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“Knot” or “Not”

knot / not are similar-sounding terms with different meanings (referred to as homophones). To better understand the differences, see below for definitions, pronunciation guides, and example sentences using each term.

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Definitions

What each term means

Same sound, different spellings and meanings, shown with a pronunciation guide for each term.

knot n·AA·t

  • nouna tight cluster of people or things.
  • nounany of various fastenings formed by looping and tying a rope (or cord) upon itself or to another rope or to another object.
  • nouna hard cross-grained round piece of wood in a board where a branch emerged.
  • nounsomething twisted and tight and swollen.
  • nouna sandpiper that breeds in the Arctic and winters in the southern hemisphere.
  • verbmake into knots; make knots out of.
  • verbtie or fasten into a knot.

not n·AA·t

  • adverbnegation of a word or group of words.
Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“knot”

  • …Production of Athol Fugard's Blood Knot, Romeo and Juliet, Peter Pan,…
  • …possible to transform a given knot into a closed braid?
  • USNS Sword Knot (T-AGM-13) 1964-1972?
  • …brown hair tied in a knot atop his head with long,…
  • …couples wanting to tie the knot.
  • …died at his camp, Pine Knot, in the Adirondack Mountains on…
  • …died at his Camp Pine Knot, in the Adirondacks, August 13,
  • …season, as Lille tied the knot on their championship season with…
  • However, the correspondence between knots and braids is clearly not…
  • A type of stopper knot is called the stevedore knot.

“not”

  • …claimed that the uniform was not that of any police force…
  • …or as individual groups, were not party to the 1999 Lusaka…
  • Not being a member of a…
  • …Services Forestry Division officials did not state whether the 179 acres…
  • To date, ACPO has not reissued revised guidelines to replace…
  • But their uniform is green, not the dark blue he currently
  • …world has ever seen and not first class athletes."
  • The term Mai-Mai does not refer to any particular movement,…
  • …champions, but both players chose not to participate.
  • …Baron Theodore von Ropp did not acknowledge the rights of Šeduva…

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license. Definitions are drawn from WordNet.

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