death knell

Meanings

1. 1nounsingularfigurative

   An event or sign that suggests something is about to fail or end.

   Grammar: Usually with the or a: the death knell of something.

   Patterns

   • the death knell for something
   • sound the death knell for something
   • toll the death knell of something

   The new highway sounded the death knell for the small roadside diner.

   Many believed the scandal would be the death knell of his career.

   Online shopping rang the death knell for many bookshops.

2. 2nouncountableold-fashioned

   The slow ringing of a bell to announce that someone has died.

   Grammar: Literal, older sense.

   Patterns

   • the death knell tolled

   The death knell rang across the village at dawn.

   They heard the slow death knell from the church tower.

Word forms

Common combinations

sound the death knell

The merger could sound the death knell for the factory.

ring the death knell

Streaming rang the death knell for video rental shops.

toll the death knell

The defeat tolled the death knell of the old regime.

the death knell of something

The ban was the death knell of the sport.

a death knell for something

Rising rents were a death knell for small businesses.

Synonyms and how they differ

end

End is the neutral word, whereas death knell stresses that a sign of failure has appeared.

downfall

Downfall describes the collapse itself, while death knell is the signal that it is coming.

swan song

Swan song means a final performance or achievement, whereas death knell means a sign of finish.

Opposites

Word family

knell noun

the sound of a bell rung slowly after a death

knell verb

to ring slowly, as a bell

toll verb

to ring a bell slowly

deathly adjective

like death

Commonly confused: death knell or kneel? death knell or knoll?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “death knell”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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