Verb the church bells knelled to mark the death of the nation's beloved leader

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Will the remote work trend sound a death knell for office buildings? Bob O'donnell, USA TODAY, "Zoom, the office and the future: What will work look like after coronavirus?," 8 Sep. 2020

An explosion that laid waste to large swathes of the capital on August 4 seemed to ring the death knell of the state. Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, "With Macron's visit to Beirut, Lebanon's future is looking a lot like the past," 1 Sep. 2020

Maybe holding the Greatest Spectacle in Racing with miles of empty grandstands in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic is the final death knell. Nathan Brown, The Indianapolis Star, "A lasting legacy: Without the Hulman-George family for the first time since 1946, a chapter of the Indy 500 ends," 23 Aug. 2020

Critics say the law—and the manner in which it was promulgated—is a death knell for the unique characteristics that made Hong Kong a thriving international hub for business. Eamon Barrett, Fortune, "Beijing passes Hong Kong national security law opposed by foreign business groups," 30 June 2020

Covid-19 has been a death knell for a lot of these providers—especially the smaller ones. Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz India, "India’s overburdened hospitals could actually benefit from more elective surgeries," 9 Aug. 2020

White kept launching, and when Utah crawled within seven points in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, his final 3-pointer of the afternoon sounded the death knell on the Jazz. Jeff Mcdonald, ExpressNews.com, "Derrick White’s 3-pointers becoming crucial to San Antonio Spurs’ offense," 8 Aug. 2020

The soot was the death knell for many marine creatures. Nola Taylor Redd, Smithsonian Magazine, "After the Dinosaur-Killing Impact, Soot Played a Remarkable Role in Extinction," 27 Apr. 2020

Late last month, analysts at UBS signaled the death knell for department stores. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, "Lord & Taylor, filing for bankruptcy, plans to close two Boston-area stores," 4 Aug. 2020

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Day 18: Hard to focus with all the death knells tolling. Daniel Pollack-pelzner, The New Yorker, "What Shakespeare Actually Did During the Plague," 1 Apr. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'knell.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.