half hitch

American

noun

a knot or hitch made by forming a bight and passing the end of the rope around the standing part and through the bight.

half-hitch British

noun

a knot made by passing the end of a piece of rope around itself and through the loop thus made

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of half hitch

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Templeton seized the string, passed it around the end of the pig’s tail, and tied two half hitches.

From Literature

Moreover, there was reason to suppose that all four had been bound by the same person: in all four instances the same type of knot, a half hitch, was used.

From Literature

Take a half hitch around that stump, and you’ll have her!

From Project Gutenberg

“No, but it makes me mad to hear kids that 76 don’t know a half hitch from a square knot talking about getting in the gunners’ class!”

From Project Gutenberg

Square the two nettles and take a half hitch with each.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023