knot (thing)

There are many kinds of knots. Depending on what they're used for (and, in some cases, how they're constructed), they might be called a splice, hitch, loop or a bend instead. A few knots:

• overhand knot, somewhat useful as as stopper, more useful as the basis for square knots, shoelace knot, and quite a few others;
• figure eight knot, a better stopper;
• square knot (a.k.a. reef knot), useful for joining two ropes of similar size;
• Carrick bend, another knot for two like-sized ropes;
• granny knot (what you get when you screw up while trying to tie a square knot)
• lark's head hitch; somewhat useful as a basic hitch, and a cautionary view of another way to screw up a square knot (after tying it correctly, you can mistighten it!)