1. Word finder
  2. Word definitions
  3. kneel

Find the word definition

What is "kneel"

Crossword clues for kneel

kneel
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
kneel
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a sitting/kneeling/standing position
▪ The priest rose from his kneeling position by the bed.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
down
▪ He stepped gingerly into the Five Lions River, knelt down, and splashed icy water all over himself.
▪ Of course, and she knelt down to cut off a sizable chunk of venison.
▪ Then he went quiet and knelt down by the redhead.
▪ After a bit, she knelt down, opened the door of the heater, and lighted a fire.
▪ It was cold in the bedroom and she had shivered and kneeling down he had plugged in a small electric fire.
▪ And then sometimes I kneel down to help you with your work.
▪ He had a plastic bag in his pocket and he knelt down in the grass and scooped it up.
▪ Kathy crossed the porch, knelt down beside him, pressed the palm of her hand against his forehead.
on
▪ To continue, just lay a plank to kneel on, so that you don't disturb the last rows of bricks.
▪ He sat on a chair that was embroidered, like the thing you knelt on in church.
over
▪ I looked back at the rabbit, then got up and knelt over it.
there
▪ For a second or two Ben knelt there in front of him threateningly, his whole body tensed as if to act.
▪ He knelt there, completely attentive, and she never moved.
▪ As she knelt there, water soaking into her furs, it seemed to her that the masks were singing to her.
▪ He was cold to the bone and his clothes were wet through, but still he knelt there, waiting.
▪ His knees ached as he knelt there for hours.
■ NOUN
bed
▪ Then he kneels near the bed, the cigarette smoke filtering up into his eyes.
▪ He knelt by my bed, watching me until I became aware of the sound of his harsh breathing.
▪ I knelt beside her bed and draped an arm around her waist.
▪ Sam knelt beside his bed and felt underneath as far as he could reach.
▪ She pushed down the quilt and knelt on the bed.
▪ I knelt beside the bed and listened to him breathe.
body
▪ He would sit or kneel until his body ached, picking and stroking in his efforts to please her.
▪ We made our way gingerly along this route, and I knelt by the body.
▪ A priest ran out into the road and knelt beside a body which had shined the street red.
▪ Before he knew what he was doing, Dougal had scrambled into the gazebo and was kneeling beside the body.
▪ He was kneeling by the body, examining its wounds.
floor
▪ The dark man was also on the floor, kneeling.
front
▪ She saw herself, kneeling in front of the anvil.
▪ I knelt in front of her and she took my hands, smiling.
▪ An elderly woman came and knelt in front of Maryvonne and bowed so low that her forehead seemed to touch the tatami.
ground
▪ Running on, I saw a dim shape kneeling on the ground a few yards ahead of me.
▪ He pushed aside a woman kneeling on the stony ground.
▪ Outside the door we were made to kneel on the ground.
▪ He was made to kneel down on the ground, his head over the grate.
▪ He was kneeling on the dusty ground.
head
▪ But in the prayers, although she knelt and bowed her head, her attention was on the people in the church.
▪ Adam knelt behind her head and started to massage her shoulders.
▪ As he knelt by its head he cursed the men on either side who could have been responsible for such a war.
▪ He kneels by my head, grinning.
▪ At once both prisoners were made forcibly to kneel and lower their heads.
▪ Mary was kneeling with her head and shoulders inside the dark cave of a box-bed.
▪ Then he knelt and thrust his head into the water, its coldness bringing a shout to his lips.
knee
▪ She knelt between his knees looking small and vulnerable: her lips pouting provocatively, her eyes full of feminine promise.
▪ One man knelt on one knee behind the body while his friend moved around looking for the best angle for a snapshot.
▪ Repeat the exercise, this time kneeling on your right knee, and exercising the left leg.
▪ The rest stood round in groups or knelt on half-bald knees stained by the grass.
▪ She knelt on her knees, as Mandy had explained, resting her haunches against the wooden seat.
man
▪ The four men were forced to kneel at the edge of it with their hands bound tightly behind them.
▪ As George took them gently he saw a man kneeling on the floor, fiddling with large lenses and a camera.
▪ Instead, a burnt man kneels near a puddle, quietly brooding.
▪ I feel embarrassed, now that I let adult men kneel before me and shine my shoes.
▪ One man knelt on one knee behind the body while his friend moved around looking for the best angle for a snapshot.
▪ Then, toward the front, on the gospel side, he saw a man kneeling in a pew.
prayer
▪ You are here to kneel Where prayer has been valid.
▪ His sweatshirt hood, steeply pitched overhead: a lone monk kneeling at prayer at a partially disinterred altar.
▪ Many of the godly liked to portray themselves and their families kneeling in prayer on their tombs.
▪ Kopyion was kneeling as if in prayer.
woman
▪ He pushed aside a woman kneeling on the stony ground.
▪ An elderly woman came and knelt in front of Maryvonne and bowed so low that her forehead seemed to touch the tatami.
▪ He looked down at the woman kneeling by his side and felt his chest tighten with his love for her.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ An old woman was kneeling at the altar, her hands clasping a rosary.
▪ Grandpa knelt down and lifted the little girl into his arms.
▪ He told them to kneel, then began to say a prayer.
▪ You'll need to bring a small mat to kneel on.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Kneel

