“Knot” or “Not”—Which to use?

“Knot” or “Not”

Overview

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. 👇

Definitions

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

not: (adverb) negation of a word or group of words.

Pronunciation

knot: n·AA·t

not: n·AA·t

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Examples in Context

Examples of “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.

Examples of “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 drawn from WordNet.)

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