kneel

kneel — verb

1. to lower your body so that your knees touch the floor or ground, or to stay in t

1.verbintransitiveB1
Definition

to lower your body so that your knees touch the floor or ground, or to stay in that position with your weight on your knees

Example

Hannah knelt down on the wooden floor and began to scrub the stain.

kneel + down + on [surface] (movement)

Yumi knelt beside the old man to help him find his dropped keys.

kneel + beside [person] (helping action)

Common collocations
  • kneel down
  • kneel on [surface]
  • kneel before [someone/something]
  • kneel beside [someone/something]
  • kneel in prayer
  • kneel at [location]
Synonyms
  • bow

    bending forward at the waist without touching the ground; a gesture of respect or greeting

  • genuflect

    touching one knee briefly to the ground, especially in religious settings; more formal and specific

  • curtsy

    a gesture by women or girls bending one knee while keeping the back straight, often to royalty

  • prostrate oneself

    lying face down flat on the ground, expressing stronger submission or worship

Antonyms
  • stand

    being upright on your feet, the opposite body position

  • rise

    moving from a kneeling or sitting position to standing

Grammar Patterns

kneel + adverb/preposition

kneel + down

Usage Note

Intransitive only — kneel never takes a direct object. The past tense is 'knelt' (more common in British English) or 'kneeled' (more common in American English). Typical prepositional complements include on, beside, before, at, and in front of.

Common Mistakes

She kneeled the floor to clean it.
She knelt on the floor to clean it.
kneel cannot take a direct object; use a preposition before the surface.
He kneeled himself down to pray.
He knelt down to pray.
do not add a reflexive pronoun after kneel.

Word family

  • knee
    nounA2
  • kneeling
    adjectiveB2
  • kneeler
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Kneel is the most common and general word for lowering yourself so that your knees rest on the ground — you can kneel to pray, to work in a garden, or to show respect. Bow involves bending forward at the waist without bending your knees; it is a gesture of greeting or thanks rather than a kneeling position. Genuflect is more formal and religious, meaning to briefly touch one knee to the ground as a sign of reverence, especially in Catholic churches. Curtsy (or curtsey) is performed mainly by women and girls, bending one knee while keeping the back straight, often used as a polite greeting to royalty. Prostrate oneself means to lie flat on the ground face down, expressing complete submission or intense worship — a far more extreme body position than kneeling. For example: 'She knelt to scrub the floor,' but 'The subject bowed before the king.'

bow ↗genuflectcurtsyprostrate oneself

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • on one knee
  • on both knees
  • in prayer

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Comes from Old English 'cneowlian,' which is related to the Old English word 'cneo' meaning 'knee.' The original idea was to bend the knee to the ground.