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Lot vs Knot - What's the difference?

lot | knot | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between lot and knot

is that lot is a large quantity or number; a great deal while knot is a looping of a piece of string or of any other long, flexible material that cannot be untangled without passing one or both ends of the material through its loops.

As verbs the difference between lot and knot

is that lot is to allot; to sort; to apportion while knot is to form into a knot; to tie with a knot or knots.

As a proper noun Lot

is a nephew of Abraham in the Bible and Quran.

lot

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A large quantity or number; a great deal.
  • * W. Black
  • He wrote to her he might be detained in London by a lot of business.
  • * , chapter=3
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
  • A separate portion; a number of things taken collectively.
  • One or more items auctioned or sold as a unit, separate from other items.
  • (informal) A number of people taken collectively.
  • A distinct portion or plot of land, usually smaller than a field.
  • * Kent
  • The defendants leased a house and lot in the city of New York.
  • That which happens without human design or forethought; chance; accident; hazard; fortune; fate.
  • * Spenser
  • But save my life, which lot before your foot doth lay.
  • Anything (as a die, pebble, ball, or slip of paper) used in determining a question by chance, or without human choice or will.
  • * Bible, Proverbs xvi. 33
  • The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.
  • * Shakespeare
  • If we draw lots , he speeds.
  • The part, or fate, that falls to one, as it were, by chance, or without his planning.
  • * Milton
  • O visions ill foreseen! Each day's lot's / Enough to bear.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • He was but born to try / The lot of man — to suffer and to die.
  • *
  • as Jones alone was discovered, the poor lad bore not only the whole smart, but the whole blame; both which fell again to his lot on the following occasion.
  • A prize in a lottery.
  • (Evelyn)
  • Allotment; lottery.
  • * 1990 : (Donald Kagan), Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy , chapter 2: “Politician”, page 40 (Guild Publishing; 2239)
  • The Greeks expected their leaders to show physical courage, whether in the athletic arena or in battle, as well as piety, generosity, and nobility. Cimon had risen to power chiefly because of his military prowess, and any rival must be able to show at least honorable service and military competence. By this time, moreover, the generals were coming to be the most important political figures in Athens. Archons served only for one year and, since 487/6, they were chosen by lot . Generals, on the other hand, were chosen by direct election and could be reelected without limit.
  • All members of a set; everything.
  • The table was loaded with food, but by evening there was nothing but crumbs; we had eaten the lot .
  • An old unit of weight used in many European countries from the Middle Ages, often defined as 1/30 or 1/32 of a (local) pound.
  • Synonyms

    * (large quantity or number) load, mass, pile * (number of things taken collectively) batch, collection, group, set * crowd, gang, group * (distinct portion or plot of land) allotment, parcel, plot * (that which happens without human design or forethought) destiny, fate, fortune * (anything used in determining a question by chance) * (fate that falls to one by chance) * (prize in a lottery) prize * See also

    Derived terms

    * a lot

    Verb

  • (dated) To allot; to sort; to apportion.
  • (US, informal, dated) To count]] or [[reckon on, reckon (on'' or ''upon ).
  • Anagrams

    * * 1000 English basic words ----

    knot

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) cnotta, from (etyl) , compare Latin nodus and its Romance successors.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A looping of a piece of string or of any other long, flexible material that cannot be untangled without passing one or both ends of the material through its loops.
  • Climbers must make sure that all knots are both secure and of types that will not weaken the rope.
  • (of hair, etc) A tangled clump.
  • The nurse was brushing knots from the protesting child's hair.
  • A maze-like pattern.
  • * Milton
  • Flowers worthy of paradise, which, not nice art / In beds and curious knots , but nature boon / Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain.
  • (mathematics) A non-self-intersecting closed curve in (e.g., three-dimensional) space that is an abstraction of a knot (in sense 1 above).
  • A knot can be defined as a non-self-intersecting broken line whose endpoints coincide: when such a knot is constrained to lie in a plane, then it is simply a polygon.
        A knot in its original sense can be modeled as a mathematical knot''' (or link) as follows: if the knot is made with a single piece of rope, then abstract the shape of that rope and then extend the working end to merge it with the standing end, yielding a mathematical '''knot'''. If the knot is attached to a metal ring, then that metal ring can be modeled as a trivial '''knot''' and the pair of '''knots''' become a link. If more than one mathematical ' knot (or link) can be thus obtained, then the simplest one (avoiding detours) is probably the one which one would want.
  • A difficult situation.
  • I got into a knot when I inadvertently insulted a policeman.
  • * South
  • A man shall be perplexed with knots , and problems of business, and contrary affairs.
  • The whorl left in lumber by the base of a branch growing out of the tree's trunk.
  • When preparing to tell stories at a campfire, I like to set aside a pile of pine logs with lots of knots , since they burn brighter and make dramatic pops and cracks.
  • Local swelling in a tissue area, especially skin, often due to injury.
  • Jeremy had a knot on his head where he had bumped it on the bedframe.
  • A protuberant joint in a plant.
  • Any knob, lump, swelling, or protuberance.
  • * Tennyson
  • With lips serenely placid, felt the knot / Climb in her throat.
  • The point on which the action of a story depends; the gist of a matter.
  • the knot of the tale
  • (engineering) A node.
  • A kind of epaulet; a shoulder knot.
  • A group of people or things.
  • * Shakespeare
  • his ancient knot of dangerous adversaries
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • As they sat together in small, separate knots , they discussed doctrinal and metaphysical points of belief.
  • * 1968, Bryce Walton, Harpoon Gunner , Thomas Y. Crowell Company, NY, (1968), page 20,
  • He pushed through knots of whalemen grouped with their families and friends, and surrounded by piles of luggage.
  • A bond of union; a connection; a tie.
  • * Shakespeare
  • with nuptial knot
  • * Bishop Hall
  • ere we knit the knot that can never be loosed

    Verb

    (knott)
  • To form into a knot; to tie with a knot or knots.
  • We knotted the ends of the rope to keep it from unravelling.
  • * Tennyson
  • as tight as I could knot the noose
  • To form wrinkles in the forehead, as a sign of concentration, concern, surprise, etc.
  • She knotted her brow in concentration while attempting to unravel the tangled strands.
  • To unite closely; to knit together.
  • (Francis Bacon)
  • (obsolete, rare) To entangle or perplex; to puzzle.
  • Synonyms
    * (form into a knot) bind, tie * (form wrinkles in forehead) knit
    Antonyms
    * (form into a knot) loosen, unbind, unknot, untie

    See also

    * * braid * bruise * hickey * knit * loop * plait * tangle * tie * weave

    Etymology 2

    From the practice of counting the number of knots in the log-line (as it plays out) in a standard time. Traditionally spaced at one every 1/120th of a mile.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nautical) A unit of speed, equal to one nautical mile per hour.
  • Cedric claimed his old yacht could make 12 knots .
  • (slang) A nautical mile (incorrectly)
  • See also
    *

    Etymology 3

    Supposed to be derived from the name of (King Canute), with whom the bird was a favourite article of food. See the species epithet canutus .

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • One of a variety of shore birds; the red-breasted sandpiper (variously Calidris canutus or ).
  • See also

    * (Red Knot)

    Anagrams

    * ----