knotter

noun

1. A person who makes knots.

   “This was Jai, the expert lace-knotter […]”

   “The community-run Killybegs International Carpet Making and Fishing Centre is housed in the old Donegal Carpets premises and still has some of the looms. By using a tiny group of hand knotters who worked with the original company, they can still make the high-end rugs and carpets to order.”

2. A machine or device that makes knots.
3. A screen used to remove “knots” or impurities from wood pulp in the process of making paper.

   “[…] the pulp is strained by means of a sieve or “knotter” as it is called, which is usually formed of brass, having fine slits cut in it to allow the comminuted pulp to pass through, while it retains all lumps and knots […]”

   “1963, Ontario Water Resources Commission, Water Resources Survey, District of Sudbury, Part 2, A Survey of Industrial Water Use and Waste Disposal, p. 119, Following cooking, the cooked mixture is vented to a blow tank and from here pumped to a knotter for the removal of knots.”

4. (in-compounds)A vessel capable of reaching a specified speed in knots.

   “Their engines being “simple,” they consumed a perfectly ruinous amount of coal, sixty-four tons for the round trip; considerably more than the coal consumption of the present twenty-four knotters.”

5. (in-compounds)A wind blowing at a specified velocity in knots.

   ““See how the canvass unfurls itself like great white wings, and spreads its volumes upon the air. The wind is a strong eight-knotter, and will give her a firm headway for Tom’s purpose.””