Trivia Time

Which poet wrote, "The curfew tolls the knell of parting day"?

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knell

American  

[nel] / nɛl /

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.

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verb (used without object)

• knells,
  present (3rd person singular)
• knelled,
  past participle,  past
• knelling
  present participle

1. to sound, as a bell, especially a funeral bell.

2. to give forth a mournful, ominous, or warning sound.

verb (used with object)

• knells,
  present (3rd person singular)
• knelled,
  past participle,  past
• knelling
  present participle

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

knell British  

/ 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

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verb

1. (intr) to ring a knell

2. (tr) to proclaim or announce by or as if by a tolling bell

knell Idioms  

1. see death knell.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unknelled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• knelling
  present
• knelled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• knell
  simple
• knells
  simple
• have knelled
  perfect
• has knelled
  perfect
• am knelling
  progressive
• are knelling
  progressive
• is knelling
  progressive
• have been knelling
  perfect progressive
• has been knelling
  perfect progressive

Past

• knelled
  simple
• had knelled
  perfect
• was knelling
  progressive
• were knelling
  progressive
• had been knelling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will knell
  simple
• will have knelled
  perfect
• will be knelling
  progressive
• will have been knelling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of knell

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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Explanation

A knell is a ringing sound, particularly from a bell tolled to announce a death or the end of something. Which is kind of depressing. From the Old English cnyll, meaning “sound made by a bell when struck or rung slowly,” comes our modern day knell. It certainly describes the slow, ominous sound of funeral bells, but isn't always used so literally: We often say that a final blow or action that will bring an end to something sounds or signals the death knell. And if you hear a bell knell in your dreams, look out — superstition says that's not a good sign.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

knell knells knelled knelling

Some see it as a death knell for solar tiles; others, as an opportunity.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

If “Superman” had opened to critical and commercial failure, it would have been a death knell for the modern superhero genre as we know it.

From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026

While such a selloff might have been a death knell in years past, it has done little to ease Wall Street’s appetite for crypto.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

People on the internet seem to be taking Lindy West’s memoir as millennial feminism’s final death knell.

From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2026

The Joseph Bell tolled its last, huge knell.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

Time magazine tagged her as one of the death knells of feminism, which seems harsh.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 25, 2017

They worked for him at Modern Photography, Holiday, Travel & Leisure, Town & Country and other publications, most of them gone long before the Internet began sounding its knells for the printed page.

From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2015

Despite the death knells, Luke Donald spent part of the year at No. 1, and after dropping to No. 3, supplanted Woods at No. 2 by December.

From Golf Digest ● Dec. 5, 2012

Together we slowly counted the knells until she stopped us, saying, "It's for somebody else; Castle is not so old."

From The Expedition of the Donner Party and its Tragic Fate by Eliza Poor Donner Houghton

My name is John Wellington Wells, I'm a dealer in magic and spells, In blessings and curses, And ever filled purses In prophecies, witches and knells!

From Bab Ballads and Savoy Songs by Sir W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert

The wind howled around me—I felt impatient and benumbed—and, as I stood irresolute, with a moaning chime the church bell knelled upon my ear.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 4 by Various

Of all the strange hours of my life it had knelled none more desperate than this!

From The Claw by Cynthia Stockley

There was no bell to toll there—but at the very moment he was ascending the scaffold, a black cloud knelled thunder, and many hundreds of people all at once fell down upon their knees.

From Recreations of Christopher North, Volume I (of 2) by John Lyde Wilson

The oak and aspen arms were held Defiant, but the death was knelled Of slender saplings, snappy boughs, Twigs brittle as men's vows.

From Poems New and Old by John Freeman

As I stood there in the pulpit, busying me to teach the commandment of GOD, there knelled a sacring-bell; and therefore mickle people turned away hastily, and with great noise ran from towards me.

From Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse by Various

In every traveler's eulogy there is a strain of elegy, and every traveler hearkens to the raven's knelling cry of "Nevermore."

From Time Magazine Archive

While many of the world's thinkers are worried about the proliferation of births, it is the knelling sound of death that keeps us awake at night.

From Time Magazine Archive

A raven passed before the moon, knelling violently.

From The Plowshare and the Sword A Tale of Old Quebec by John Trevena

The fiery windows of Castle Lukstein would leap upon me out of the darkness, and I would wake in a cold sweat, my body a-quiver, and her lone cry knelling in my ears.

From The Courtship of Morrice Buckler A Romance by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason

The stillness became intolerable; yet more intolerable the sound that alone broke it, the voice of the clock, knelling moment after moment to its grave.

From Zanoni by Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron Lytton

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