half hitch

American  

noun

1. a knot or hitch made by forming a bight and passing the end of the rope around the standing part and through the bight.

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half-hitch British  

noun

1. a knot made by passing the end of a piece of rope around itself and through the loop thus made

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Etymology

Origin of half hitch

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

Given all this, I tried to make sense of the electronic shoreline with Anhinga, our 37-foot Bertram, rolling in a beam sea as the Whaler attempted to slip a half hitch around her wheels.

From Time Magazine Archive

Moreover, there was reason to suppose that all four had been bound by the same person: in all four instances the same type of knot, a half hitch, was used.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

Then with parts a and b form a half hitch round the two parts of the bight as in Fig.

From Knots, Bends, Splices With tables of strengths of ropes, etc. and wire rigging by Jutsum, J. Netherclift

"Now a half hitch around his legs, Clancy," said Katz, and Clancy came around with the end of the rope and got the captain's legs in limbo.

From Owen Clancy's Happy Trail or, The Motor Wizard in California by Standish, Burt L.

Joe slipped the rope over the mare mule's head, took a half hitch around a fence post, and stepped out of reach when the mule slashed at him with her yellowed teeth.

From The Lost Wagon by Kjelgaard, James Arthur