knit

knit / nit/ • v. (knit·ting ; past and past part. knit·ted or (esp. in sense 2) knit ) 1. [tr.] make (a garment, blanket, etc.) by interlocking loops of wool or other yarn with knitting needles or on a machine. ∎  make (a stitch or row of stitches) in such a way. ∎  knit with a knit stitch: knit one, purl one. 2. [intr.] become united: disparate regions had begun to knit together under the king | [as adj.] (knit) a closely knit family. ∎  (of parts of a broken bone) become joined during healing. ∎  [tr.] cause to unite or combine: he knitted together a squad of players other clubs had disregarded. 3. [tr.] tighten (one's brow or eyebrows) in a frown of concentration, disapproval, or anxiety. ∎  [intr.] (of someone's brow or eyebrows) tighten in such a frown. • adj. denoting or relating to a knitting stitch made by putting the needle through the front of the stitch from left to right.Compare with purl¹ . • n. a knitted fabric: a machine-washable knit. ∎  a garment made of such fabric: an array of casual knits. DERIVATIVES: knit·ter n.ORIGIN: Old English cnyttan; related to German dialect knütten, also to knot¹ . The original sense was ‘tie in or with a knot,’ hence ‘join, unite’ (sense 2); an obsolete Middle English sense ‘knot string to make a net’ gave rise to sense 1.