as in halfpenny
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Recent Examples of kenning
Jonah Walters, Longreads, 24 Oct. 2024
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
The kenning’s true meaning lies beyond the edges of my comprehension.
—Jonah Walters, Longreads, 24 Oct. 2024
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
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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
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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
Verb
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Advertisement Svetlana’s optimistic pretend normalcy and Lyudmila’s practical approach to medication point to impossibility of fathoming the many crushing consequences of the Ukraine crisis.—
Nina Khrushcheva,
Time,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Yet the chairman Ron Noades and Coppell heard whispers of transfer interest.—
Matt Woosnam,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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For nearly a century, filmmakers have known that jewels speak a visual language of their own—each sparkle a whisper of glamour, danger, or desire—while the jeweler becomes co-director and the gem a co-star.—
Lilah Ramzi,
Vogue,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Shifting gears, rather than perceiving AI as a competitor, budding therapists would be wise to perceive AI as a collaborator.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
-
In 2024, Nepal ranked 107th out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, with 84% of people perceiving government corruption to be a major problem.—
Nir Kshetri,
The Conversation,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
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There’s always a new speck of dirt, mote of dust, or lock of hair to clean up.—
Izzy Baskette,
PEOPLE,
3 Oct. 2025
-
The search for a mote of relatability has led Burt to excuse-making.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
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By 2030, China’s nuclear capacity is set to surpass that of the United States, the first country to split atoms to make electricity.—
Brad Plumer,
New York Times,
22 Oct. 2025
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When the battery operates, the silver ions naturally transform into silver nanoparticles, which guide lithium atoms to spread evenly across the electrode.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Bands of masked men apprehending people in broad daylight in the streets and hauling them off.—
J. David McSwane,
ProPublica,
18 Oct. 2025
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The swift police response and use of video surveillance technology proved crucial in identifying and apprehending the shooter.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Miss Keaton…is not a whit like the flustered ingénue she was cast to play.—
Chris Morris,
Variety,
11 Oct. 2025
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The whit and the whoo are from different owls.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Kenning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kenning. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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