1. past tense of knell; rang solemnly, especially as a funeral bell
Usage: literary
2. past tense of knell; signaled the end or death of something
Usage: figurative

Examples

• The church bells knelled mournfully throughout the village.
• The old clock tower knelled the hour of midnight.
• His resignation knelled the end of an era for the company.
• The funeral bells knelled as the procession passed by.
• The closing of the factory knelled the death of the town’s economy.
• Thunder knelled across the darkening sky.