n. A pot companion. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A knife with a strong blade from ten to fifteen inches long, and double-edged near the point; -- used as a hunting knife, and formerly as a weapon in the southwestern part of the United States. It was named from its inventor, Colonel James Bowie. Also, by extension, any large sheath knife. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A knife carried in a sheath or case. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A large table knife; -- so called from being formerly kept in a case. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. knit on a circular form so as to have no seams; -- said of stockings. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. bound together by intimate ties, social, personal, cultural or political; as, closely-knit little villages; a close-knit family. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ , n. 1. A woodworker`s and joiner's tool having a blade with a handle at each end, used to shave off surfaces, by drawing it toward one; a shave; -- called also drawshave, and drawing shave. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Carp.) A tool used for the purpose of making an incision along the path a saw is to follow, to prevent it from tearing the surface of the wood. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. see drawing knife.
Syn. -- drawshave. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To knit together; to unite closely; to intertwine. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A large, strong clasp knife for the pocket; a pocket knife. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ D. knikker. ] A small ball of clay, baked hard and oiled, used as a marble by boys in playing. [ Prov. Eng. & U. S. ] Halliwell. Bartlett. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A linsey-woolsey fabric having a rough knotted surface on the right side; used for women's dresses. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

[ capitalized ] prop. n. [ From Diedrich KNickerbocker, the fictional author of The History of New York, in fact written by Washington Irving. ] A descendent of the early Dutch colonists of the New York City area; -- used mostly as a nickname for an inhabitant of New York state or especially New York City. [ PJC ]

n. pl. The name for a style of short breeches; smallclothes; called also knickers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. 1. The name for a style of loose-fitting short trousers, gathered in and ending at the knees; smallclothes; called also knickerbockers.
Syn. -- breeches, knee breeches, knee pants, knickerbockers. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

2. Underpants, especially of women; panties. [ British ]
Syn. -- bloomers, pants, drawers. [ PJC + WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ See Knack. ] A trifle or toy; a bawble; a gewgaw; a tchotchke. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. A collection of knickknacks. Richardson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Knickknacks. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Knives [ OE. knif, AS. cnīf; akin to D. knijf, Icel. knīfr, Sw. knif, Dan. kniv. ] 1. An instrument consisting of a thin blade, usually of steel and having a sharp edge for cutting, fastened to a handle, but of many different forms and names for different uses; as, table knife, drawing knife, putty knife, pallet knife, pocketknife, penknife, chopping knife, etc.. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A sword or dagger. [ 1913 Webster ]

The coward conquest of a wretch's knife. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Knife grass (Bot.) a tropical American sedge (Scleria latifolia), having leaves with a very sharp and hard edge, like a knife. --
War to the knife, mortal combat; a conflict carried to the last extremity. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Knifed p. pr. & vb. n. Knifing ] 1. (Hort.) To prune with the knife. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cut or stab with a knife. [ Low ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Fig.: To stab in the back; to try to defeat by underhand means, esp. in politics; to vote or work secretly against (a candidate of one's own party). [ Slang, U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. A board on which knives are cleaned or polished. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mech.) A piece of steel sharpened to an acute edge or angle, and resting on a smooth surface, serving as the axis of motion of a pendulum, scale beam, or other piece required to oscillate with the least possible friction. [ 1913 Webster ]

Knife-edge file. See Illust. of File. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Elec.) A switch consisting of one or more knifelike pieces hinged at one end and making contact near the other with flat gripping springs. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ OE. knight, cniht, knight, soldier, AS. cniht, cneoht, a boy, youth, attendant, military follower; akin to D. & G. knecht servant; perh. akin to E. kin. ] 1. A young servant or follower; a military attendant. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (a) In feudal times, a man-at-arms serving on horseback and admitted to a certain military rank with special ceremonies, including an oath to protect the distressed, maintain the right, and live a stainless life. (b) One on whom knighthood, a dignity next below that of baronet, is conferred by the sovereign, entitling him to be addressed as Sir; as, Sir John. [ Eng. ] Hence: (c) A champion; a partisan; a lover. “Give this ring to my true knight.” Shak “In all your quarrels will I be your knight.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Knights, by their oaths, should right poor ladies' harms. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Formerly, when a knight's name was not known, it was customary to address him as Sir Knight. The rank of a knight is not hereditary. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A piece used in the game of chess, usually bearing a horse's head. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A playing card bearing the figure of a knight; the knave or jack. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Carpet knight. See under Carpet. --
Knight of industry. See Chevalier d'industrie, under Chevalier. --
Knight of Malta,
Knight of Rhodes,
Knight of St. John of Jerusalem. See Hospitaler. --
Knight of the post, one who gained his living by giving false evidence on trials, or false bail; hence, a sharper in general. Nares. “A knight of the post, . . . quoth he, for so I am termed; a fellow that will swear you anything for twelve pence.” Nash. --
Knight of the shire, in England, one of the representatives of a county in Parliament, in distinction from the representatives of cities and boroughs. --
Knights commanders,
Knights grand cross, different classes of the Order of the Bath. See under Bath, and Companion.
Knights of labor, a secret organization whose professed purpose is to secure and maintain the rights of workingmen as respects their relations to their employers. [ U. S. ] --
Knights of Pythias, a secret order, founded in Washington, D. C., in 1864, for social and charitable purposes. --
Knights of the Round Table, knights belonging to an order which, according to the legendary accounts, was instituted by the mythical King Arthur. They derived their common title from the table around which they sat on certain solemn days. Brande & C. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Knighted; p. pr. & vb. n. Knighting. ] To dub or create (one) a knight; -- done in England by the sovereign only, who taps the kneeling candidate with a sword, saying: Rise, Sir ---. [ 1913 Webster ]

