Definition

1. Noun:
   • A bell rung to announce a death: A literal bell tolled to signal that someone has died.
   • An omen of death or destruction: A sign or event that foreshadows the end, failure, or destruction of something.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Literal):

  • The solemn sound of the death knell echoed through the village.
  • In many traditions, the church bell serves as a death knell for the deceased.

• Noun (Figurative):

  • The new environmental regulations sounded the death knell for the old, polluting factory.
  • The invention of the smartphone was the death knell for many traditional camera companies.

Advanced Usage

• "to sound/toll the death knell for something": This is the most common figurative usage. It means to be the event or sign that causes or signals the inevitable end of something.
  • The scandal sounded the death knell for his political career.
  • The rise of streaming services tolled the death knell for many video rental stores.

Variants and Related Words

• Knell (noun/verb): Can be used on its own to mean a sound of a bell, especially for a death or funeral, or to portend doom.
  • The decision knelled the end of an era.
• Deathblow (noun): A stroke or event that causes death or final defeat. (This is a related concept but a different word.)
  • The lawsuit was a deathblow to the company's reputation.

Synonyms

• Harbinger: Something that foreshadows a future event.
• Portent: A sign or warning that something, especially something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen.
• Death sentence (figurative): An official or decisive condemnation to end or fail.

Related Phrases

• "Nail in the coffin": An idiomatic phrase with a very similar meaning to the figurative use of "death knell." It refers to an event that causes the failure of something that was already likely to fail.
  • The poor sales figures were the final nail in the coffin for the product line.

Related Idioms

• "Ring the bell": While not directly an idiom for "death knell," the act of ringing a bell is central to its literal meaning. Figuratively, "that doesn't ring a bell" means something is not familiar or remembered.

Noun

1. a bell rung to announce a death
2. an omen of death or destruction