tie the knot

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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.

   Synonym: get hitched

   • 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.

   • 2025 June 27, Sam Jones, “Till Jeff us do part: divisive, star-studded Bezos wedding hits full swing in Venice”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     And no, they really didn’t know when the ceremony would begin. According to reports, the couple had already tied the knot in the US, making Friday’s event as symbolic as it was expensive.

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