Meaning & use
knell
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Meanings
nouncountableliterary
The slow, solemn ringing of a bell, especially to mark a death or funeral.
Grammar: Usually singular, often with the: the knell of the church bell.
Patterns
- the knell of something
The knell of the church bell drifted across the village.
We heard a slow knell as the funeral procession passed.
A single knell rang out from the tower at dusk.
nounusually singularfigurative
A sign that something is ending or about to fail.
Grammar: Usually appears in the phrase death knell: sound the death knell for something.
Patterns
- the death knell of something
- sound the knell for something
Online shopping sounded the death knell for many small stores.
The defeat tolled the knell of her political career.
The new law rang the knell for the old way of farming.
verbintransitiveliteraryrare
To ring slowly and solemnly, as a bell does for a death.
Grammar: No object: the bell knelled across the valley.
Patterns
- a bell knells
The bell knelled all morning for the fallen soldiers.
Somewhere in the fog a buoy knelled over the water.
The tower clock knelled midnight.
Word forms
| plural | knells |
|---|---|
| third person singular | knells |
| past tense | knelled |
| -ing form | knelling |
Common combinations
- death knell
- The factory closure was the death knell for the town.
- sound the knell
- Critics said the merger would sound the knell for local news.
- ring the knell
- The bell ringer rang the knell once a minute.
- funeral knell
- A funeral knell echoed through the abbey.
- toll a knell
- The bells tolled a knell for the dead king.
Synonyms and how they differ
- toll
- Toll is the everyday word for a slow bell ring and also works as a verb, whereas knell sounds more poetic.
- peal
- A peal is a loud, often joyful ringing, so it is the opposite mood to a knell.
- omen
- An omen is a sign of what will come, while a knell is a sign that something is ending.
- end
- End is the plain word, with none of the dramatic imagery of a death knell.
Opposites
Word family
- knelled verb
- past tense of the verb
- death knell noun
- a sign of certain failure or ending
- knelling verb
- the -ing form
Commonly confused: knell or knelt? knell or kneel?
knell vs knelt
Knelt is the past tense of kneel and sounds similar, but it means to go down on your knees.
knell vs kneel
Kneel is the verb for going down on a knee, while knell is a bell sound.
Practice
Critics said the new highway would be the death ___ for the old riverside market.
Choose one answer.
Death knell is the fixed phrase for a sign that something is ending. Kneel and knoll are different words that sound similar, and death bell is not the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “knell”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.