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View synonyms for knell

knell

[ nel ]

noun

  1. the sound made by a bell rung slowly, especially for a death or a funeral.
  2. a sound or sign announcing the death of a person or the end, extinction, failure, etc., of something:

    the knell of parting day.

  3. any mournful sound.


verb (used without object)

  1. to sound, as a bell, especially a funeral bell.
  2. to give forth a mournful, ominous, or warning sound.

verb (used with object)

  1. to proclaim or summon by, or as if by, a bell.

knell

/ nɛl /

noun

  1. the sound of a bell rung to announce a death or a funeral
  2. something that precipitates or indicates death or destruction
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


verb

  1. intr to ring a knell
  2. tr to proclaim or announce by or as if by a tolling bell
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Words From

  • un·knelled adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of knell1

before 950; (noun) Middle English knel, Old English cynll; (v.) Middle English knellen, knyllen, Old English cynllan; cognate with Old Norse knylla to beat, strike; akin to Dutch knal bang, knallen to bang, German Knall explosion, knallen to explode
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Word History and Origins

Origin of knell1

Old English cnyll; related to Middle High German knüllen to strike, Dutch knallen to bang
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Idioms and Phrases

see death knell .
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Example Sentences

Indeed, when we look back now, 25 years later, we can see that Deep Blue’s victory wasn’t so much a triumph of AI but a kind of death knell.

An income tax “would perhaps be a form of a death knell to this little bit of momentum we were having,” Parfet told me.

From Time

The government wanted to reduce labor and costs, but many growers view the law as a quality death knell.

Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sounded what many considered to be the death knell for the SNC.

They wanted to sound the death knell for the campaign, file their stories, and get out of Memphis as soon as possible.

When you have somebody working for your campaign, like Grooms, who says you can't win, that is the death knell for a candidate.

I now consider it the death knell for traditional publishing.

A knell from the church bell broke harshly on these youthful thoughts.

The tones of the neighbouring convent bell, echoing through the stony vaults, sounded loud and awful as the knell of doom.

It is not so now, for when the blacks revolted and drove their masters from the land, the death-knell of civilisation was sounded.

When for mirth's yell earth's knell seemed pleaseSome dumb new grim great whim in him Made Jews take chalk for cheese.

This date this pupil translates by the phrase, “Dock knell all” .

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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kneidelKneller