Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Knotty

Knotty , adjective

1.
Full of knots; knotted; having many knots; as, knotty timber; a knotty rope.
2.
Hard; rugged; as, a knotty head. [Rare] — Rewe
3.
Difficult; intricate; perplexed.
A knotty point to which we now proceed — Pope