KNEEL (knelt)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: knelt   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does kneel mean? 

• KNEEL (noun)
  The noun KNEEL has 1 sense:

1. supporting yourself on your knees

  Familiarity information: KNEEL used as a noun is very rare.

• KNEEL (verb)
  The verb KNEEL has 1 sense:

1. rest one's weight on one's knees

  Familiarity information: KNEEL used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• KNEEL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Supporting yourself on your knees

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

kneel; kneeling

Hypernyms ("kneel" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Derivation:

kneel (rest one's weight on one's knees)

• KNEEL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they kneel    ... he / she / it kneels   
Past simple: kneeled    / knelt   
Past participle: kneeled    / knelt   
-ing form: kneeling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Rest one's weight on one's knees

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

In church you have to kneel during parts of the service

Hypernyms (to "kneel" is one way to...):

rest (not move; be in a resting position)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence examples:

The children kneel in the rocking chair
There kneel some children in the rocking chair

Derivation:

kneel (supporting yourself on your knees)

kneeler (a board (sometimes cushioned) for someone to kneel on)

kneeler (a person in a kneeling position)

kneeling (supporting yourself on your knees)

 Context examples 

A question about bending, kneeling, or stooping.

(Bending, Kneeling, or Stooping, NCI Thesaurus)

Two men were kneeling beside me, working over me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I knelt down by him; I turned his face from the cushion to me; I kissed his cheek; I smoothed his hair with my hand.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Miss Dartle suddenly kneeled down before it, and began to loosen the dress.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Jonathan knelt behind him and the wounded man laid back his head on his shoulder.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I was dozing myself in the evening when someone plucked my sleeve, and I found Challenger kneeling beside me.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Kneeling at the foot of the tower, he sang a serenade in melting tones.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I could hardly prevent myself from there and then kneeling down at his feet and telling him what I had done.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then Mr. Alec ran out and knelt beside the wounded man.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Rise, my poor girl, said Elizabeth; why do you kneel, if you are innocent?

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)