Easily Confused Words: Knell and Knoll
knell ≠knoll
Knell is often heard in the expression “death knell.” What is a death knell, exactly? It sounds awful! A knell is the sound of a bell being rung slowly, such as for a funeral. You can also use knell as a verb. “The bell knelled!” she yelled: we were late to the funeral!
A knoll, however, is a small, rounded hill. As in, the “grassy knoll” that was instrumental in the assassination of JFK. A synonym is for knoll is hillock.
Here is the grassy knoll on Elm Street in Dallas, Texas, where a witness claimed to have seen a man holding a gun prior to the shooting of President Kennedy.
It doesn’t sound like as good of a conspiracy theory if you call it a “grassy hillock.”