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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However, Chiefs veteran center Creed Humphrey says his team won't be listening to those, or even fathoming the thought of panicking.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
18 Nov. 2025
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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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To listen to these quiet galactic whispers, scientists need the right tools.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
11 Feb. 2026
-
At first the room was silent, but then a ripple of whispers spread.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Reading, a way of perceiving ideas through the eyes of others, increases empathy and community, noted one professor.—
Krista Kafer,
Denver Post,
25 Jan. 2026
-
But that would depend on the animals perceiving the temperature shift—and having the capacity to do things differently.—
Elizabeth Preston,
Scientific American,
16 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Easily swept up by wind and carried long distances by water, these tiny motes are also exceedingly difficult to detect and almost impossible to remove from the environment.—
K. R. Callaway,
Scientific American,
22 Jan. 2026
-
The likely winner: Paul Thomas Anderson The fun pick: Ryan Coogler, whose win would inject a mote of possibility that Sinners could maybe crash the One Battle party.—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
These tungsten atoms would then condense on the slightly cooler inside of the glass bulb, blackening it and dimming the light over time.—
Natalia Sánchez Loayza,
Scientific American,
5 Feb. 2026
-
In this setup, qubits are encoded in the electrons of nitrogen atoms and the nuclear states of carbon atoms within the diamond lattice.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Cellphone footage provided by the North Hills United Methodist Church showed armed agents who appeared to be performing an immigration enforcement operation chasing and eventually apprehending Chavez in the parking lot.—
Austin Turner,
CBS News,
2 Feb. 2026
-
The federal statute authorizes law enforcement agencies to aid Immigration and Customs Enforcement in investigating, apprehending and detaining people in the country illegally.—
Richard Ruelas,
AZCentral.com,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Moreover, Trump cares not a whit about bringing drug traffickers to justice.—
Peter Kornbluh,
Washington Post,
5 Jan. 2026
-
Miss Keaton…is not a whit like the flustered ingénue she was cast to play.—
Chris Morris,
Variety,
11 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Kenning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kenning. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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