knit

knit /nɪt/ verb (present participle knitting) [intransitive and transitive]
[Language: Old English; Origin: cnyttan]
1. (past tense and past participle knitted) to make clothing out of wool, using two knitting needles ⇨ crochet:
   • My grandmother taught me how to knit.
   • She’s knitting a sweater.
  knit somebody something
   • Emily knitted him some socks.
2. (past tense and past participle knitted) to use a plain (=basic) knitting stitch:
   • Knit one, purl one.
3. (past tense and past participle knit) to join people, things, or ideas more closely together, or to be joined closely together
  knit together
   • In a good report, individual sentences knit together in a clear way that readers can follow.
  closely/tightly etc knit (=with all the members having close relationships)
   • a closely knit community
   • Harold is part of a tightly knit team.
4. (past tense and past participle knit) a bone that knits after being broken grows into one piece again
  knit together
   • The pin holds the bones in place while they knit together.
5. knit your brows to show you are worried, thinking hard etc by moving your eyebrows together
—knitter noun [countable]
⇨ close-knit, tight-knit

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

knit

knit [knit knits knitted knitting] verb, noun [nɪt] [nɪt]

verb (knit·ted, knit·ted) In senses 3 and 4 knit is usually used for the past tense and past participle.

1. transitive, intransitive to make clothes, etc. from wool or cotton thread using two long thin knitting needles or a machine

• ~ (sth) I knitted this cardigan myself.

• Lucy was sitting on the sofa, knitting.

• ~ sb sth She's knitting the baby a shawl.

2. transitive, intransitive ~ (sth) to use a basic stitch in knitting

• Knit one row, purl one row.

3. transitive, intransitive ~ (sb/sth) (together) to join people or things closely together or to be joined closely together

• a closely/tightly knit community (= one in which relationships are very close)

• Society is knit together by certain commonly held beliefs.

4. intransitive, transitive ~ (sth) (of broken bones) to grow together again to form one piece; to make broken bones grow together again

Syn: mend

• The bone failed to knit correctly.

Word Origin:

Old English cnyttan, of West Germanic origin; related to German dialect knütten, also to knot. The original sense was ‘tie in or with a knot’, hence ‘join, unite’ (sense 3); an obsolete Middle English sense ‘knot string to make a net’ gave rise to sense 1.

Idiom: knit your brow

noun usually plural

a piece of clothing that has been knitted

• winter knits

Word Origin:

Old English cnyttan, of West Germanic origin; related to German dialect knütten, also to knot. The original sense was ‘tie in or with a knot’, hence ‘join, unite’ (sense 3); an obsolete Middle English sense ‘knot string to make a net’ gave rise to sense 1.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition

knit / nɪt / verb ( present participle knitting , past tense knitted or knit , past participle knitted or knit ) (MAKE CLOTHES)

knit

B1 [ I or T ] to make clothes, etc. by using two long needles to connect wool or another type of thread into joined rows:

She's forever knitting.

She's busy knitting baby clothes.

[ + two objects ] My granny knitted me some gloves/knitted some gloves for me.

→ See also knitwear

[ T ] specialized to do the most basic type of stitch, when knitting something:

Knit one, purl one.

Collins Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

knit

[nɪ̱t]
knits, knitting, knitted
(The past tense can be either knit or knitted for meaning 4.)
1) VERB If you knit something, especially an article of clothing, you make it from wool or a similar thread by using two knitting needles or a machine.
  I had endless hours to knit and sew...
  [V n] I have already started knitting baby clothes...
  [V n n] She knitted him 10 pairs of socks to take with him...
  [V n for n] During the war, Joan helped her mother knit scarves for soldiers...
  [V-ed] She pushed up the sleeves of her grey knitted cardigan and got to work. [Also V n into n]
  Derived words:
  knitter plural N-COUNT Pattern charts with small print are often difficult for older knitters to use.
COMB in ADJ: ADJ n
Knit is also a combining form. Ferris wore a heavy knit sweater. ...a cotton-knit sweater. ...hand-knit garments.
2) VERB If someone or something knits things or people together, they make them fit or work together closely and successfully.
  [V n with together] The best thing about sport is that it knits the whole family close together...
  [V n to/into n] Ordinary people have some reservations about their president's drive to knit them so closely to their neighbors. [Also V n]
COMB in ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n
Knit is also a combining form. ...a closer-knit European Community. ...a tightly knit society.
3) VERB When broken bones knit, the broken pieces grow together again.
  [V together] The bone hasn't knitted together properly.
  ...broken bones that have failed to knit.
4) PHRASE: V inflects If you knit your brows or knit your eyebrows, you frown because you are angry or worried. [LITERARY]
  They knitted their brows and started to grumble...
  Billy's eyebrows knitted together in a little frown.

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

¹knit /ˈnɪt/ verb knits; knit or knit·ted; knit·ting
1 : to make (a piece of clothing) from yarn or thread by using long needles or a special machine

[+ obj]

• She knit a sweater for me. = She knit/knitted me a sweater.

[no obj]

• He likes to knit.
2 [+ obj]
a : to closely join or combine (things or people)
• Her novels knit (together) science and fantasy.
• a style that knits together material from many different sources
b : to form (something) by bringing people or things together
• a town knit/knitted together by farming
- see also close-knit, tight-knit
3 [no obj] of a bone : to grow together and heal after being broken
• It will take some time for the broken bones to knit (together).
knit your brow/brows : to move your eyebrows together in a way that shows that you are thinking about something or are worried, angry, etc.
• She knit her brow and asked what I was doing.
- knit or knitted adj
• a red knit shirt
• a knitted blouse
• closely knit communities [=communities in which people care about each other very much]
• a knitted cap
- knit·ter noun, pl -ters [count]
• She is a very talented knitter.