kneel

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   supporting yourself on your knees

   I prefer not to kneel.

2. 2
   verb

   to rest one's weight on one's knees

   In church you have to kneel during parts of the service.

3. 3
   verb

   To rest on one's bent knees, sometimes only one; to move to such a position.

   When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped ; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals, and her pretty little Alsatian maid beside her, laying a log across the andirons.

4. 4
   verb

   To cause to kneel.

   She knelt the doll to fit it into the box.

5. 5
   verb

   To rest on (one's) knees.

   He knelt him down to pray.

6. 6
   verb

   To sink down so that the entrance is level with the pavement, making it easier for passengers to enter.

Etymology

From Middle English knelen, from Old English cnēowlian (“to kneel”), equivalent to knee + -le. Cognate with Dutch knielen, Low German knelen, dialectal German knielen, Alemannic German chnüle, Danish knæle, all meaning “to kneel”.