How to pronounce knot

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What knot means

noun

Most people know knot in its everyday sense. Here's its other meaning.

A unit for measuring how fast ships and planes go

In a sentence: With a strong wind behind it, the sailboat raced across the bay at twelve knots.

Where it comes from: Sailors once measured speed by letting out a rope tied with knots spaced evenly along it and counting how many slipped out in a set time. So it is the same word as a knot in a rope.

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