Definition

1. Noun:

   • The sound of a bell rung slowly: This refers specifically to the solemn, resonant sound of a bell, especially when tolled to announce a death, a funeral, or the end of something.
   • An omen or sign of death, failure, or ending: Figuratively, it can mean a signal or indication that something is ending or has failed.

2. Verb:

   • To ring slowly and solemnly: To sound a bell, especially a funeral bell, in a slow, resonant manner.
   • To announce, mark, or portend by or as if by a tolling bell: To signal a death, end, or failure.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The mournful knell of the church bell echoed through the village.
  • The closure of the last factory was the final knell for the town's economy.

• Verb:

  • The bells knelled for the fallen leader.
  • The court's decision knelled the end of his political career.

Advanced Usage

• "to sound/toll the death knell for something": To be the event that causes the end or failure of something.
  • The invention of the smartphone sounded the death knell for many traditional cameras.

Variants and Related Words

• Death knell (noun phrase): An event that signals the end of something.
  • The new regulations were the death knell for small businesses in the area.

Synonyms

• Noun: Toll, peal, chime, ringing.
• Verb: Toll, ring, chime, clang.

Related Phrases

• To knell the hour: (Archaic) To ring a bell to mark the hour.

Noun

1. the sound of a bell rung slowly to announce a death or a funeral or the end of something

Verb

1. make (bells) ring, often for the purposes of musical edification
   • Ring the bells
   • My uncle rings every Sunday at the local church
2. ring as in announcing death