Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To go down or rest on one or both knees.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To go down on the knees or a knee; bend the legs at the knees and rest for a time upon them, or upon one of them, as in supplication or homage.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive To stoop down and rest on the knee or knees.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun supporting yourself on your knees
  • verb rest one's weight on one's knees

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English knelen, from Old English cnēowlian; see genu- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English knelen, knewlen, from Old English cnēowlian ("to kneel"), equivalent to knee +‎ -le. Cognate with Dutch knielen ("to kneel"), Low German knelen ("to kneel"), German dialectal knielen, kneulen, knülen ("to kneel"), Danish knæle ("to kneel").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word kneel.

Examples

  • Davies fell victim to his old tropes: sexualising the doctor by having him kiss yet another female companion, fetishising him by having Lee Evans as an eccentric boffin kneel at his feet and declare he loved him, and granting him another soliloquy about his cosmic solitariness.

    Doctor Who Smattering of Spoilers honorh 2009

  • The inability to kneel is seen as the very essence of the diabolical.

    04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004 John 2004

  • Sure, we've gotten used to saying "African American," but it has become a kind of frozen expression, like, indeed ice cream (we don't think about it being "cream of ice" when saying "eyescream") or even knee-l (the word kneel has knee in it - did you ever think about it)?

    The New Republic - All Feed 2010

  • Sure, we've gotten used to saying "African American," but it has become a kind of frozen expression, like, indeed ice cream (we don't think about it being "cream of ice" when saying "eyescream") or even knee-l (the word kneel has knee in it - did you ever think about it)?

    The New Republic - All Feed 2010

  • Sure, we've gotten used to saying "African American," but it has become a kind of frozen expression, like, indeed ice cream (we don't think about it being "cream of ice" when saying "eyescream") or even knee-l (the word kneel has knee in i--- did you ever think about it)?

    NPR Topics: News 2010

  • It was Thomas, tousle-haired and serious, who went without a word to kneel down by Will.

    Clockwork Angel Cassandra Clare 2010

  • Nature intended us to kneel, which is preferable to standing, statue-like, exacting obeisance from others.

    Macaria; or, Altars of Sacrifice Augusta Jane 1864

  • In the sport known as the kneel jump, the athlete crouches in a hunting position on frozen water and aims to jump as far a span as possible with good balance.

    Brandon Sun Online - Top Stories 2010

  • In the sport known as the kneel jump, the athlete crouches in a hunting position on frozen water and aims to jump as far a span as possible with good balance.

    Brandon Sun Online - Top Stories 2010

  • In the sport known as the kneel jump, the athlete crouches in a hunting position on frozen water and aims to jump as far a span as possible with good balance.

    Brandon Sun Online - Top Stories 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.