▪ I. knoll, n.1
(nəʊl)
Forms: 1–2 cnol(l, 3–5 knol, 5 (9 dial.) knolle, 7 (9 dial.) knowle, (nowle), 7–9 knole, knowl, 6– knoll.
[OE. cnoll hill-top, cop, summit, hillock, from same root as Du. knol, formerly knolle clod, ball, turnip, Ger. knollen, MHG. knolle clod, lump, knot, tuber; Norw. knoll, Sw. knöl, Da. dial. knöl, knöld hillock.
OE. cnoll might represent an OTeut. *knoð-lo, with usual assimilation of ðl to ll, and thus be radically connected with knot. Cf. for the form Ger. knödel dumpling.]
1. The summit or rounded top of a mountain or hill (obs. exc. dial.).
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xii, Se þe wille fæst hus timbrian, ne sceall he hit no settan upon þone hehstan cnol. c 1000 ælfric Gen. viii. 5 On þam teoþan monþe æteowodon þæra munta cnollas. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 4129 At munt nemboc on ðat knol fasga,..Saȝ ðe lond of promission. 1706 Phillips, Knoll, the top of a Hill, a Word much us'd in the West; especially in Hereford-shire. 1825 Brockett, Knoll, Knowl, Knowe, the top of a hill, a bare rounded hillock. |
b. Naut. ‘The head of a bank, or the most elevated part of a submarine shoal’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867).
2. A small hill or eminence of more or less rounded form; a hillock, a mound.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xli. 7 On þam lytlan cnolle, þe Ermon hatte. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 111 He cumeð stridende from dune to dune, and ouer strit þe cnolles [L. colles]. a 1300 E.E. Psalter lxiv. 13 [lxv. 12] Gird sal be knolles with faines. 1513 Douglas æneis v. ii. 5 Eneas..Syne spak thir wordis on a knollis hycht. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §128 To cary grauell & fyll it vp as hygh as y⊇ other knolles be. 1604 Edmonds Observ. Cæsar's Comm. 84 A knowle exceedingly fortified. 1628 Sir R. Le Grys tr. Barclay's Argenis 82 A Knole fitly placed..for a Cittadell. 1686 Evelyn Diary 23 Oct., It stands on a knowle..insensibly rising. 1780 A. Young Tour Irel. I. 92 A knole of lawn rises among them. 1816 W. Smith Strata Ident. 21 Rounded low hills, which are called knolls or knowls. 1865 Geikie Scen. & Geol. Scot. vii. 153 Hills and crags of every size, down to mere hummocks and knolls. 1884 Queen Victoria More Leaves 64 At half-past two we five ladies lunched on a heathery knoll. |
† b. (See quot. and cf. hummock 1 b.) Obs.
| 1772 J. G. W. De Brahm Hist. Georgia (1849) 45 The second Species of Pine..is only met with on the Knowls (small Islands in Swamps). |
† 3. A swelling upon the skin; = knob n. 1 b.
| 1499 Promp. Parv. 280/1 (Pynson) Knolle (K., H. Knobbe) of a mannys hande or in another part of him.., callus. |
† 4. A turnip. Obs. dial.
| 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 328 Knolls, Turnips. 1674 Ray S. & E.C. Words 70 Knolles; Turneps, Kent. |
5. A lump, a large piece. Sc.
| 1829 Hogg Sheph. Cal. II. 19 The auld wife..brought a knoll o' butter like ane's nieve. |
▪ II. knoll, n.2
(nəʊl)
Also 5 knolle, 7 knole.
[Formed with next, from same root as knell, perh. with later onomatopœic modification.]
1. An act, or the action, of ‘knolling’ or tolling a bell; the sound of a large bell. arch. and dial.
| 1379 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 100 Pro factura campanæ del knoll. 1497 Bp. Alcock Mons Perfect. E j, At the fyrst knolle of y⊇ bell they departe fro theyr celles. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. iv. 233 The watch of one Fort giues two or three Knoles with a bell. 1795–1814 Wordsw. Excurs. vi. 801 The bells..before The last hath ceased its solitary knoll. |
† 2. A large bell; a church-bell. Obs.
| 1379 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 99 In viij stanges meremii sarrandis..pro le knoll [margin, Custus del klank knoll]. 1412–13 Durham Acc. Rolls 403 Pro reparacione del knoll. |
▪ III. knoll, v.
(nəʊl)
Forms: 5 knollen, (-yn), 5–6 knolle, 6–7 knol, 6–8, 9 dial. knowl, (8 knowll), 7– knoll.
[Goes with knoll n.2]
1. trans. To ring, toll (a bell); = knell v. 2. Also fig. Now arch. and dial.
| 1467 Eng. Gilds 401 As often as they shallen here the grete belle of the parisshe of Seint Androwe to be knolled..and after that rongen out. a 1485 Promp. Parv. 280/2 (MS. S.) Knollyn, pulso. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. viii. 50, I would not wish them to a fairer death; And so his Knell is knoll'd. 1871 Browning Pr. Hohenst. 1942 So do the old enthroned decrepitudes Acknowledge, in the rotten hearts of them, Their knell is knolled. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Knowl, to knoll; to toll a bell. |
2. intr. Of a bell or clock: To sound, ring a knell, toll; = knell v. 3. Now chiefly dial.
| 1582 Munday Eng. Rom. Life in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 179 Soon after, the bell knowleth againe, when as the students..walk to the Romayne colledge. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 114 Where bels haue knoll'd to Church. 1612 Two Noble K. i. i, Remember that your fame Knolls in the ear o' the world. 1815 Byron Parisina xv, For a departing being's soul The death-hymn peals and the hollow bells knoll. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Knoll, to toll as a bell. 1886 S.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., I heard the bell knoll a piece sin [= a bit since]. |
b. trans. To ring a knell for. c. To ring or toll out.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. i. 103 His Tongue Sounds euer after as a sullen Bell Remembered, knolling a departing Friend. 1842 Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 180 All that night I heard The heavy clocks knolling the drowsy hours. |
3. trans. To summon by the sound of a bell.
| 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 121 We haue seene better dayes, And haue with holy bell bin knowld to Church. 1820 Byron Juan v. l, They heard No Christian knoll to table. 1844 Lytton tr. Schiller's Fridolin 90 From the church⁓tower clangs the bell Knolling souls that would repent To the Holy Sacrament. 1894 Times 17 July 9/3 Every woman who ever has been knolled to church. |
Hence ˈknolling vbl. n.; also ˈknoller, one who knolls.
| 1480 Waterf. Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 315 The knollyng of the bell in the chappell. 1538 Injunctions in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. xlii. 322 The Knoling of Aves after service..henceforth to be left. 1611 Cotgr., Carillonneur, a chymer, or knowler, of bels. 1837–9 Hallam Hist. Lit. (1847) III. 122 The knolling of Church bells. 1877 Lee Gloss. Liturg., Knoller, 2. a sexton or sacristan. |