tie the knot
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Did Gibson find a similar lump in his throat when the time came to tie the knot?
At about the same time as Jayne and Dave were tying the knot, creative director Nadia Marks was limbering up for the 20th anniversary of her wedding to writer husband Graham, whom she met at art school.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “tie the knot” mean?
Get married.
Is “tie the knot” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“kết tóc xe duyên” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.