knell
the sound made by a bell rung slowly, especially for a death or a funeral.
a sound or sign announcing the death of a person or the end, extinction, failure, etc., of something: the knell of parting day.
any mournful sound.
to sound, as a bell, especially a funeral bell.
to give forth a mournful, ominous, or warning sound.
to proclaim or summon by, or as if by, a bell.
Origin of knell
1Other words from knell
- un·knelled, adjective
Words Nearby knell
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use knell in a sentence
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.
What the history of AI tells us about its future | Clive Thompson | February 18, 2022 | MIT Technology ReviewAn income tax “would perhaps be a form of a death knell to this little bit of momentum we were having,” Parfet told me.
Two Rich Men Decided to Fund a Failing City. Some People Say They Made It Worse | Alana Semuels/Kalamazoo, Michigan | November 4, 2021 | TimeThe government wanted to reduce labor and costs, but many growers view the law as a quality death knell.
Germany’s Wine Revolution Is Just Getting Started | Jordan Salcito | April 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTLast 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.
Plight of the Republican Presidential Race’s Zombie Candidates | Matt Bennett | January 19, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
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.
Oliver Twist, Vol. II (of 3) | Charles DickensThe tones of the neighbouring convent bell, echoing through the stony vaults, sounded loud and awful as the knell of doom.
The Catacombs of Rome | William Henry WithrowIt is not so now, for when the blacks revolted and drove their masters from the land, the death-knell of civilisation was sounded.
Gardens of the Caribbees, v. 1/2 | Ida May Hill StarrWhen for mirth's yell earth's knell seemed pleaseSome dumb new grim great whim in him Made Jews take chalk for cheese.
The Book of Humorous Verse | VariousThis date this pupil translates by the phrase, “Dock knell all” .
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
British Dictionary definitions for knell
/ (nɛl) /
the sound of a bell rung to announce a death or a funeral
something that precipitates or indicates death or destruction
(intr) to ring a knell
(tr) to proclaim or announce by or as if by a tolling bell
Origin of knell
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with knell
see death knell.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse