knell

[nel]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR knell ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

verb (used without object)

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

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

verb (used with object)

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

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

Related formsun·knelled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for knell

sound, bell, signal, summon, warning, toll, ring, proclaim

Examples from the Web for knell

Historical Examples of knell

The signs, which certainly did look like signs of guilt, struck a knell on the heart of his father.
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood
Still that word, which rang like a knell in his dazed brain!
The Fortune of the Rougons
Emile Zola
It sounded the knell of all hope of redress of their wrongs.
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini
How often does the knell of vanished power repeat the lesson!
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 3, August, 1850.
Various
The dead I knell, the living wake, And the power of lightning break!
Memoirs
Charles Godfrey Leland

British Dictionary definitions for knell

knell

noun

the sound of a bell rung to announce a death or a funeral

something that precipitates or indicates death or destruction

verb

(intr) to ring a knell

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

Word Origin for knell

Old English cnyll; related to Middle High German knüllen to strike, Dutch knallen to bang

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for knell

Old English cnyll "sound made by a bell when struck or rung slowly," perhaps of imitative origin. The Welsh cnull "death-bell" appears to be a borrowing from English. For vowel evolution, see bury.

Old English cnyllan "to toll a bell; strike, knock," cognate with Middle High German erknellen "to resound," Old Norse knylla "to beat, thrash;" probably imitative. Related: Knelled; knelling.

Idioms and Phrases with knell

knell

see death knell.