Added 10 October 2026
ropes
/ɹoʊps/ noun
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about ropes at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
verb
- third-person singular simple present indicative of rope
Origin
In the sense of skills, a now figurative use that originally referred to literal ropes. The phrase “he knows the ropes” written on a seaman’s discharge meant that he was inexperienced and only familiar with a ship’s principal ropes.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)