knotter

1. (pulp and paper) A screen used to remove “knots” or impurities from wood pulp in the process of making paper.Examples: "[…] the pulp is strained by means of a sieve or “knotter” as it is called, which is usually formed of brass, having fine slits cut in it to allow the comminuted pulp to pass through, while it retains all lumps and knots […]"; "1963, Ontario Water Resources Commission, Water Resources Survey, District of Sudbury, Part 2, A Survey of Industrial Water Use and Waste Disposal, p. 119, Following cooking, the cooked mixture is vented to a blow tank and from here pumped to a knotter for the removal of knots."

2. (nautical, in compounds) A vessel capable of reaching a specified speed in knots.Examples: "1905, Hansard, “Navy Estimates,” 13 March, 1905, His hon. and gallant friend raised the question as to the two classes of destroyers, one for ocean work and the other for work in narrow waters. It was not true to say that the new twenty-five-and-a-half “knotters” had proved inferior to the old thirty “knotters.” In anything like dirty weather the twenty-five-and-a-half “knotters” had shown their superiority. As he had stated to the Committee, they had failed to produce a better design which would combine greater speed with greater stability at a limited cost."; "Their engines being “simple,” they consumed a perfectly ruinous amount of coal, sixty-four tons for the round trip; considerably more than the coal consumption of the present twenty-four knotters."in-compounds

3. (nautical, in compounds) A wind blowing at a specified velocity in knots.Examples: "“See how the canvass unfurls itself like great white wings, and spreads its volumes upon the air. The wind is a strong eight-knotter, and will give her a firm headway for Tom’s purpose.”"in-compounds