Join in silence, initially (4)

I believe the answer is:

knot

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'join' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.

(Other definitions for knot that I've seen before include "Shorebird's" , "Tie cord - lump in timber" , "Nautical measure" , "Sort of garden" , "Tight interlacing of cord, string etc" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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