kneel

CEFRB1

/niːl/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To rest on one or both knees, usually on the ground.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To cause to kneel.

Examples

  • Sami made Layla kneel in front of him.

  • Why do people kneel down to pray?

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • /kniːl/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To sink down so that the entrance is level with the pavement, making it easier for passengers to enter.

  2. To rest on one's bent knees, sometimes only one; to move to such a position.

  3. To rest on (one's) knees.

More examples

In context

  • She knelt the doll to fit it into the box.

  • He knelt him down to pray.

  • Raising the girl with unexpected strength, she bore her towards the chapel, the firesparks flickered in her eyes, as she knelt her burden against the altar step.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The king commanded the loyal subject to blank before him as a sign of respect.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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”.