knoll
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
knolls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
knolled,
past participle, past
-
knolling
present participle
-
to ring or toll a bell for; announce by tolling.
-
to ring or toll (a bell).
verb (used without object)
-
knolls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
knolled,
past participle, past
-
knolling
present participle
-
to sound, as a bell; ring.
-
to sound a knell.
noun
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
knollsimple
-
knollssimple
-
have knolledperfect
-
has knolledperfect
-
am knollingprogressive
-
are knollingprogressive
-
is knollingprogressive
-
have been knollingperfect progressive
-
has been knollingperfect progressive
Past
-
knolledsimple
-
had knolledperfect
-
was knollingprogressive
-
were knollingprogressive
-
had been knollingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of knoll1
before 900; Middle English cnol, Old English cnoll; cognate with Norwegian knoll hillock; akin to Dutch knol turnip, Icelandic knollur, German Knollen, Danish knold tuber
Origin of knoll2
1350–1400; Middle English (noun and v.); variant of knell
Explanation
A knoll is a small hill or mound of earth, which makes a shady knoll a perfect spot for a summer picnic. The word knoll is associated with the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who was shot in Dallas just as his motorcade passed a grassy knoll. At first people thought that was where the shots had come from, but it was later determined that the assassin had fired from a nearby building instead. The "grassy knoll” became symbolic of a theory that others had participated in the assassination, and the term has become shorthand for any conspiracy theory.
Vocabulary lists containing knoll
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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:
She settled on a grassy knoll, sunned herself and took a nap.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2023
With treelike structures, a green knoll and overhead chimes incorporating colorful carved birds, the 3,500-square-foot space exposes young minds to art’s most fundamental ingredients: materials.
From New York Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
The multicolored toilet had been left in a grassy knoll near an AMC Theatre at the mall, GPD Sgt.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 26, 2023
Spanning three-quarters of an acre, it’s perched on the edge of a knoll just above the Sunset Strip with virtually nothing obstructing its view of the city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2022
Scott’s shantytown for the homeless was built near a rocky knoll and the residents christened it Tobruk, after the battle in the North Africa campaign of the war.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Homeless people live in or around the park, many sleeping on the grassy knolls by the water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2025
He stood near the rushing river, the rolling hills covered in white oaks, the pristine creeks flowing gently beside grassy knolls dotted with wildflowers.
From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2023
Iowa at the time, Mr. Hill said, would have been a “parkland,” with patches of trees mixed in with grassy knolls.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 1, 2023
Three zebras have been frocklicking through the lush, grassy knolls of Prince George’s County, Maryland, since the end of August.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2021
We crawled over knolls usually submerged by the Bay.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Spreads in their 160-page book show some outfits knolled from hat to scarf to shoes to handbag, alongside sketches from the Mattel archives and drawings by the film’s costume designers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2024
If ever you have looked on better things, If ever been where bells have knolled to church.
From Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton
The humble records of my life to search, I have not herded with mere pagan beasts: But sometimes I have "sat at good men's feasts," And I have been "where bells have knolled to church."
From The Humorous Poetry of the English Language; from Chaucer to Saxe by James Parton
If ever you have looked on better days, If ever been where bells have knolled to church; If ever sat at any good man's feast!
From The Wing-and-Wing Le Feu-Follet by James Fenimore Cooper
In the direction of the Mexican quarter, the bell of the cathedral knolled at intervals.
From Blix by Frank Norris
The knolling of the heavy bell grows softer.
From David Lockwin—The People's Idol by John McGovern
Friend, a handsome house to lodge a, 139. --, knolling a departing, 62.
From Familiar Quotations by John Bartlett
Five years has a melancholy sound to me now, for it is like a passing-bell, knolling away time.
From Memoirs of James Robert Hope-Scott, Volume 2 by Robert Ornsby
The first bringer of unwelcome news Hath but a losing office; and his tongue Sounds ever after as a sullen bell, Remember'd knolling a departing friend.
From Handy Dictionary of Poetical Quotations by Various
"Yet the first bringer of unwelcome news Hath but a losing office; and his tongue Sounds ever after as a sullen bell, Remembered knolling a departed friend."
From The Last of the Vikings by John Bowling
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