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 pa ive resistance to the friction of the rope. The three elementary knots, which every one should know, are the timber-hitch , the bow-line , and the clove-hitch . The virtues of the timber-hitch are, that, so long as the strain upon it is kept up, it will never give; when the strain is taken off, it is cast loose immediately. The bow-line makes a knot difficult to undo; with it the ends of two strings are tied together, or a loop made at the end of a single piece of string. For slip nooses, use the bowline to make the draw-loop. The clove-hitch binds with exce ive force, and by it, and it alone, can a weight be hung to a smooth pole, as to a tent-pole. A kind of double clove-hitch is generally used, but the simple one suffices, and is more easily recollected. There are other knots very useful in the artillery service and indispensable aboard ship, viz.: single knot , weaver’s knot , figure-eight knot , artificer’s knot , mooring knots , hitches , capstan , or prolonge knot , square knot , loops , becker knot , and anchor knot .