"cut the Gordian knot" meaning in English

See cut the Gordian knot in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-us-cut the Gordian knot.oga [US] Forms: cuts the Gordian knot [present, singular, third-person], cutting the Gordian knot [participle, present], cut the Gordian knot [participle, past], cut the Gordian knot [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|cut<,,cut> the Gordian knot}} cut the Gordian knot (third-person singular simple present cuts the Gordian knot, present participle cutting the Gordian knot, simple past and past participle cut the Gordian knot)
  1. (intransitive) To solve a seemingly intractable problem by using a simple solution that is unconstrained by the assumptions that underpin the usual attempts to solve that problem. Tags: intransitive Related terms: Hobson's choice Translations (Translations): 快刀斬亂麻 (Chinese Mandarin), rozetnout gordický uzel (Czech), avata Gordionin solmu (Finnish), trancher le nœud gordien (French)
    Sense id: en-cut_the_Gordian_knot-en-verb-UuYaf-Pl Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations

Download JSON data for cut the Gordian knot meaning in English (3.2kB)

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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cuts the Gordian knot",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
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    },
    {
      "form": "cutting the Gordian knot",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
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    },
    {
      "form": "cut the Gordian knot",
      "tags": [
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    {
      "form": "cut the Gordian knot",
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  "head_templates": [
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      "name": "en-verb"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
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      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1828, Walter Scott, chapter II, in My Aunt Margaret's Mirror",
          "text": "Yet there were so many difficulties in assigning a natural explanation, that, to the day of her death, she remained in great doubt on the subject, and much disposed to cut the Gordian knot by admitting the existence of supernatural agency.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To solve a seemingly intractable problem by using a simple solution that is unconstrained by the assumptions that underpin the usual attempts to solve that problem."
      ],
      "id": "en-cut_the_Gordian_knot-en-verb-UuYaf-Pl",
      "links": [
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          "seemingly",
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        [
          "intractable",
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        ],
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          "problem",
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        ],
        [
          "simple",
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        [
          "solution",
          "solution"
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        [
          "unconstrained",
          "unconstrained"
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        [
          "assumption",
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        ],
        [
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        [
          "attempt",
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        [
          "solve",
          "solve"
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To solve a seemingly intractable problem by using a simple solution that is unconstrained by the assumptions that underpin the usual attempts to solve that problem."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "Hobson's choice"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "快刀斬亂麻"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "note": "快刀斩乱麻 (kuàidāo zhǎn luànmá, literally “To cut tangled hemp with a sharp blade”)",
          "sense": "Translations"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "rozetnout gordický uzel"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "avata Gordionin solmu"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "trancher le nœud gordien"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "note": "快刀乱麻を断つ (kaitō ranma o tatsu, literally “To cut tangled hemp with a sharp blade”)",
          "sense": "Translations"
        }
      ]
    }
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      "audio": "En-us-cut the Gordian knot.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0b/En-us-cut_the_Gordian_knot.oga/En-us-cut_the_Gordian_knot.oga.mp3",
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      "tags": [
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    }
  ],
  "word": "cut the Gordian knot"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cuts the Gordian knot",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
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    },
    {
      "form": "cutting the Gordian knot",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
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    },
    {
      "form": "cut the Gordian knot",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
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    {
      "form": "cut the Gordian knot",
      "tags": [
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      "name": "en-verb"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
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      "word": "Hobson's choice"
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        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
        "Translation table header lacks gloss"
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      "examples": [
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          "ref": "1828, Walter Scott, chapter II, in My Aunt Margaret's Mirror",
          "text": "Yet there were so many difficulties in assigning a natural explanation, that, to the day of her death, she remained in great doubt on the subject, and much disposed to cut the Gordian knot by admitting the existence of supernatural agency.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To solve a seemingly intractable problem by using a simple solution that is unconstrained by the assumptions that underpin the usual attempts to solve that problem."
      ],
      "links": [
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        [
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          "attempt",
          "attempt"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To solve a seemingly intractable problem by using a simple solution that is unconstrained by the assumptions that underpin the usual attempts to solve that problem."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "快刀斬亂麻"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "note": "快刀斩乱麻 (kuàidāo zhǎn luànmá, literally “To cut tangled hemp with a sharp blade”)",
      "sense": "Translations"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "rozetnout gordický uzel"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "avata Gordionin solmu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "trancher le nœud gordien"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "note": "快刀乱麻を断つ (kaitō ranma o tatsu, literally “To cut tangled hemp with a sharp blade”)",
      "sense": "Translations"
    }
  ],
  "word": "cut the Gordian knot"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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