Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter K - Page 13
Kreosote (n.) See Creosote.
Kreutzer (n.) A small copper coin formerly used in South Germany; also, a small Austrian copper coin. [Written also kreuzer.]
Kriegsspiel (n.) A game of war, played for practice, on maps. -- Farrow.
Kris (n.) A Malay dagger. See Creese.
Compare: Creese
Creese (n.) A dagger or short sword used by the Malays, commonly having a serpentine blade. [Written also crease and kris.]
From a Malayan creese to a sailor's jackknife. -- Julian Hawthorne.
Kris (n.) A Malayan dagger with a wavy blade [syn: kris, creese, crease].
Krishna (n.) (Hindu Myth.) The most popular of the Hindoo divinities, usually held to be the eighth incarnation of the god Vishnu.
Note: Krishna is a well-known Hindu deity. Originally the ethnic god of some powerful confederation of Rajput clans, by fusion with the Vishnu of the older theology Krishna becomes one of the chief divinities of Hinduism. He is indeed an avatar of Vishnu, or Vishnu himself. In his physical character mingle myths of fire, lightning, and storm, of heaven and the sun. In the epic he is a hero invincible in war and love, brave, but above all crafty. He was the son of Vasudeva and Devaki, and born at Mathura, on the Yamuna, between Delhi and Agra, among the Yadavas. Like that of many solar heroes, his birth was beset with peril. On the night when it took place, his parents had to remove him from the reach of his uncle, King Kansa, who sought his life because he had been warned by a voice from heaven that the eighth son of Devaki would kill him, and who had regularly made away with his nephews at their birth. Conveyed across the Yamuna, Krishna was brought up as their son by the shepherd Nanda and his wife Yashoda, together with his brother Balarama, 'Rama the strong,' who had been likewise saved from massacre. The two brothers grew up among the shepherds, slaying monsters and demons and sporting with the Gopis, the female cowherds of Vrindavana. Their birth and infancy, their juvenile exploits, and their erotic gambols with the Gopis became in time the essential portion of the legend of Krishna, and their scenes are today the most celebrated centers of his worship. When grown, the brothers put their uncle Kansa to death, and Krishna became king of the Yadavas. He cleared the land of monsters, warred against impious kings, and took part in the war of the sons of Pandu against those of Dhritarashtra, as described in the Mahabharata. He transferred his capital to Dvaraka ('the city of gates'), the gates of the West, since localized in Gujarat. There he and his race were overtaken by the final catastrophe. After seeing his brother slain, and the Yadavas kill each other to the last man, he himself perished, wounded in the heel, like Achilles, by the arrow of a hunter. The bible of the worshipers of Vishnu in his most popular manifestation, that of Krishna, consists of the Bhagavatapurana and the Bhagavadgita. See these words. [Century Dict. 1906]
Hare Krishnas A popular name for the group International Society for Krishna Consciousness (abbreviated ISKCON), devotees of Krishna, founded in 1966 by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (born 1896, died 1977). They are called thus because of their frequent public chanting of the words "Hare Krishna".
Krishna (n.) 8th and most important avatar of Vishnu; incarnated as a handsome young man playing a flute.
Kritarchy (n.) The rule of the judges over Israel.
Samson, Jephthah, Gideon, and other heroes of the kritarchy. -- Southey.
Krokidolite (n.) (Min.) See Crocidolite.
Krone (n.) [Dan.] A coin of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, of the value of about twenty-eight cents. See Crown, n., 9.
Krone (n.) The basic unit of money in Norway [syn: Norwegian krone, krone].
Krone (n.) The basic unit of money in Denmark [syn: Danish krone, krone].
Kroomen (n. pl. ) of Krooman.
Krooman (n.) One of a negro tribe of Liberia and the adjacent coast, whose members are much employed on shipboard.
Kruller (n.) See Cruller. Krummhorn
Compare: Cruller
Cruller (n.) A kind of sweet cake cut in strips and curled or twisted, and fried crisp in boiling fat. [Also written kruller.]
Krummhorn (n.) Alt. of Krumhorn.
Krumhorn (n.) (Mus.) A reed instrument of music of the cornet kind, now obsolete (see Cornet, 1, a.).
Krumhorn (a.) (Mus.) A reed stop in the organ; -- sometimes called cremona.
Krummhorn (n.) A Renaissance woodwind with a double reed and a curving tube (crooked horn) [syn: krummhorn, crumhorn, cromorne].
Krupp gun () A breech-loading steel cannon manufactured at the works of Friedrich Krupp, at Essen in Prussia. Guns of over eight-inch bore are made up of several concentric cylinders; those of a smaller size are forged solid. [obsolescent] -- Knight.
Kryolite (n.) (Min.) See Cryolite.
