ENGLISH
REFERENCE

knit

v.
B1 Intermediate US //ˈnɪt// UK //nˈɪt// knit

v. to make clothes like sweaters or scarves by using long needles to loop wool or yarn together. You can do this by hand or with a machine.

v. to interlock loops of yarn or thread with needles to create a fabric. Often used figuratively to describe the joining together of people or things into a close-knit unit.


SIMPLE

My grandmother taught me how to knit a warm scarf.

CONTEXTUAL

She decided to knit a wool sweater for her brother's birthday during the long winter evenings.

COMPLEX

The community center aims to knit the diverse neighborhood together through shared gardening projects and local festivals.

Synonyms
Origin

From Middle English knytten, from Old English cnyttan (“to fasten, tie, bind, knit; add, append”), from Proto-West Germanic knuttijan, from Proto-Germanic knutjaną, *knuttijaną (“to make knots, knit”). Cognate with Low German knütten and Old Norse knýta (whence Danish knytte, Norwegian Nynorsk knyta). More at knot.

Usage

The verb is both transitive and intransitive; it can take a direct object (knit a sweater) or stand alone (she likes to knit).

Pitfall

She knited a hatShe knitted a hatThe past tense and past participle of 'knit' is 'knitted' (or sometimes 'knit'), requiring a doubled 't' before the suffix.

Idioms3 entries

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