knot ~ not ~ nought:
[‘Knot’ rhymes with ‘not’; and ‘nought’ has a slightly different vowel sound, with the letters ‘gh’ silent.]
“Knot” (noun & verb — for the right pronunciation, please click here) is ‘a lump-like fastening made by tying the end parts of a string(s), rope(s) or wire(s); a lump-like hard part in a branch of a tree or on the trunk of a tree where a branch should have grown’,
[There are several other definitions to ‘knot’, and so, we are advised to consult a good monolingual dictionary.]
e.g. Sailors are experts in tying knots.
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“Not” (adverb — for the right pronunciation, please click here) is ‘one of the adverbs of negation used for changing a word or expression into negative’,
e.g. He is a boy. (positive statement) → He is not a boy. (negative statement)
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“Nought” (also ‘naught’; for the right pronunciation, please click here) is ‘used to represent the figure ‘O’ (number zero) in words; (old usage) nothing’,
e.g.
The figure 109 is usually read: one nought/naught nine or one hundred and nine.
The peace negotiations with the terrorists came to nought. [i.e. the peace talks were unsuccessful]
