death knell

American  

noun

1. a harbinger of the end, death, or destruction of something.

2. passing bell.

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death knell British  

noun

1. something that heralds death or destruction

2. a bell rung to announce a death

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death knell Idioms  

1. Something that indicates impending failure, as in His low scores sounded the death knell for his ambitions. The noun knell, used for the ringing of a bell since at least a.d. 1000, is rarely heard today except in this figurative phrase.

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Example Sentences

Is this the death knell of American political satire?

From Salon • May 19, 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

“In California, that’s not a death knell, that’s a life force.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2025

Consequently, we do not have to wait until the publication of Geoffroy’s table in 1718 to hear the death knell of alchemy.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton