Page 136 - Peter Randall - The Craft of the Knot

Appendix B

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

AGE OF SAIL
The time period before steam engines, when ships large and small used mainly wind for
locomotion.

BELAY
To secure a rope to an anchoring point; in rock climbing, to secure your position.

BEND

A knot for joining two ropes together at their ends.

BIGHT
A section of the rope often pulled to a tight curve to become part of a knot.

BIND

To seize, lash, or otherwise trap an object and its components.

BRAID
The interweaving of multiple strands.

CABLE-LAID ROPE
Three three-strand ropes twisted together to form a larger twisted rope.

CAPSIZED KNOT

A knot that underwent a change of form due to strain, usually when a curved part
straightens, causing the shape of other components of the knot to change.

COIL
A rope that has been collected into a stack of crossing turns and (usually) secured with a

knot, for storage.

CORDAGE
A general term referring to ropes and twines.

COXCOMBING