Link Centre Dictionary

kneel

UK/niːl/ US/kniːl/ fairly common
verb (1) noun (1)

verb

1.

rest one''s weight on one''s knees

  • “In church you have to kneel during parts of the service”

noun

1.

supporting yourself on your knees

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English knelen, from Old English cnēowlian (“to kneel”), equivalent to knee + -le. Cognate with Dutch knielen, Low German knelen, dialectal German knielen, Alemannic German chnüle, Danish knæle, all meaning “to kneel”.

Phrases

  • kneel before
  • kneeling bus
  • kneeling chair

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.