Matthew Walker knot
- noun
- Specialized
- The sailor tied a Matthew Walker knot to prevent the line from slipping through the pulley.
Examples
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Learning to make a Matthew Walker knot is essential for traditional rigging work.
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She admired how neatly the Matthew Walker knot held at the end of the rope.
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The sailor tied a Matthew Walker knot at the end of the rope.
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Have you ever seen a Matthew Walker knot before?
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The sailor tied a Matthew Walker knot securely at the end of the rope to stop it from passing through the cleat.
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She learned how to tie a Matthew Walker knot to ensure the line would not slip during sailing.
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To secure the fender to the boat, he used a Matthew Walker knot at the end of the line.
Synonyms
A way of tying the end of a rope to stop it slipping through a hole
A stopper knot where you twist several rope strands together to stop a rope from fraying
How Secure
Surface Forms
Morphology
Matthew + Walker + knot
The headword includes the common noun 'knot', so a B1 learner who knows 'knot' can infer this is a type or name of a knot (category-level information). However 'Matthew Walker' are proper names that give no transparent information about its tying method or its stopper function, so the specific meaning and usage cannot be derived without prior exposure.
Etymology
Matthew Walker knot may come from a sailor or rope worker named Matthew Walker who taught this useful end knot. The knot is made by weaving the strands of a rope into a neat knot so the end becomes a firm 'stopper', and so today the name means a knot used to stop a line from slipping through an opening.