Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To make (a fabric or garment) by intertwining yarn or thread in a series of connected loops either by hand, with knitting needles, or on a machine.
  • intransitive verb To form (yarn or thread) into fabric by intertwining.
  • intransitive verb To join closely; unite securely.
  • intransitive verb To draw (the brows) together in wrinkles; furrow.
  • intransitive verb To make a fabric or garment by knitting.
  • intransitive verb To become securely joined or mended together closely, as a fractured bone.
  • intransitive verb To come together in wrinkles or furrows, as the brows.
  • noun A fabric or garment made by knitting.
  • noun The way in which a fabric has been knit.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To tie together; tie with a knot; fasten by tying; join by making into or as into a knot or knots.
  • Hence To join the parts or ingredients of; put together; compound.
  • To weave by looping or knotting a continuous thread; form by working up yarn or thread with knitting-needles (see knitting-needle) into a fabric held together by a series of knots or interloopings: as, to knit stockings.
  • To form as if by knotting or weaving; put together; join closely; bring into intimate union.
  • To contract into folds or wrinkles: in the phrase to knit the brow or brows.
  • To make a textile fabric by interlooping yarn or thread by means of needles, etc.; make knitted work.
  • To unite closely; grow together: as, broken bones will in time knit and become sound.
  • noun Union by knitting; knitted texture.
  • noun Style or stitch of knitting; character of the work produced by knitting.
  • noun In mining, a small particle of lead ore: commonly in the plural. Also nit, nitting.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To form a fabric by interlacing yarn or thread; to weave by making knots or loops.
  • intransitive verb To be united closely; to grow together.
  • intransitive verb [Obs.] to wind up; to conclude; to come to a close.
  • transitive verb To form into a knot, or into knots; to tie together, as cord; to fasten by tying.
  • transitive verb To form, as a textile fabric, by the interlacing of yarn or thread in a series of connected loops, by means of needles, either by hand or by machinery.
  • transitive verb To join; to cause to grow together.
  • transitive verb To unite closely; to connect; to engage.
  • transitive verb To draw together; to contract into wrinkles.
  • noun Union knitting; texture.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive and (intransitive) To turn thread or yarn into a piece of fabric by forming loops that are pulled through each other. This can be done by hand with needles or by machine.
  • verb figuratively (transitive) To join closely and firmly together.
  • verb intransitive To become closely and firmly joined; become compact(ed).
  • verb intransitive To grow together.
  • verb transitive To combine from various elements.
  • verb intransitive To heal (of bones) following a fracture.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun needlework created by interlacing yarn in a series of connected loops using straight eyeless needles or by machine
  • noun a fabric made by knitting
  • noun a basic knitting stitch
  • verb tie or link together
  • verb make (textiles) by knitting
  • verb to gather something into small wrinkles or folds

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English knitten, to tie in a knot, from Old English cnyttan.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English knitten, from Old English cnyttan ("to fasten, tie, bind, knit; add, append"), from Proto-Germanic *knutjanan, *knuttijanan (“to make knots, knit”). Cognate with Old Norse knýta (Danish knytte) and Northern German knütten. More at knot.

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Examples

  • People get so stuck on semantics, using the term knit graffiti is a sarcastic or fun play on words but looking at how graffiti is evolving beyond just a scratched painted image, why can’t yarnbombing be called graffiti, just as light can be called light graffiti etc.

    Knit that Shit! 2009

  • After making your gift, e-mail her at kwb@yarnharlot. ca with your name and e-mail address, and she will register you to win knit-related prizes.

    Knitters Without Borders Beams the Knit Signal for Haiti 2010

  • But I don't know if 'closely-knit' is always such a good thing.

    A Conversation with Laura Moriarty author of The Rest of Her Life 2010

  • My favorite time to knit is when on long plane flights, during movies or as a passenger in a car.

    Craftzine teaches you to crochet! Anne-Marie 2007

  • My favorite time to knit is when on long plane flights, during movies or as a passenger in a car.

    Archive 2007-09-01 Anne-Marie 2007

  • The "new mechanism for political agreements" is intended to promote the unity of the states of Latin America and the Caribbean and in the long term knit the countries together into a formal union, the final communique indicated.

    The Earth Times Online Newspaper 2010

  • I’ve now re-mastered – can again knit without reference to the chart – rows 1, 14, 17 and 20.

    Archive 2009-05-01 Jean 2009

  • The first pattern row is plain knit – Advance to Go – and I’ve done that.

    Jean's Knitting Jean 2009

  • I’ve now re-mastered – can again knit without reference to the chart – rows 1, 14, 17 and 20.

    Jean's Knitting Jean 2009

  • The first pattern row is plain knit – Advance to Go – and I’ve done that.

    Archive 2009-04-01 Jean 2009

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