as in halfpenny
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Recent Examples of kenning
Jonah Walters, Longreads, 24 Oct. 2024
The kenning’s true meaning lies beyond the edges of my comprehension.
—Jonah Walters, Longreads, 24 Oct. 2024
My favorite parts of the book are those where there's a new kenning.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 14 Apr. 2023
Most of the writers attempting to imitate Tolkien weren’t steeped in the rhythm of Old English kennings, or the spiritual yearning of chivalric romance.
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 2 June 2023
Weinersmith has successfully captured the spirit of this timeless story, weaving in generous amounts of alliteration and his version of Old English kennings, a compound figure of speech that replaces a common noun with two or more words that make for a more figurative than literal description.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 14 Apr. 2023
Noun
This is a kenning that evokes a natural transition to darkness and also an unfinished human endeavor.
—Jonah Walters, Longreads, 24 Oct. 2024
The kenning’s true meaning lies beyond the edges of my comprehension.
—Jonah Walters, Longreads, 24 Oct. 2024
My favorite parts of the book are those where there's a new kenning.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 14 Apr. 2023
Most of the writers attempting to imitate Tolkien weren’t steeped in the rhythm of Old English kennings, or the spiritual yearning of chivalric romance.
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 2 June 2023
Weinersmith has successfully captured the spirit of this timeless story, weaving in generous amounts of alliteration and his version of Old English kennings, a compound figure of speech that replaces a common noun with two or more words that make for a more figurative than literal description.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 14 Apr. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kenning
Noun
-
Indeed, in 2023, his music earned him just shy of $200,000, about one halfpenny at a time.—
Brett Martin,
New York Times,
31 Mar. 2024
-
In nineteenth-century England, tailors would place old halfpennies in the pockets of a man’s new suit for good luck.—
Hua Hsu,
The New Yorker,
18 Sep. 2023
Noun
-
The whispers grow louder as the beeping becomes more frequent until finally, the alarm sounds.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
15 July 2025
-
On LinkedIn, whispers of stealth layoffs and hiring freezes are growing louder.—
Andrew Fennell,
Forbes.com,
14 July 2025
Verb
-
These active hunters, rather than passively perceiving their environment, require sharper vision to locate and capture prey.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Mar. 2025
-
However, perceiving the existence of Assyrians in Iraq as stable is a grave misunderstanding.—
Matt Robison,
Newsweek,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
That’s a lot of hardware and software smarts packed into a tiny chip that might be just one of hundreds of motes affixed to pallets across an entire warehouse.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
9 July 2025
-
This is similar in size to the icy particles in Saturn's rings, for example, and the ice is likely frozen around motes of interplanetary dust.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
19 May 2025
Noun
-
The more sulfur atoms in a molecule, the more the molecule smelled decayed, garlicky or fishy.—
Yasemin Saplakoglu,
Quanta Magazine,
3 July 2025
-
Since the rare earth element is located between two nitrogen atoms in a straight line, held in place with an alkene bonded to Dysprosium, the molecule's magnetic performance is significantly better than other SMM.—
Abhimanyu Ghoshal,
New Atlas,
27 June 2025
Noun
-
After 40 minutes, his energy hasn’t flagged a whit.—
Jeff John Roberts,
Fortune,
2 July 2025
-
Nevertheless, the basic design of commercial nuclear power reactors has changed not a whit.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
30 July 2010
Verb
-
Major stock markets in Asia and Europe rose today in trading following the announcement of electronics exemptions.—
Alexis Simendinger,
The Hill,
14 Apr. 2025
-
Swim in a direction following the shoreline.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
14 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Inscribed below her name and the dash between the dates are the last two lines from one of her poems.—
Rebecca Chace
July 14,
Literary Hub,
14 July 2025
-
Of course, with Louisiana flair, the new sauce also has a dash of hot sauce.—
Abigail Wilt,
Southern Living,
14 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Kenning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kenning. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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