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:
While he did receive support, he couldn’t anticipate Nate Boyer’s attempts to profit from the protest and steal credit from Kaepernick teammate Eric Reid for the idea to kneel.
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2026
“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
The poacher offerered to kneel and apologise, telling Silva that he only came to the field to look at birds.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025
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
In church every Sunday, with my younger sister, Adria, at my side, I’d kneel with my eyes tightly shut and pray for my family and my teammates.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
She mostly stands or kneels and makes facial expressions in reaction to her surroundings and passersby.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
In another, “Mao’s Guilt,” the late Chinese leader kneels with his hand over his heart, seemingly in a display of penance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Seeing all this, a woman kneels and cries out between sobs.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
The croc is famously seen in the scene where Kozlowski's character is attacked as she kneels next to a creek.
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2024
She kneels and kisses Belky and hugs her tightly.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
As they viewed the remains laid out on a white silk sheet, many pilgrims made the sign of the cross, others kneeled down.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 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 beside him and hugged him around his neck.
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
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
When they walked from the military transports, some of them knelt on the tarmac and kissed the ground.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 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
Twelve fired FBI agents are alleging that they were unlawfully sacked because they knelt during a racial justice protest in Washington DC five years ago.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025
May pointed down, then knelt next to the fireplace.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
About 40% of people in their 60s have some difficulty crouching, kneeling or stooping.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
He was found kneeling in front of a piano and striking the keys, in apparent distress.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
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
Aaron Farinacci, 37, was allegedly seen kneeling near grass at the site of the fire and later found to have matches and a lighter, the Spokane County Sheriff said.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
‘Never! Till you tell me how I may rescue you,’ swore the knight, still kneeling.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