Kneel \Kneel\ (n[=e]l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Knelt (n[e^]lt) or Kneeled (n[=e]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Kneeling.] [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. kn[ae]le. See Knee.] To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down.

Note: The act of kneeling, when performed in front of a person, is often done as a sign of respect, humility, or supplication. It has a similar significance when performed in front of religious objects, such as an altar or shrine.

And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.
--Acts vii. 60.

As soon as you are dressed, kneel and say the Lord's Prayer.
--Jer. Taylor.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
kneel

Old English cneowlian, from cneow (see knee (n.)). Similar formation in Middle Low German knelen, Middle Dutch cnielen, Dutch knielen Gothic knussjan. Past tense knelt is a modern formation (19c.) on analogy of feel/felt, etc. Related: Kneeling.

Wiktionary
kneel

vb. (lb en intransitive) To stoop down and rest on the knee or knees.

Related phrases:
WordNet
kneel

  1. n. supporting yourself on your knees [syn: kneeling]

  2. v. rest one's weight on one's knees; "In church you have to kneel during parts of the service"

  3. [also: knelt]

Usage examples of "kneel".

But so please you I will not abide till then, but will kneel to him and to his Lady and Queen here and now.

Juss, enforcing his half frozen limbs to resume the ascent, beheld a sight of woe too terrible for the eye: a young man, helmed and graithed in dark iron, a black-a-moor with goggle-eyes and white teeth agrin, who held by the neck a fair young lady kneeling on her knees and clasping his as in supplication, and he most bloodily brandishing aloft his spear of six foot of length as minded to reave her of her life.

Ignoring the badinage, Ake walked over to where the rubies lay on the floor, kneeled down, and began selecting likely prospects.

Only Albedo stayed with the Pope as His Holiness walked into the room, allowing the kissing of his ring and touching the heads of the gathered men and women as they knelt again.

I fought with all my might to hold it back as Alder knelt and sniffed at the path.

Alem Mikail Dem Alem got up from the window ledge and came over to kneel between the two women.

So much belief, so much authority seemed to have been invested by the builders in these primitive, faceless idols, guardians of the blithe, naked Ama girls, that Bond had a ridiculous urge to kneel and ask for their blessing as the Crusaders had once done before their God.

The Amar knelt beside him in their circle lying hidden outside a broad clearing.

Carefully, warily, Ancar knelt beside him and touched him, extending his own battered probes to the mind and the potentials within that mind.

By the time he finished burying the dead and Angelina finished mumbling and kneeling next to the mass grave, the sun had disappeared below the horizon and darkness settled softly over the land.

But the Archdeacon, hearing all these words, trembled a little as he knelt.

The crowd arose and then knelt in a slow wave that followed the movement of the chair containing the frail old man in white who gestured his blessings to the people as the gold, black, purple, and red procession moved him slowly toward the throne.

She knelt stiffly before Ashake and spread it out, sitting back then on her heels as the girl, making slow work of it, rolled the talisman into a tight bundle.

Baynes knelt in the rear with his family, and they all waved their arms and screamed when the rest of the ashram screamed to kill for the love of Kali.

I knelt before the offering-fire, and the priest at the altar sprinkled me with his aspergillum, murmuring a blessing.