kneel
Americanverb (used without object)
-
kneels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
knelt,
past participle, past
-
kneeled,
past participle, past
-
kneeling
present participle
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
kneelsimple
-
kneelssimple
-
have kneeledperfect
-
have kneltperfect
-
has kneeledperfect
-
has kneltperfect
-
am kneelingprogressive
-
are kneelingprogressive
-
is kneelingprogressive
-
have been kneelingperfect progressive
-
has been kneelingperfect progressive
Past
-
kneeledsimple
-
kneltsimple
-
had kneeledperfect
-
had kneltperfect
-
was kneelingprogressive
-
were kneelingprogressive
-
had been kneelingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of kneel
First recorded before 1000; Middle English knelen, Old English cnēowlian (cognate with Low German knelen, Dutch knielen ). See knee, -le
Explanation
When you kneel, you rest your bent knees on the ground. People kneel to pray, to work in the garden, and to do yoga. Kids often kneel on the living room rug to play, and adults kneel to tie a child's shoelaces, to vacuum under the sofa, to play with a puppy, to exercise, and for many other reasons. A great thing about the word kneel is that its meaning is easy to see — the word knee is obvious when you look at it. The Old English root word, cnēowlian, simply means kneel, and it comes from cnēow, or "knee."
Vocabulary lists containing kneel
Unit 1: Telling Details
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"Encounter"
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Words with Two Past-Tense Forms That Creeped (or Crept) into English
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Why are we going to kneel? Why are we going to lower our heads? Why are we going to be afraid?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
In another instance captured on video, a U.S. citizen is splayed out on a sidewalk in El Monte as two men with vests that read “Border Patrol” kneel over him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2025
Dr Baksheiev and his team would have to use anything available as an examination table, including old sofas, meaning he would have to kneel on the floor to conduct examinations.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2025
It’s kind of like Ramses in the movie “The Ten Commandments” when he says, “Command them to kneel before Pharaoh.”
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2025
Viola slips a little from my grasp and I have to kneel to catch her.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
Seeing all this, a woman kneels and cries out between sobs.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
Down the beach, a young woman kneels, eyes closed, palms up, praying.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2025
The principal dancer Joseph Gordon kneels before the limp body of Theo Rochios, a young student of the company-affiliated School of American Ballet.
From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
Braving snakes and brushing feeder ticks from his clothes and gear, he kneels beside a pine tree on the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and starts drilling holes.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 3, 2023
Ayesha kneels down next to me and reads over my shoulder, “‘S.A. plus T.J.’
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
On Tuesday in Glen Allen, onlookers kneeled and offered fruit, police officers shook the monks' hands, and the monks presented people with blessing threads and other gifts.
From Barron's ● Feb. 3, 2026
South Florida's NBC6 reports the men kneeled, clapped their hands together, and waved their shirts at the passing helicopter.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2025
Before chairs with a back and arm rests debuted as a status symbol among ancient Egyptians about 5,000 years ago, he says that humans mostly kneeled or squatted for about 2 million years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2025
In the potato-chip aisle, a woman kneeled on the floor, diligently unpacking boxes, filling the shelves with chips, then reversing the process and repeating it several times over.
From Slate ● Dec. 4, 2024
She kneeled and opened one of the cardboard boxes and pulled out a small statue of the Santo Niño de Atocha.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
Thailand's foreign ministry denied Thursday that French President Emmanuel Macron knelt before the country's king during his state visit to Paris this week, after an AI-generated picture circulated online.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Protesters, some wearing clerical stoles draped over their shoulders, knelt while singing hymns and reciting the Lord’s Prayer in frigid conditions before being handcuffed and led away, video showed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
She knelt in front of the first officer she saw, told him she’d fled the colectivos, and pleaded for a chance to seek asylum.
From Slate ● Jan. 15, 2026
On reaching his hundred, Head saluted the crowd and then knelt to kiss a batting surface that treats him so well.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2025
“What if I knelt to you? If I begged you?”
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
A resident driving in the area where the fire started spotted a man kneeling in grass before standing up and “looking very nervous,” Nowels said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Jumoke can be seen kneeling in front of a younger version of her daughter in the desert, telling her: "You must not be afraid."
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
"There is no evidence of any image showing Emmanuel Macron kneeling to present a royal decoration," the official told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
At 00:06, a member of the public came on to Newchurch Road and saw Harden lying on the pavement and Matabiswana's friend kneeling next to him with his head in her hands.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
She was kneeling in her vegetable garden, her back to Leo.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
