Knit Meaning
/nɪt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo 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.
verbTo create a stitch by pulling the working yarn through an existing stitch from back to front.
Sentence Examples
Tom likes to knit.
It must have been difficult for her to knit this sweater.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
My grandmother likes to ____ warm sweaters for the whole family during the winter.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Her grandmother taught her how to ____ a warm wool scarf when she was just a small child long ago.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I knitted swatches in a cable pattern to see how the different hapazome tachniques and yarn weights affected the appearance of the cables."
— 2026, Stefanie Johnson, “Speckles and Tonals”, in Spin Off, volume L, number 1, page 53:
"Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage
Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit,
To thee I send this written embassage,"
— 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 26”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
"And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 18:1:
"Come, knit hands, and beate the ground
In a light fantastick round."
— 1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC, page 6:
"Nature cannot knit the bones while the parts are under a discharge."
— 1672, Richard Wiseman, A Treatise of Wounds, London: Richard Royston:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
My grandmother likes to ____ warm sweaters for the whole family during the winter.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Her grandmother taught her how to ____ a warm wool scarf when she was just a small child long ago.