KNOTTING

A tight cluster of people or things

Example: "A small knot of women listened to his sermon"

Any of various fastenings formed by looping and tying a rope (or cord) upon itself or to another rope or to another object

A hard cross-grained round piece of wood in a board where a branch emerged

Example: "The saw buckled when it hit a knot"

(of ships and wind) a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour or about 1.15 statute miles per hour

Something twisted and tight and swollen

Example: "Their muscles stood out in knots"

Soft lump or unevenness in a yarn; either an imperfection or created by design

A sandpiper that breeds in the arctic and winters in the southern hemisphere