kneel
verb
Simple meaning
Rest one's weight on one's knees.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
neelIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnil
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Rest one's weight on one's knees
“In church you have to kneel during parts of the service.”
intransitive
To rest on one's bent knees, sometimes only one; to move to such a position.
intransitiveof a bus or other vehicle
To sink down so that the entrance is level with the pavement, making it easier for passengers to enter.
transitive
To cause to kneel.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Rest one's weight on one's knees
Used this way, kneel is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“In church you have to kneel during parts of the service.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use kneel
- “In church you have to kneel during parts of the service.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Supporting yourself on your knees.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.