lighter knot
Resin-soaked pine wood that lights a fire even when damp.
Also called lighter'd, fatwood, fat lighter, rich pine, pine knot, lightwood.
Updated September 24, 2026
lighter knot pronunciation
/LITE-er not/
Meaning
Hard, pitchy chunks from old pine stumps, roots, or limb joints. Southern woods people hunt them for kindling because they catch fast and burn hot. Also called fatwood, lighter'd, fat lighter, rich pine, or pine knot. One stick can wake up a cold stove or a campfire when regular wood is slow.
How folks use it
- “Grab a lighter knot out of that bucket and get the wood stove going.”
- “We dug lighter knots out of the old stump field for winter kindling.”
Origin and etymology
Named for lighting fires. In the Southeast it usually comes from longleaf and other resinous pines left as stumps and knots after trees die or get cut. Related words like lightwood show up in Carolina and Virginia records by the early 1700s. Lighter'd and lighter knot are the farm and hunting-camp spellings of the same stuff.
Frequently asked questions
Is a lighter knot the same as regular pine sticks?
No. It is the resin-heavy heartwood that stays oily and lights easy, not plain dry pine.