Ksar (n.) See Czar. Kshatriya
Kshatriya (n.) Alt. of Kshatruya.
Kshatruya (n.) The military caste, the second of the four great Hindoo castes; also, a member of that caste. See Caste. [India]
Kshatriya (n.) A member of the royal or warrior Hindu caste.
Kuda (n.) (Zool.) The East Indian tapir. See Tapir.
Kudos (n.) Glory; fame; renown; praise. -- W. H. Russel.
Kudos (v. t.) To praise; to extol; to glorify. "Kudos'd egregiously." [R.] -- Southey.
Kudos (n.) An expression of approval and commendation; "he always appreciated praise for his work" [syn: praise, congratulations, kudos, extolment].
Kudos to you (ph.) 讚美或名望 To congratulate someone sarcastically.
Compare: Koodoo
Koodoo (n.) (Zool.) A large South African antelope ({Strepsiceros kudu). The males have graceful spiral horns, sometimes four feet long. The general color is reddish or grayish brown, with eight or nine white bands on each side, and a pale dorsal stripe. The old males become dark bluish gray, due to the skin showing through the hair. The females are hornless. Called also nellut. [Written also kudu.]
Kudu (n.) (Zool.) See Koodoo.
Kudu (n.) Either of two spiral-horned antelopes of the African bush [syn: kudu, koodoo, koudou].
Kufic (a.) See Cufic.
Compare: Cufic
Cufic (a.) Of or pertaining to the older characters of the Arabic language. [Written also Kufic.]
Kukang (n.) (Zool.) The slow lemur. See Lemur. Ku Klux Kuklux
Compare: Lumer
Lemur (n.) (Zool.) One of a family ({Lemurid[ae]) of nocturnal mammals allied to the monkeys, but of small size, and having a sharp and foxlike muzzle, and large eyes. They feed upon birds, insects, and fruit, and are mostly natives of Madagascar and the neighboring islands, one genus ({Galago) occurring in Africa. The slow lemur or kukang of the East Indies is Nycticebus tardigradus. See Galago, Indris, and Colugo.
Kuklux (n.) The name adopted in the southern part of the United States by a secret political organization, active for several years after the close of the Civil War, and having for its aim the repression of the political power of the freed negroes; -- called also Kuklux Klan and the Klan. It exerienced a revival in the 1920's, in the north as well as the south, and persists as a weak organization into the 1990's. Its goals were primarily anti-negro and anti-Catholic, and its tactics included terrorist attacks on negroes for the purpose of intimidation with the goal of continuing segregation. The signature activity of the Klan was the burning of a cross, either at rallies of Klansmen, or on the property of African-Americans which they hoped to intimidate.
Compare: Koulan
Koulan (n.) (Zool.) A wild horse ({Equus onager or Asinus onager) inhabiting the plains of Central Asia; -- called also gour, khur, and onager. [Written also kulan.]
Note: It is sometimes confounded with the dziggetai, to which it is closely related. It is gray in winter, but fulvous in summer. It has a well defined, dark, dorsal stripe, and a short, erect mane. In size, it is intermediate between the horse and ass.
Kulan (n.) (Zool.) See Koulan.
Koumiss (n.) An intoxicating fermented or distilled liquor originally made by the Tartars of central Asia from mare's or camel's milk. It can be obtained from any kind of milk, and is now largely made in Europe. [Written also koumyss, kumiss, kumis, kumish, and kumys.]
Koumiss has from time immemorial served the Tartar instead of wine or spirits. -- J. H. Newman.
Kumish (n.) Alt. of Kumiss.
Kumiss (n.) See Koumiss.
Kummel (n.) A Russian and German liqueur, consisting of a sweetened spirit flavored with caraway seeds.
Kummel (n.) Liqueur flavored with caraway seed or cumin.
Kumquat (n.) (Bot.) 金桔；金柑；金桔樹；金柑樹 Any of several trees or shrubs of the genus Fortunella Citrus)+of+the+rue+family+({Rutaceae">(formerly Citrus) of the rue family ({Rutaceae) (especially Citrus Japonica) growing in China and Japan bearing small orange-colored edible fruits with thick sweet-flavored skin and sour pulp; also, any of the small acid, orange-colored citrus fruits of such plants, used mostly for preserves. [Also spelled cumquat.]
Kumquat (n.) Any of several trees or shrubs of the genus Fortunella bearing small orange-colored edible fruits with thick sweet-flavored skin and sour pulp [syn: kumquat, cumquat, kumquat tree].
Kumquat (n.) Small oval citrus fruit with thin sweet rind and very acid pulp.
Kumquat (n.) A small tree of the genus Citrus (C. Japonica) growing in China and Japan; also, its small acid, orange-colored fruit used for preserves.
