noun / verb
knell
NEL/nel/
The solemn tolling of a bell announcing death.
A funeral bell sounds a knell beside the flower-covered coffin.
Etymology
Old English cnyll named the sound of a bell struck or rung slowly. The death-bell sense makes that slow ringing specifically an announcement or remembrance of a death.
More examples
- We hear the mournful knell of the church bell.
- The bell knells as the funeral procession passes.
- The loss of funding sounds the death knell for the project.
Forms
knell · knells · knelled · knelling
Similar words
- toll
- Names a slow bell sound, not necessarily announcing death.