knell 1 of 2

Definition of knellnext
as in to ring
to make the clear sound heard when metal vibrates the church bells knelled to mark the death of the nation's beloved leader

Synonyms & Similar Words

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knell

2 of 2

noun

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of knell
Noun
Comparisons with first in class are often the death knell for new kids on the block. Kamal Ahmed, Fortune, 3 July 2026 Shares of the software companies were up after Guggenheim upgraded both to buy, believing that artificial intelligence won't be a death knell for the companies and attractive valuations in the stocks. Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 1 July 2026 But the death knell for Casad’s crops was Oregon’s century-old law, which protects some water users at the expense of others. Emily Cureton Cook, ProPublica, 26 June 2026 Even in the Upper South, a higher-than-usual temperature and drought combo can be a death knell for gardens. Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 16 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for knell
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knell
Verb
  • Fans also cheered for Penta, but when the bell rang, Minnesota was fully behind Gable.
    Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2026
  • The alarm bells for the next super El Niño are already ringing.
    Karryl Kim Sagun Trajano, Fortune, 2 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • Assuming the role of a human clapper, Holzinger struck its lip again and again, sending a sonorous peal across the Biennale grounds.
    Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 24 June 2026
  • In Parliament Square, the music was drowned out by the peals of Westminster Abbey.
    Sam Knight, New Yorker, 14 May 2026
Noun
  • The five-foot shark is far more common in warmer, southern waters such as the Caribbean Sea, and scientists said its appearance off Falmouth, Massachusetts, is an indicator of warming seas caused by climate change.
    ABC News, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2026
  • The momentum indicator has reset from overbought but has not collapsed.
    Josh Brown,Sean Russo, CNBC, 3 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The video’s moodiness subtly underscores the fact that the lion’s share of these tracks are built on one muffled breakbeat, which tolls like clockwork across the LP.
    Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 23 July 2026
  • George’s arrival was celebrated with gun salutes, and bells at Westminster Abbey—where William and Kate had married over two years prior on April 29, 2011—tolled continuously for three hours in celebration of the future king’s arrival.
    Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 22 July 2026
Noun
  • If, however, Madrid find themselves in end-to-end ding-dongs next season — the kind that Guardiola spent his career, and particularly his final season at City, trying to avoid — then Bernardo may not be the man for the occasion.
    Sam Lee, New York Times, 23 June 2026
  • Hopefully, now this kid can stop being a moody ass little ding-dong about it.
    Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 8 May 2026
Noun
  • Under the deal, Visa will get BioCatch's behavioral biometrics platform, which analyzes data including keystroke timing, touch screen pressure and other signals to distinguish real users from scammers and bots.
    Hugh Son, CNBC, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Bautista’s casting signals a possible different approach to the character of Kratos, which has been the subject of intense online discourse following the first-look image released in February.
    Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 3 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • That chimes with the European Central Bank's ambition of a single banking jurisdiction, with capital and liquidity able to move freely within cross-border groups and depositors enjoying equal protection.
    Hugh Leask, CNBC, 16 July 2026
  • Sunlight chimed off Rubber Hand’s hatchet blade.
    Will Mackin, New Yorker, 28 June 2026
Noun
  • Cloudy chords, meditative tintinnabulation, the whoosh of wind and rain, blocks of iridescent brass — all these discrete sonorities trundled by, like a train of boxcars with panoramas painted on their sides.
    Justin Davidson, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2025
  • Shivaree, chthonian, erumpent, tintinnabulation, exonumia, requiescat, deipnosophist, omphaloskepsis, horripilation, deliquesce, apopemptic.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2021

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“Knell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knell. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

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