Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
Supporters of the two-shooter theory cite eyewitness accounts, forensic evidence, and government documents suggesting gunfire came from the grassy knoll in Dealey Plaza, not just the Texas School Book Depository, where Oswald was stationed.—Martha McHardy, Newsweek, 12 Feb. 2025 The day before, at the spot where Captain James Cook first landed in Australia in 1770 — now a national park — a smattering of families sprawled out on grassy knolls and enjoyed a leisurely, sunny afternoon.—Victoria Kim, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2025 The show is a display of staged orderly chaos, models walking across a hilly, grassy arena, crossing in and out around the little knolls, never disturbing or interrupting each other’s paths.—Aamina Inayat Khan, StyleCaster, 21 Jan. 2025 In Viñales, limestone knolls, or mogotes, emerge from the valley's bloodred earth like upturned loaves.—Lydia Bell, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for knoll
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English knol, from Old English cnoll; akin to Old Norse knollr mountaintop
Verb
Middle English, probably alteration of knellen to knell
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Share