Compare: Niccolite
Niccolite (n.) (Min.) A mineral of a copper-red color and metallic luster; an arsenide of nickel; -- called also coppernickel, kupfernickel.
Kupfernickel (n.) (Min.) Copper-nickel; niccolite. See Niccolite.
Kurd (n.) (prop. n.) A member of a people who inhabit a mountainous region of Western Asia, sometimes referred to as Kurdistan, spread over an area including adjoining parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Syria. The people of this region speak Kurdish and are mostly Moslem. [Written also Koord.]
Kurd (n.) A member of a largely pastoral Islamic people who live in Kurdistan; the largest ethnic group without their own state.
Kurdish (a.) Of or pertaining to the Kurds , the Kurdish language, or Kurdistan. [Written also Koordish.]
Kurdish (prop. n.) The language of the Kurds; it is related to Farsi, the modern Iranian language. [Written also Koordish.]
Kurdish (a.) Of or relating to Kurdistan or the Kurds or their language and culture; "Kurdish Moslems".
Kurdish (n.) An Iranian language spoken in Turkey and Iran and Iraq and Syria and Russia.
Kurilian (a.) Of or pertaining to the Kurile Islands, a chain of islands in the Pacific ocean, extending from the southern extremity of Kamschatka to Yesso.
Kurilian (n.) A native or an inhabitant of the Kurile Islands. [Written also Koorilian.]
Kursaal (n.) [G.] A public hall or room, for the use of visitors at watering places and health resorts in Germany.
Kusimanse (n.) (Zool.) A carnivorous animal ({Crossarchus obscurus) of tropical Africa. It its allied to the civets. Called also kusimansel, and mangue.
Kuskus () (Bot.) See Vetiver.
Kussier (n.) (Mus.) A Turkish instrument of music, with a hollow body covered with skin, over which five strings are stretched. [Written also kussir.]
Kutauss (n.) (Zool.) The India civet ({Viverra zibetha).
Kutch (n.) (Goldbeating) The packet of vellum leaves in which the gold is first beaten into thin sheets.
Kutch (n.) See Catechu.
Kutch (n.) Tannin extract derived from any of several mangrove barks of Pacific areas [syn: cutch, kutch].
Kvell (v. i.) 非常自豪 To be extraordinarily proud : rejoice.
Usage: Proud grandparents who kvell over every thing that their precious little darlings do.
kvetch (a.) To complain habitually.
kvetch (a.) A complaint.
kvetch (a.) A habitual complainer. Kvetch comes from Yiddish kvetshn, "to squeeze, to complain," from Middle High German quetzen, quetschen, "to squeeze."
Kvetch (n.) (Yiddish) A constant complainer.
Kvetch (n.) (Yiddish) A nagging complaint.
Kvetch (v.) Express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness; "My mother complains all day"; "She has a lot to kick about" [syn: complain, kick, plain, sound off, quetch, kvetch] [ant: cheer, cheer up, chirk up].
Ky (n. pl.) Kine. [Scot.] See Kee, Kie, and Kine.
Kyaboca wood () (Bot.) Amboyna wood.
Kyaboca wood () (Bot.) Sandalwood ({Santalum album).
Kyanite (n.) See Cyanite.
Compare: Cyanite
Cyanite (n.) (Min.) A mineral occuring in thin-bladed crystals and crystalline aggregates, of a sky-blue color. It is a silicate of aluminium. [Written also kyanite.] cyanobacterium
Kyanized (imp. & p. p.) of Kyanize.
Kyanizing (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Kyanize.
Kyanize (v. t.) To render (wood) proof against decay by saturating with a solution of corrosive sublimate in open tanks, or under pressure.
Kyanol (n.) (Chem.) Aniline. [Obs.]
Kyanol (n.) (Chem.) A base obtained from coal tar. -- Ure.
Kyanophyll (n.) (Bot.) Same as Cyanophyll.
Kyar (n.) Cocoanut fiber, or the cordage made from it. See Coir.
Kyaw (n.) (Zool.) A daw. [Scot.]
Kyd () p. p. of Kythe.
Kythe, Kithe (v. t.) [imp. Kydde, Kidde (k[i^]d"de); p. p. Kythed, Kid; p. pr. & vb. n. Kything.] To make known; to manifest; to show; to declare. [Obs. or Scot.]
For gentle hearte kytheth gentilesse. -- Chaucer.
Kydde () imp. of Kythe, to show. [Obs.] -- Chaucer.
Note: Spenser erroneously uses kydst to mean "knowest."
Kyke (v. i.) To look steadfastly; to gaze. [Obs.] [Written also kike, keke.] This Nicholas sat ever gaping upright, As he had kyked on the newe moon. -- Chaucer. Kyley
Kyley (n.) An Australian boomerang, having one side flat and the other convex.
Syn: kiley.
Kyloes (n. pl.) The cattle of the Hebrides, or of the Highlands. [Scot.] -- Sir W. Scott.
Kymnel (n.) See Kimnel. [Obs.] -- Chapman.
Kymograph (n.) (Physiol.) An instrument for measuring, and recording graphically, the pressure of the blood in any of the blood vessels of a living animal; -- called also kymographion.
Kymographic (a.) (Physiol.) Of or pertaining to a kymograph; as, a kymographic tracing.
Kymric (a & n.) See Cymric, a. & n.
Compare: Cymric
Cymric (a.) Welsh. -- n. The Welsh language. [Written also Kymric.]
Kymry (n.) See Cymry.
Compare: Cymry
Cymry (n.) A collective term for the Welsh race; -- so called by themselves . [{Written also Cymri, Cwmry, Kymry, etc.]
Kynrede (n.) Kindred. [Obs.] -- Chaucer.
Kynurenic (a.) (Physiol. Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid obtained from the urine of dogs. By decomposition the acid yields a nitrogenous base (called kynurin) and carbonic acid. [Written also cynurenic.]
Kyphosis (n.) [ U ] (Specialized) 駝背（脊柱後彎） A condition in which someone's spine (= the line of bones down their back) curves outwards too much.
See also Lordosis (n.) [ U ] (Specialized) 脊柱前彎（症）；脊柱前凸 A condition in which someone's spine (= the line of bones down their back) curves inwards too much.
Kyrgyzstan (n.) (proper noun) 吉爾吉斯共和國，通稱吉爾吉斯 A mountainous country in central Asia, on the northwestern border of China; population 5,900,000 (estimated 2015); official languages, Kyrgyz and Russian (since 2001); capital, Bishkek.
Also called Kyrgyz Republic or (formerly) Kirghizia.
Kyrie (n.) See Kyrie eleison.
Kyrie eleison () (R. C. Ch.) Greek words, meaning "Lord, have mercy upon us," used in the Mass, the breviary offices, the litany of the saints, etc. -- Addis & Arnold.
Kyrie eleison () The name given to the response to the Commandments, in the service of the Church of England and of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Kyrielle (n.) A litany beginning with the words , "Kyrie eleison." -- Shipley. Kyriolexy
Kyriolexy (n.) Alt. of Kyriology
Kyriology (n.) The use of literal or simple expressions, as distinguished from the use of figurative or obscure ones. -- Krauth-Fleming.
Kyriological (a.) Serving to denote objects by conventional signs or alphabetical characters; as, the original Greek alphabet of sixteen letters was called kyriologic, because it represented the pure elementary sounds. See Curiologic. [Written also curiologic and kuriologic.]
Note: The term is also applied, as by Warburton, to those Egyptian hieroglyphics, in which a part is put conventionally for the whole, as in depicting a battle by two hands, one holding a shield and the other a bow. Kythe
Kythe, Kithe (v. t.) [imp. Kydde, Kidde (k[i^]d"de); p. p. Kythed, Kid; p. pr. & vb. n. Kything.] To make known; to manifest; to show; to declare. [Obs. or Scot.]
For gentle hearte kytheth gentilesse. -- Chaucer.
Kydde (imp. of Kythe), To show. [Obs.] -- Chaucer.
Note: Spenser erroneously uses kydst to mean "knowest."
Kidde () imp. of Kythe. [Obs.] -- Chaucer.
Kythe, Kithe (v. t.) [imp. Kydde, Kidde (k[i^]d"de); p. p. Kythed, Kid; p. pr. & vb. n. Kything.] To make known; to manifest; to show; to declare. [Obs. or Scot.]
For gentle hearte kytheth gentilesse. -- Chaucer.
Kythed (p. p.) of Kithe.
Kything (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Kithe..
Kythe (v. t.) Alt. of Kithe.
Kithe (v. t.) To make known; to manifest; to show; to declare. [Obs. or Scot.]
For gentle hearte kytheth gentilesse. -- Chaucer.
Kythe (v. t.) To come into view; to appear. [Scot.]
It kythes bright . . . because all is dark around it. -- Sir W. Scott.
Kythe, Kithe (v. t.) [imp. Kydde, Kidde (k[i^]d"de); p. p. Kythed, Kid; p. pr. & vb. n. Kything.] To make known; to manifest; to show; to declare. [Obs. or Scot.]
For gentle hearte kytheth gentilesse. -- Chaucer.
Kytomiton (n.) (Biol.) See Karyomiton.
Kytoplasma (n.) (Biol.) See Karyoplasma.