A soldier, by the honor-giving hand
Of Cœur-de-Lion knighted in the field. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The body of knights, taken collectively. [ 1913 Webster ]

pl. Knights bachelors A knight of the most ancient, but lowest, order of English knights, and not a member of any order of chivalry. See Bachelor, 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

pl. Knights bannerets. A knight who carried a banner, who possessed fiefs to a greater amount than the knight bachelor, and who was obliged to serve in war with a greater number of attendants. The dignity was sometimes conferred by the sovereign in person on the field of battle. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. See Baronet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Knight-errants, or Knights-errant. A wandering knight; a knight who traveled in search of adventures, for the purpose of exhibiting military skill, prowess, and generosity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Knight-errantries The character or actions of wandering knights; the practice of wandering in quest of adventures; chivalry; a quixotic or romantic adventure or scheme. [ 1913 Webster ]

The rigid guardian [ i. e., conscience ] of a blameless heart
Is weak with rank knight-erratries o'errun. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to a knight-errant or to knight-errantry. [ R. ] Quart. Rev. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) A bollard timber. See under Bollard. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Knight + hood: cf. AS. chihthād youth. ] 1. The character, dignity, or condition of a knight, or of knights as a class; hence, chivalry. “O shame to knighthood.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

If you needs must write, write Caesar's praise;
You 'll gain at least a knighthood, or the bays. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The whole body of knights. [ 1913 Webster ]

The knighthood nowadays are nothing like the knighthood of old time. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ “When the order of knighthood was conferred with full solemnity in the leisure of a court or court or city, imposing preliminary ceremonies were required of the candidate. He prepared himself by prayer and fasting, watched his arms at night in a chapel, and was then admitted with the performance of religious rites. Knighthood was conferred by the accolade, which, from the derivation of the name, would appear to have been originally an embrace; but afterward consisted, as it still does, in a blow of the flat of a sword on the back of the kneeling candidate.” Brande & C. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Unbecoming a knight. [ Obs. ] “Knightless guile.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The character or bearing suitable for a knight; chivalry. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a manner becoming a knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

And why thou comest thus knightly clad in arms. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ AS. cnihtlic boyish. ] Of or pertaining to a knight; becoming a knight; chivalrous; as, a knightly combat; a knightly spirit. [ 1913 Webster ]

For knightly jousts and fierce encounters fit. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Excuses ] full knightly without scorn. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. (Eng. Law) An officer in the household of the British sovereign, who has cognizance of transgressions within the royal household and verge, and of contracts made there, a member of the household being one of the parties. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Feudal Law) The fee of a knight; specif., the amount of land the holding of which imposed the obligation of knight service, being sometimes a hide{ 1 }(b) or less, sometimes six or more hides. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

lso pos>n. 1. (Feud. Law) The military service by rendering which a knight held his lands.

2. (Eng. Feud. Law) A tenure of lands held by knights on condition of performing military service. See Chivalry, n., 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

By far the greater part of England [ in the 13th century ] is held of the king by knight's service. . . . In order to understand this tenure we must form the conception of a unit of military service. That unit seems to be the service of one knight or fully armed horseman (servitium unius militis) to be done to the king in his army for forty days in the year, if it be called for. . . . The limit of forty days seems to have existed rather in theory than practice. Pollock & Mait. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

3. Service such as a knight can or should render; hence, good or valuable service. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

pl. Knights Templars See Commandery, n., 3, and also Templar, n., 1 and 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Russian and Jewish Cookery) A fried, or sometimes baked, turnover made from a round or square sheet of dough containing a filling, usually of meat or potatoes. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Knit or Knitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Knitting. ] [ OE. knitten, knutten, As. cnyttan, fr. cnotta knot; akin to Icel. kn&ymacr_;ta, Sw. knyta, Dan. knytte. See Knot. ] 1. To form into a knot, or into knots; to tie together, as cord; to fasten by tying. [ 1913 Webster ]

A great sheet knit at the four corners. Acts x. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

When your head did but ache,
I knit my handkercher about your brows. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. 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; as, to knit stockings. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To join; to cause to grow together. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nature can not knit the bones while the parts are under a discharge. Wiseman. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To unite closely; to connect; to engage; as, hearts knit together in love. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Come, knit hands, and beat the ground,
In a light fantastic round. Milton (Comus). [ 1913 Webster ]

A link among the days, toknit
The generations each to each. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To draw together; to contract into wrinkles. [ 1913 Webster ]

He knits his brow and shows an angry eye. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To form a fabric by interlacing yarn or thread; to weave by making knots or loops. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be united closely; to grow together; as, broken bones will in time knit and become sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

To knit up, to wind up; to conclude; to come to a close. “It remaineth to knit up briefly with the nature and compass of the seas.” [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Union knitting; texture. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The plant comfrey; -- so called from its use as a restorative. Dr. Prier.

{ } n. [ Cf. Knit. ] A number of things tied or knit together; a bundle; a fagot. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

When they [ stems of asphodel ] be dried, they ought to be made up into knitchets, or handfuls. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ Prob. same word as nit a louse's egg. ] (Mining) Small particles of ore. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A woman who knits. [ Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, knits, joins, or unites; a knitting machine. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]