tie the knot

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

tie the knot (third-person singular simple present ties the knot, present participle tying the knot, simple past and past participle tied the knot)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To marry, wed, get married.
   • 1869, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 3, in Burlesques:

     Rowena sacrificed her inclination to remain single, to her sense of duty; and contracted a second matrimonial engagement. . . . Cardinal Pandulfo tied the knot for them.

   • 2002 November 25, Scott MacLeod, “Live from Baghdad”, in Time‎^[1], archived from the original on 24 April 2008:

     After the 20-year-old mechanic tied the knot with his 18-year-old cousin, the newlyweds headed to Baghdad's Ishtar Hotel.

   • 2019 December 15, Nicholas Hellen, “Newlyweds now stay married longer than the Victorians”, in The Sunday Times, number 10,188, page 5:

     Couples tying the knot today will enjoy a marriage lasting an average of 40 years, according to an analysis of official statistics.

   • 2022 July 13, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 961, page 71:

     Congratulations to newlyweds Liam and Jennifer King, who surprised passengers at Manchester Oxford Road in late May when they boarded a Northern service to complete the journey from Manchester registry office (where they had just tied the knot) to their wedding celebrations in Stockport.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tie,‎ the,‎ knot.

Synonyms

• get hitched

Translations

to get married

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 拉埋天窗 (laai¹ maai⁴ tin¹ coeng¹)

• German: den Bund fürs Leben schließen (de), die Ringe tauschen, das Jawort geben
• Korean: 부부의 연을 맺다 (bubuui yeoneul maetda), 맺어지다 (maejeojida)
• Malayalam: കെട്ടുക (ml) (keṭṭuka)
• Polish: stawać na ślubnym kobiercu impf, stanąć na ślubnym kobiercu pf
• Portuguese: dar o nó