v. i.
Not worth a blessing nor a bell to knell for thee. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]
Yet all that poets sing, and grief hath known,
Of hopes laid waste, knells in that word, “alone”. Ld. Lytton. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. To summon, as by a knell. [ 1913 Webster ]
Each matin bell, the baron saith,
Knells us back to a world of death. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ OE. knel, cnul, AS. cnyll, fr. cnyllan to sound a bell; cf. D. & G. knallen to clap, crack, G. & Sw. knall a clap, crack, loud sound, Dan. knalde to clap, crack. Cf. Knoll, n. & v. ] The stroke of a bell tolled at a funeral or at the death of a person; a death signal; a passing bell;
The dead man's knell
Is there scarce asked for who. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]