes from the idea of tying and twisting that makes things hard to undo, so to knot a problem or your thoughts is to make them tangled and difficult to separate. That's why we say ideas or situations can be 'knotted' when they are complicated.