KNOT, a twist or loop in a rope or cord, so made that the motion of one piece of the line over the other shall be stopped. The knot owes its power of passive resistance to the friction of the rope. The uses of knots are infinite; in the commonest occasions of life one or two simple knots are indispensable; in building, mining, and almost every land occupation, knots of curious form are employed; while on shipboard, knots may be almost numbered by the dozen, and each is appropriated to a specific duty.
The simplest knot is the " overhand." Its use is to form a knob in a rope to stay it from slipping. By a slight alteration, the "single sling," or slip knot, is obtained, always in the middle of the rope. More complicated, but still more useful, is the " double sling," for suspending a beam or bar horizontally. The bow-line knot serves to give a tight grasp round a pole or beam, which would occupy the loop, or, drawn close on the rope, it forms a large knob, to prevent the rope passing a hole. The sheep-shank affords a
means of shortening a rope temporarily, without diminishing its power of rectilineal tension. All the foregoing have been at the double or middle parts of the rope.
For modes of joining two ropes, the weaver's or fisherman's knot may be adduced as strong and neat. The sailor's knot has the advantage, when properly made, of resist ing all separating strain on the two ropes, and at the same time of being loosened imme diately by a pull at one of the short ends. For an interlacing of two doubled ropes, the " Carrick bend" has no superior; the point of junction cannot slip, and the moment the tension ceases, the two ropes are again free from each other. Knots have many tech nical names, such as bight, hitch, etc.