close-knit
adjUK /kləʊs ˈnɪt/ · US /kloʊs ˈnɪt/
Etymology From close (“in an intimate or immediate manner”, adverb) + knit (“joined closely and firmly together”, adjective).
1
Of a group: closely connected or linked, as by a common bond, culture, or identity.
- a close-knit community
- I come from a close-knit family; we never keep secrets from one another.
3 more examples
- He looked rather to a close-knit company of brethren and sisters, knit so close that he could call it a family or a brotherhood, eager that God's kingdom should come.1860, Edward Everett Hale, The Elements of Christian Doctrine:
- I think I learned more from my family than they did from me in the brief idyllic time we spent together. None of them much more than a mile from home, they carried the aura of a close-knit community as a shield against against the unknown.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 217:
- The close-knit ethnic enclave also provides a stable environment where the dialect is commonly used. Therefore, if an ethnic community is close-knit the ethnic mother tongue is more likely to be retained under consensual pressure of its members to maintain linguistic separateness.1993, Ana Roca, John M. Lipski, Spanish in the United States: