K
K – Knabble
Page 174 of 345
K
K, the eleventh letter of the English Alphabet, is borrowed from the Greeks, being the same character as the Greek kappa, answering to the oriental kaph. It represents a close articulation, formed by pressing the root of the tongue against the upper part of the mouth, with a depression of the lower jaw and opening of the teeth. It is usually denominated a guttural, but is more properly a palatal. Before all the vowels, it has one invariable sound, corresponding with that of c, before a, o, and u, as in keel, ken. In monosyllables, it is used after c, as in crack, check, deck, being necessary to exhibit a correct pronunciation in the derivatives, cracked, checked, decked, cracking, for without it, c, before the vowels e and i, would be sounded like s.
Formerly, k was added to c, in certain words of Latin origin, as in musick, publick, republick. But in modern practice, k is very properly omitted, being entirely superfluous, and the more properly, as it is never written in the derivatives, musical, publication, republican. It is retained in traffick, as in monosyllables, on account of the pronunciation of the derivatives, trafficked, trafficking.
K is silent before n, as in know, knife, knee. As a numeral, k stands for 250; and with a stroke over it, for 250, 000. This character was not used by the ancient Romans, and rarely in the later ages of their empire. In the place of k they used c, as in clino, for Greek. In the Teutonic dialects, this Greek letter is sometimes represented by h. [See H.]
Kaaling
KAALING, noun A bird, a species of starling, found in China.
Kabbos
KAB'BOS, noun A fish of a brown color, without scales.
Kale
KALE, noun [Latin caulis.] Sea-cale, an esculent plant of the genus Crambe.
Kalendar
KAL'ENDAR, noun [See Calendar.]
Kali
KA'LI, noun A plant, a species of Salsola, or glass-wort, the ashes of which are used in making glass. Hence alkali, which see.
Kalif
KA'LIF, noun [See Calif.]
Kalifate
CALIPHATE or KALIFATE noun The office or dignity of a calif or the government of a calif.
Kalmia
KAL'MIA, noun The name of a genus of evergreen shrubs, natives of noun America, called laurel, ivy-bush, calico-bush, etc.
Kam
KAM, adjective Crooked. [Not used.]
Kan
KAN
KANGAROO', noun A singular animal found in New Holland, resembling in some respects the opossum. It belongs to the genus Didelphis. It has a small head, neck and shoulders, the body increasing in thickness to the rump. The fore legs are very short, useless in walking, but used for digging or bringing food to the mouth. The hind legs, which are long, are used in moving, particularly in leaping.
Kaolin
KA'OLIN, noun A species of earth or variety of clay, used as one of the two ingredients in the oriental porcelain. The other ingredient is called in China petunse. Its color is white, with a shade of gray, yellow or red.
Karagane
KAR'AGANE, noun A species of gray fox found in the Russian empire.
Karpholite
KARPH'OLITE, noun [Gr. straw, and a stone.]
A mineral recently discovered. It has a fibrous structure and a yellow color.
Kata
KA'TA, noun In syria, a fowl of the grous kind.
Kaun
KAUN
KAW, verb intransitive [from the sound.] To cry as a raven, crow or rook.
KAW, noun The cry of the rave, crow or rook.
Kaw
KAW, v.i. [from the sound.] To cry as a raven, crow or rook.
KAW, n. The cry of the rave, crow or rook.
Kawn
KAWN, noun In Turkey, a public inn.
Kayle
KAYLE, noun
1. A nine-pin, a kettle-pin; sometimes written keel.
2. A kind of play in Scotland, in which nine holes ranged in threes, are made in the ground, and an iron ball rolled in among them.
Keck
KECK, verb intransitive To heave the stomach; to reach, as in an effort to vomit. [Little used.]
KECK, noun A reaching or heaving of the stomach.
Keckle
KECK'LE, verb transitive To wind old rope round a cable to preserve its surface from being fretted, or to wind iron chains round a cable to defend it from the friction of a rocky bottom, or from the ice.
Kecksy
KECK'SY, noun [Latin cicuta.] Hemlock; a hollow jointed plant. [Not used in America.]
Kecky
KECK'Y, adjective Resembling a kex.
1. An Indian scepter.
Kedge
KEDGE, noun [allied probably to cag and keg.] A small anchor, used to keep a ship steady when riding in a harbor or river, and particularly at the turn of the tide, to keep her clear of her bower anchor, also to remove her from one part of a harbor to another, being carried out in a boat and let go, as in warping or kedging. [Sometimes written kedger.]
KEDGE, verb transitive To warp, as a ship; to move by means of a kedge as in a river.
Kedlack
KED'LACK, noun A weed that grows among wheat and rye; charlock. [I believe not used in America.]
Kee
KEE, plural of cow. [Local in England and not used in America.]
Keech
KEECH, noun A mass or lump. [Not in use.]
Keel
KEEL, noun
1. The principal timber in a ship, extending from stem to stern at the bottom, and supporting the whole frame.
2. A low flat-bottomed vessel, used in the river Tyne, to convey coals from Newcastle for loading the colliers.
3. In botany, the lower petal of a papilionaceous corol, inclosing the stamens and pistil.
False keel a strong thick piece of timber, bolted to the bottom of the keel to preserve it from injury.
On an even keel in a level or horizontal position.
KEEL, verb transitive To cool.
KEEL, verb transitive To plow with a keel; to navigate.
1. To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.
To keel the pot, in Ireland, to scum it.
Keelage
KEE'LAGE, noun Duty paid for a ship entering Hartlepool, Eng.
Keeled
KEE'LED, adjective In botany, carinated; having a longitudinal prominence on the back; as a keeled leaf, calyx or nectary.
Keelfat
KEE'LFAT, noun A cooler; a vessel in which liquor is set for cooling. [Not used.]
Keelhaul
KEE'LHAUL, verb transitive To haul under the keel of a ship. Keelhauling is a punishment inflicted in the Dutch navy for certain offenses. The offender is suspended by a rope from one yard arm, with weights on his legs, and a rope fastened to him, leading under the ship's bottom to the opposite yard arm, and being let fall into the water, he is drawn under the ship's bottom and raised on the other side.
Keeling
KEE'LING, noun A kind of small cod, of which stock fish is made.
Keelson
KEELSON, noun kel'son. A piece of timber in a ship, laid on the middle of the floor timbers over the keel, fastened with long bolts and clinched, and thus binding the floor timbers to the keel.
Keen
KEEN, adjective
1. Eager; vehement; as hungry curs too keen at the sport.
The sheep were so keen on the acorns--
2. Eager; sharp; as a keen appetite.
3. Sharp; having a very fine edge; as a keen razor, or a razor with a keen edge. We say a keen edge, but a sharp point.
4. Piercing; penetrating; severe; applied to cold or to wind; as a keen wind; the cold is very keen
5. Bitter; piercing; acrimonious; as keen satire or sarcasm.
Good father cardinal, cry thou amen,
To my keen curses.
KEEN, verb transitive To sharpen. [Unusual.]
Keenly
KEE'NLY, adverb Eagerly; vehemently.
1. Sharply; severely; bitterly.
Keenness
KEE'NNESS, noun Eagerness; vehemence; as the keenness of hunger.
1. Sharpness; fineness of edge; as the keenness of a razor.
2. The quality of piercing; rigor; sharpness; as the keenness of the air or of cold.
3. Asperity; acrimony; bitterness; as the keenness of satire, invective or sarcasm.
4. Acuteness; sharpness; as the keenness of wit.
Keep
KEEP, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive kept. [Latin habeo, and capio.]
1. To hold; to retain in one's power or possession; not to lose or part with; as, to keep a house or a farm; to keep any thing in the memory, mind or heart.
2. To have in custody for security or preservation.
The crown of Stephanus, first king of Hungary, was always kept in the castle of Vicegrade.
3. To preserve; to retain.
The Lord God, merciful and gracious, keeping mercy for thousands--.
4. To preserve from falling or from danger; to protect; to guard or sustain.
And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee. .
.
5. To hold or restrain from departure; to detain.
--That I may know what keeps me here with you.
6. To tend; to have the care of.
And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it. .
7. To tend; to feed; to pasture; as, to keep a flock of sheep or a herd of cattle in a yard or in a field. He keeps his horses on oats or on hay.
8. To preserve in any tenor or state. keep a stiff rein.
KEEP the constitution sound.
9. To regard; to attend to.
While the stars and course of heaven I keep--
10. To hold in any state; as, to keep in order.
11. To continue any state, course or action; as, to keep silence; to keep the same road or the same pace; to keep reading or talking; to keep a given distance.
12. To practice; to do or perform; to obey; to observe in practice; not to neglect or violate; as, to keep the laws, statutes or commandments of God.
13. To fulfill; to perform; as, to keep one's word, promise or covenant.
14. To practice; to use habitually; as, to keep bad hours.
15. To copy carefully.
Her servant's eyes were fix'd upon her face,
And as she moved or turned, her motions viewed,
Her measures kept, and step by step pursued.
16. To observe or solemnize.
17. To board; to maintain; to supply with necessaries of life. The men are kept at a moderate price per week.
18. To have in the house; to entertain; as, to keep lodgers.
19. To maintain; not to intermit; as, to keep watch or guard.
20. To hold in one's own bosom; to confine to one's own knowledge; not to disclose or communicate to others; not to betray; as, to keep a secret; to keep one's own counsel.
21. To have in pay; as, to keep a servant.
To keep back, to reserve; to withhold; not to disclose or communicate.
I will keep nothing back from you. .
1. To restrain; ; to prevent from advancing.
KEEP back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. .
2. To reserve; to withhold; not to deliver. .
To keep company with, to frequent the society of; to associate with. Let youth keep company with the wise and good.
To accompany; to go with; as, to keep company with one on a journey or voyage.
To keep down, to prevent from rising; not to lift or suffer to be raised.
To keep in, to prevent from escape; to hold in confinement.
1. To conceal; not to tell or disclose.
2. To restrain; to curb.
To keep off, to hinder from approach or attack; as, to keep off an enemy or an evil.
To keep under, to restrain; to hold in subjection; as, to keep under an antagonist or a conquered country; to keep under the appetites and passions.
To keep up, to maintain; to prevent from falling or diminution; as, to keep up the price of goods; to keep up one's credit.
1. To maintain; to continue; to hinder from ceasing.
In joy, that which keeps up the action is the desire to continue it.keep out, to hinder from entering or taking possession.
To keep bed, to remain in bed without rising; to be confined to one's bed.
To keep house, to maintain a family state.
His income enables him to keep house.
1. To remain in the house; to be confined.
His feeble health obliges him to keep house.
To keep from, to restrain; to prevent approach.
To keep a school, to maintain or support it; as, the town or its inhabitants keep ten schools; more properly, to govern and instruct or teach a school, as a preceptor.
KEEP, verb intransitive To remain in any state; as, to keep at a distance; to keep aloft; to keep near; to keep in the house; to keep before or behind; to keep in favor; to keep out of company, or out of reach.
1. To last; to endure; not to perish or be impaired. Seek for winter's use apples that will keep
If the malt is not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes will not keep
2. To lodge; to dwell; to reside for a time.
Knock at the study, where, they say, he keeps.
To keep to, to adhere strictly; not to neglect or deviate from; as, to keep to old customs; to keep to a rule; to keep to one's word or promise.
To keep on, to go forward; to proceed; to continue to advance.
To keep up, to remain unsubdued; or not to be confined to one's bed.
In popular language, this word signifies to continue; to repeat continually; not to cease.
KEEP, noun Custody; guard. [Little used.]
1. Colloquially, case; condition; as in good keep
2. Guardianship; restraint. [Little used.]
3. A place of confinement; in old castles, the dungeon.
Keeper
KEE'PER, noun One who keeps; one that holds or has possession of any thing.
1. One who retains in custody; one who has the care of a prison and the custody of prisoners.
2. One who has the care of a park or other inclosure, or the custody of beasts; as the keeper of a park, a pound, or of sheep.
3. One who has the care, custody or superintendence of any thing.
In Great Britain, the keeper of the great seal, is a lord by his office, and one of the privy council. All royal grants, commissions and charters pass through his hands. He is constituted lord-keeper by the delivery of the great seal. The keeper of the privy seal is also a lord by his office, and a member of the privy council.
Keepership
KEE'PERSHIP, noun The office of a keeper. [Little used.]
Keeping
KEE'PING, participle present tense Holding; restraining; preserving; guarding; protecting; performing.
KEE'PING, noun A holding; restraint; custody; guard; preservation.
1. Feed; fodder. The cattle have good keeping
2. In painting, a representation of objects in the manner they appear to the eye at different distance from it.
Keepsake
KEE'PSAKE, noun Any thing kept, or given to be kept for the sake of the giver; a token of friendship.
Keffekil
KEF'FEKIL, noun A stone, white or yellow, which hardens in the fire, and of which Turkey pipes are made.
Keffekill
KEF'FEKILL, noun A mineral, the meerschaum, which see.
Keg
KEG, noun A small cask or barrel; written more correctly cag.
Kell
KELL, noun A sort of pottage. [Not used in America.]
KELL, noun The caul or omentum. [See Caul, the usual orthography of the word.]
1. The chrysalis of the caterpillar.
Kelp
KELP, noun The calcined ashes of sea weed, used in the manufacture of glass. This is a dark color alkaline substance, which, in a furnace, vitrifies and becomes transparent.
Kelpy
KELP'Y, noun An imaginary spirit of the waters, in the form of a horse. [Local and vulgar.]
Kelson
KEL'SON. [See Keelson.]
Kelter
KELT'ER, noun The phrase, he is not in kelter signifies, he is not in a proper dress or equipage, or not in readiness.
Kemb
KEMB, verb transitive To comb, which see. kemb is an obsolete orthography.
Kemelin
KEM'ELIN, noun A tub; a brewer's vessel. [Not in use.]
Ken
KEN, verb transitive [Latin canus, white, caneo, to be white, and this with Latin cano, to sing, canto, Eng. to cant, to chant; Latin gigno.]
1. To see at a distance; to descry.
We ken them from afar.
2. To know; to understand. [This verb is used chiefly in poetry.]
KEN, verb intransitive To look round.
KEN, noun View; reach of sight.
Coasting they kept the land within their ken
Kendal-Green
KEN'DAL-GREEN, noun A species of green cloth made of kendal.
Kennel
KEN'NEL, noun [Latin canis, a dog.]
1. A house or cot for dogs, or for a pack of hounds.
2. A pack of hounds or their cry.
3. The hole of a fox or other beast; a haunt.
KEN'NEL, noun [Eng.channel.]
1. The water-course of a street; a little canal or channel.
2. A puddle.
KEN'NEL, verb intransitive To lodge; to lie; to dwell; as a dog or a fox.
The dog kenneled in a hollow tree.
KEN'NEL, verb transitive To keep or confine in a kennel
Kenning
KEN'NING, noun View, sight.
Kentle
KEN'TLE, noun [Latin centum.] In commerce, a hundred pounds in weight; as a kentle of fish. [It is written and pronounced also quintal.]
Kentledge
KENT'LEDGE. noun In seamen's language, pigs of iron for ballast laid on the floor of a ship.
Kept
KEPT, preterit tense and participle passive of keep.
Kerb-Stone
KERB-STONE, KIRB-STONE. [See Curb-stone.]
Kerchief
KER'CHIEF, noun [contracted from coverchief.]
1. A head dress; a cloth to cover the head.
2. A cloth used in dress.
The word is now seldom used, except in its compound, handkerchief, and sometimes neckerchief.
Kerchiefed
KER'CHIEFED
KER'CHIEFT , adjective Dressed; hooded; covered.
Kerchieft
KER'CHIEFT , a. Dressed; hooded; covered.
Kerf
KERF, noun [Eng. to carve.] The cut of an ax, a saw, or other instrument; the notch or slit made in wood by cutting.
Kermes
KERM'ES, noun In zoology, an insect produced in the excrescences of a species of small oak, or the body of an insect transformed into a grain, berry, or husk. This body is full of reddish juice, which
is used in dyeing red. Hence the word crimson.
Kermes-Mineral
KERM'ES-MINERAL, noun A mineral substance, so called from its color. It is a precipitate of antimony, obtained by fusion with a fixed alkali and subsequent solution in boiling water, or by simple ebullition.
Kern
KERN, noun An Irish footman or foot-soldier.
1. In English laws, an idle person or vagabond.
KERN, noun A hand-mill consisting of two stones, one of which is turned by the hand; usually written quern, which see.
1. A churn.
KERN, verb intransitive
1. To harden, as corn in ripening.
2. To take the form of corns; to granulate.
KERN'-BABY, noun [corn-baby.] An image dressed with corn, and carried before reapers to their harvest-home.
Kernel
KERN'EL, noun
1. The edible substance contained in the shell of a nut.
2. Any thing included in a shell, husk or integument; a grain or corn; as a kernel of wheat or oats.
3. The seed of pulpy fruit; as the kernel of an apple.
4. The central part of any thing; a small mass around which other matter is concreted; a nucleus.
5. A hard concretion in the flesh.
KERN'EL, verb intransitive To harden or ripen into kernels; as the seeds of plants.
Kernelly
KERN'ELLY, adjective Full of kernels; resembling kernels.
Kersey
KER'SEY, noun A species of coarse woolen cloth; a coarse stuff made chiefly in Kent and Devonshire in England.
Kerve
KERVE, verb transitive To carve. [Not used.]
Kerver
KERV'ER, noun A carver. [Not used.]
Kesar
KE'SAR, noun [from Caesar.] An emperor.
Kestrel
KES'TREL, noun A fowl of the genus Falco, or hawk kind; called also stannel and windhover. It builds in hollow oaks, and feeds on quails and other small birds.
Ketch
KETCH, noun A vessel with two masts, a main and mizen-mast, usually from 100 to 250 tones burden. Ketches are generally used as yachts or as bomb-vessels. The latter are called bomb-ketches.
Ketchup
KETCH'UP, noun A sauce. [See Catchup.]
Kettle
KET'TLE, noun A vessel of iron or other metal, with a wide mouth, usually without a cover, used for heating and boiling water or other liquor.
Among the Tartars, a kettle represents a family, or as many as feed from one kettle
Among the Dutch, a battery of mortars sunk in the earth, is called a kettle
Kettle-Drum
KET'TLE-DRUM, noun An instrument of martial music, composed of two basins of copper or brass, rounded at the bottom and covered with vellum or goat-skin.
Kettle-Drummer
KET'TLE-DRUMMER, noun The man who beats the kettle-drum.
Kettle-Pins
KET'TLE-PINS, noun Nine pins; skittles.
Kevel
KEV'EL, noun In ships, a piece of timber serving to belay the sheets or great ropes by which the bottoms of the fore-sail and main-sail are extended.
Kex
KEX, noun Hemlock; the stem of the teasel; a dry stalk. [See Kecksy.]
Key
KEY, noun ke. In a general sense, a fastener; that which fastens; as a piece of wood in the frame of a building, or in a chain, etc.
1. An instrument for shutting or opening a lock, by pushing the bolt one way or the other. Keys are of various forms, and fitted to the wards of the locks to which they belong.
2. An instrument by which something is screwed or turned; as the key of a watch or other chronometer.
3. The stone which binds an arch. [See Key-stone.]
4. In an organ or harpsichord, the key or finger key is a little lever or piece in the fore part by which the instrument is played on by the fingers.
5. In music, the key or key note, is the fundamental note or tone, to which the whole piece is accommodated, and with which it usually begins and always ends. There are two keys, one of the major, and one of the minor mode. key sometimes signifies a scale or system of intervals.
6. An index, or that which serves to explain a cypher. Hence,
7. That which serves to explain any thing difficult to be understood.
8. In the Romish church, ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or the power of the pope, or the power of excommunicating or absolving.
9. A ledge or lay of ricks near the surface of the water.
10. The husk containing the seed of an ash.
KEY, noun A bank or wharf built on the side of a river or harbor, for the convenience of loading and unloading ships, and securing them in their stations. Hence keys are furnished with posts, rings, cranes, capstans, etc. It is sometimes written quay.
Key-Cold
KE'Y-COLD, adjective Lifeless. [Not in use.]
Keyage
KE'YAGE, noun Money paid for the use of a key or quay.
Keyed
KE'YED, adjective Furnished with keys; as a keyed instrument.
1. Set to a key, as a tune.
Keyhole
KE'YHOLE, noun A hole or aperture in a door or lock, for receiving a key.
Keystone
KE'YSTONE, noun The stone on the top or middle of an arch or vault, which being wider at the top than at the bottom, enters like a wedge and binds the work; properly, the fastening-stone.
KHAN, noun kaun. In Asia, a governor; a king; a prince; a chief. In Persia, the word denotes the governor of a province; among the Tartars, it is equivalent to king or prince.
1. An inn.
Khan
KHAN, noun In Persia, an officer answering to a governor in Europe or America. Among the Tartars, a chief or prince. [See khan ]
Khanate
KHANATE, noun kaun'ate. The dominion or jurisdiction of a khan.
Kibe
KIBE, noun [This word has the elements of chap, gap, gape.]
A chap or crack in the flesh occasioned by cold; an ulcerated chilblain; as in the heels.
Kibed
KI'BED, adjective Chapped; cracked with cold; affected with chilblains; as kibed heels.
Kiby
KI'BY, adjective Affected with kibes.
Kick
KICK, verb transitive To strike with the foot; as, a horse kicks a servant; a man kicks a dog.
KICK, verb intransitive To practice striking with the foot or feet; as a horse accustomed to kick
1. To thrust out the foot or feet with violence, either in wantonness, resistance, anger or contempt; to manifest opposition.
Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice? .
Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked. .
It is hard for thee to kick against the goads. .
KICK, noun A blow with the foot or feet; a striking or thrust of the foot.
Kicked
KICK'ED, participle passive Struck with the foot or feet.
Kicker
KICK'ER, noun One that kicks.
Kicking
KICK'ING, participle present tense Striking with the foot; thrusting out the foot with violence.
KICK'ING, noun The act of striking with the foot, or of yerking the foot with violence. What cannot be effected by kicking may sometimes be done by coaxing.
Kickshaw
KICK'SHAW, noun
1. Something fantastical or uncommon, or something that has no particular name.
2. A dish so changed by cooking, that it can scarcely be known.
Kickshoe
KICK'SHOE, noun A dancer, in contempt; a caperer; a buffoon. [A word used only by Milton.]
Kid
KID, noun [Latin hoedus; vulgar.]
1. A young goat.
2. A faggot; a bundle of heath and furze.
KID, verb transitive or i. To bring forth a young goat.
1. To make into a bundle, as faggots.
KID, verb transitive To show, discover or make known.
Kidder
KID'DER, noun An engrosser of corn, or one who carries corn, provisions and merchandize about the country for sale.
Kiddle
KID'DLE, noun A kind of wear in a river for catching fish; corruptly pronounced kittle.
Kiddow
KID'DOW, noun A web-footed fowl, called also guillemot, sea-hen, or skout.
Kidling
KID'LING, noun A young kid.
Kidnap
KID'NAP, verb transitive To steal a human being, man, woman or child; or to seize and forcibly carry away any person whatever from his own country or state into another.
Kidnapped
KID'NAPPED, participle passive Stolen or forcibly carried away; as a human being.
Kidnapper
KID'NAPPER, noun One who steals or forcibly carries away a human being; a manstealer.
Kidnapping
KID'NAPPING, participle present tense Stealing or forcibly carrying away human beings.
KID'NAPPING, noun The act of stealing, or forcible abduction of a human being from his own country or state. This crime was capital by the Jewish law, and in modern times is highly penal.
Kidney
KID'NEY, noun [I have not found this word in any other language.]
1. The kidneys are two oblong flattened bodies, extending from the eleventh and twelfth ribs to the fourth lumbar vertebra, behind the intestines. Their use is to separate the urine from the blood.
2. Sort; kind. [A ludicrous use of the word.]
3. A cant term for a waiting servant.
Kidney-Bean
KID'NEY-BEAN, noun A sort of bean so named from its resemblance to the kidney. It is of the genus Phaseolus.
Kidney-Form
KID'NEY-FORM
KID'NEY-SHAPED adjective Having the form or shape of a kidney.
Kidney-Vetch
KID'NEY-VETCH, noun A plant of the genus Anthyllis.
Kidney-Wort
KID'NEY-WORT, noun A plant of the genus Saxifraga.
Kiffekill
KIF'FEKILL
KIL, noun A Dutch word, signifying a channel or bed of a river, and hence a stream.
Kil
KIL, n. A Dutch word, signifying a channel or bed of a river, and hence a stream.
Kilderkin
KIL'DERKIN, noun A small barrel; a liquid measure containing two firkins, or 16 or 18 gallons.
Kill
KILL, verb transitive
1. To deprive of life, animal or vegetable, in any manner or by any means. To kill an animal or a plant, is to put an end to the vital functions, either by destroying or essentially injuring the organs necessary to life, or by causing them to cease from action. An animal may be killed by the sword or by poison, by disease or by suffocation. A strong solution of salt will kill plants.
2. To butcher; to slaughter for food; as, to kill an ox.
3. To quell; to appease; to calm; to still; as, in seamen's language, a shower of rain kills the wind.
Killas
KIL'LAS, noun An argillaceous stone of a pale gray or greenish gray, of a lamellar or coarsely granular texture, found in Cornwall, England.
Killdee
KILL'DEE, noun A small bird in America, so called from its voice or note; a species of plover.
Killed
KILL'ED, participle passive Deprived of life; quelled; calmed.
Killer
KILL'ER, noun One who deprives of life; he or that which kills.
Killing
KILL'ING, participle present tense Depriving of life; quelling.
Killinite
KIL'LINITE, noun A mineral, a variety of spodumene, found at Killeney, in Ireland.
Killow
KIL'LOW, noun An earth of a blackish or deep blue color.
Kiln
KILN, noun kil.
1. A large stove or oven; a fabric of brick or stone which may be heated for the purpose of hardening, burning or drying any thing; as a kiln for baking or hardening earthen vessels; a kiln for drying grain or meal.
2. A pile of brick constructed for burning or hardening; called also a brick-kiln.
Kiln-Dried
KIL'N-DRIED, participle passive Dried in a kiln.
Kiln-Dry
KIL'N-DRY, verb transitive kil-dry. To dry in a kiln; as, to kiln-dry or grain.
Kiln-Drying
KIL'N-DRYING, participle present tense Drying in a kiln.
Kilogram
KIL'OGRAM, noun In the new system of French weights and measures, a thousand grams. According to Lunier, the kilogram is equal in weight to a cubic decimeter of water, or two pounds, five drams and a half.
Kiloliter
KIL'OLITER, noun [Gr. a thousand, and a Greek measure. See Liter.]
In the new French measures, a thousand liters; or 264 gallons and 44, 231 cubic inches. According to Lunier, it is nearly equal to a ton of wine of Bourdeaux.
Kilometer
KILOM'ETER, noun [Gr. a thousand, and a meter.] In the French system of measures, a thousand meters; the meter being the unit of linear measure. The kilometer is nearly equal to a quarter of a French league.
Kilt
KILT, noun A kind of short petticoat worn by the highlanders of Scotland.
KILT, participle passive Killed.
Kimbo
KIM'BO
KIN, noun [Latin genus; Gr. connected with Latin gigno, geno.]
1. Relation, properly by consanguinity or blood, but perhaps sometimes used for relation by affinity or marriage.
This man is of kin to me.
2. Relatives; kindred; persons of the same race.
--The father, mother and the kin beside.
3. A relation; a relative.
4. The same generical class; a thing related.
And the ear-deafening voice of th' oracle,
Kin to Jove's thunder.
5. As a termination, kin is used as a diminutive, denoting small, from the sense of child; as in manikin, a little man.
KIN, adjective Of the same nature; kindred; congenial.
Kin
KIN, n. [L. genus; Gr. connected with L. gigno, geno.] 1. Relation, properly by consanguinity or blood, but perhaps sometimes used for relation by affinity or marriage. This man is of kin to me.2. Relatives; kindred; persons of the same race. --The father, mother and the kin beside.3. A relation; a relative.4. The same generical class; a thing related. And the ear-deafening voice of th' oracle, Kin to Jove's thunder.5. As a termination, kin is used as a diminutive, denoting small, from the sense of child; as in manikin, a little man. KIN, a. Of the same nature; kindred; congenial.
Kinate
KIN'ATE, noun A salt formed by the union of kinic acid with a base.
Kind
KIND, noun
1. Race; genus; generic class; as in mankind or humankind. In technical language, kind answers to genus.
2. Sort, in a sense more loose than genus; as, there are several kinds of eloquence and of style, many kinds of music, many kinds of government, various kinds of architecture or of painting, various kinds of soil, etc.
3. Particular nature; as laws most perfect in their kind
4. Natural state; produce or commodity, as distinguished from money; as taxes paid in kind
5. Nature; natural propensity or determination.
Some of you, on pure instinct of nature,
Are led by kind t' admire your fellow creature.
6. Manner; way. [Little used.]
7. Sort. He spoke with a kind of scorn or contempt.
KIND, adjective
1. Disposed to do good to others, and to make them happy by granting their requests, supplying their wants or assisting them in distress; having tenderness or goodness of nature; benevolent; benignant.
God is kind to the unthankful, and to the evil. .
Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted. .
2. Proceeding from tenderness or goodness of heart; benevolent; as a kind act; a kind return of favors.
Kinded
KIND'ED, adjective Begotten.
Kindle
KIN'DLE, verb transitive [Latin accendo; from the root of candeo, caneo, to be light or white, to shine.]
1. To set on fire; to cause to burn with flame; to light; as, to kindle a fire.
2. To inflame, as the passions; to exasperate; to rouse; to provoke; to excite to action; to heat; to fire; to animate; as, to kindle anger or wrath; to kindle resentment; to kindle the flame of love, or love into a flame.
So is a contentious woman to kindle strife. .
3. To bring forth.
KIN'DLE, verb intransitive To take fire; to begin to burn with flame. Fuel and fire well laid, will kindle without a bellows.
1. To begin to rage, or be violently excited; to be roused or exasperated.
It shall kindle in the thickets of the forest. .
Kindled
KIN'DLED, participle passive Set on fire; inflamed; excited into action.
Kindler
KIN'DLER, noun He or that which kindles or sets on fire.
Kindless
KINDLESS, adjective Destitute of kindness; unnatural.
Kindliness
KINDLINESS, noun Affection; affectionate disposition; benignity.
1. Natural disposition.
Kindling
KIN'DLING, participle present tense Setting on fire; causing to burn with flame; exciting into action.
Kindly
KINDLY, adjective [See Kind, the noun.] Homogeneal; congenial; kindred; of the same nature. This Johnson supposes to be the original sense; but it is also used as a derivative of the adjective, in the sense of
1. Mild; bland; softening; as kindly showers.
KINDLY, adverb With good will; with a disposition to make others happy or to oblige; benevolently; favorably. Let the poor be treated kindly
Be kindly affectioned one to another, with brotherly love--.
And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
.
Kindness
KINDNESS, noun [from kind, the adjective.]
1. Good will; benevolence; that temper or disposition which delights in contributing to the happiness of others, which is exercised cheerfully in gratifying their wishes, supplying their wants or alleviating their distresses; benignity of nature. kindness ever accompanies love.
There is no man whose kindness we may not sometime want, or by whose malice we may not sometime suffer.
2. Act of good will; beneficence; any act of benevolence which promotes the happiness or welfare of others. Charity, hospitality, attentions to the wants of others, etc., are deemed acts of kindness or kindnesses. .
Kindred
KIN'DRED, noun [from kin, kind.]
1. Relation by birth; consanguinity.
Like her, of equal kindred to the throne.
2. Relation by marriage; affinity.
3. Relatives by blood or marriage, more properly the former.
Thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred .
4. Relation; suit; connection in kind.
KIN'DRED, adjective Related; congenial; of the like nature or properties; as kindred souls; kindred skies.
Kine
KINE, plural of cow. But cows, the regular plural, is now in general use.
King
KING, noun
1. The chief or sovereign of a nation; a man invested with supreme authority over a nation, tribe or country; a monarch. Kings are absolute monarchs, when they possess the powers of government without control, or the entire sovereignty over a nation; they are limited monarchs, when their power is restrained by fixed laws; and they are absolute, when they possess the whole legislative, judicial, and executive power, or when the legislative or judicial powers, or both, are vested in other bodies of men. Kings are hereditary sovereigns, when they hold the powers of government by right of birth or inheritance, and elective, when raised to the throne by choice.
KINGs will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principle.
2. A sovereign; a prince; a ruler. Christ is called the king of his church.
3. A card having the picture of a king; as the king of diamonds.
4. The chief piece in the game of chess.
KING at arms, an officer in England of great antiquity, and formerly of great authority, whose business is to direct the heralds, preside at their chapters, and have the jurisdiction of armory. There are three kings at arms, vix.garter, clarencieux, and norroy. The latter [northroy] officiates north of the Trent.
KING, verb transitive In ludicrous language, to supply with a king or to make royal; to raise to royalty.
Kingapple
KING'APPLE, noun A kind of apple, so called.
KING'S BENCH, noun A high court or tribunal in England; so called because the king used to sit there in person. It is the supreme court of common law, consisting of a chief justice and three other justices.
Kingbird
KING'BIRD, noun A fowl of the genus Paradisea; also, a species of the genus Muscicapa, so called from its courage in attacking larger fowls.
Kingcraft
KING'CR'AFT, noun The craft of kings; the act of governing; usually in a bad sense.
Kingcup
KING'CUP, noun A flower, crowfoot.
Kingdom
KING'DOM, noun [king and dom, jurisdiction.]
1. The territory or country subject to a king; an undivided territory under the dominion of a king or monarch. The foreign possessions of a king are not usually included in the term kingdom Thus we speak of the kingdom of England, of France or of Spain, without including the East or West Indies.
2. The inhabitants or population subject to a king. The whole kingdom was alarmed.
3. In natural history, a division; as the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms.
4. A region; a tract; the place where any thing prevails and holds sway; as the watery kingdom
5. In Scripture, the government or universal dominion of God. . .
6. The power of supreme administration. .
7. A princely nation or state.
Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests. .
8. Heaven. .
9. State of glory in heaven. .
10. The reign of the Messiah.
11. Government; rule; supreme administration.
Kingdomed
KING'DOMED, adjective Proud of royalty.
Kingfisher
KING'FISHER, noun A fowl of the genus Alcedo.
Kinghood
KING'HOOD, noun State of being a king.
Kingless
KING'LESS, adjective Having no king.
Kinglike
KING'LIKE, adjective Like a king.
Kingling
KING'LING, noun A little king.
Kingly
KING'LY, adjective Belonging to a king; suitable to a king; as a kingly couch.
1. Royal; sovereign; monarchical; as a kingly government.
2. Noble; august; splendid; becoming a king; as kingly magnificence.
KING'LY, adverb With an air of royalty; with a superior dignity.
Low bow'd the rest; he, kingly did but nod.
Kings-Evil
KING'S-EVIL, noun A disease of the scrofulous kind.
Kings-Spear
KING'S-SPEAR, noun A plant of the genus Asphodelus.
Kingship
KING'SHIP, noun Royalty; the state, office or dignity of a king.
Kingstone
KING'STONE, noun A fish.
Kinic
KIN'IC, adjective Pertaining to cinchona; as the kinic acid.
Kink
KINK, noun [Latin cingo.] The twist of a rope or thread, occasioned by a spontaneous winding of the rope or thread when doubled, that is, by an effort of hard twisted ropes or threads to untwist, they wind about each other.
KING, verb intransitive To wind into a kink; to twist spontaneously.
Kinkhaust
KINK'HAUST, noun The chincough. [Not used.]
Kino
KI'NO, noun An astringent resin obtained from an African tree.
Kino consists of tannin and extractive.
Kinsfolk
KINS'FOLK, noun [kin and folk.] Relations; kindred; persons of the same family.
Kinsman
KINS'MAN, noun [kin and man.] A man of the same race or family; one related by blood.
Kinswoman
KINS'WOMAN, noun A female relation.
Kipper
KIP'PER, noun A term applied to a salmon, when unfit to be taken, and to the time when they are so considered.
Kirk
KIRK, noun kurk. In Scotland, a church. This is the same word as church, differently written and pronounced. [See Church.]
Kirkman
KIRK'MAN, noun One of the church of Scotland.
Kirtle
KIR'TLE, noun ker'tl.
1. An upper garment; a gown; a petticoat; a short jacket; a mantle.
2. A quantity of flax, about a hundred pounds.
[I know not that this word is used in America.]
Kirtled
KIR'TLED, adjective Wearing a kirtle.
Kiss
KISS, verb transitive
1. To salute with the lips.
2. To treat with fondness; to caress.
The hearts of princes kiss obedience.
3. To touch gently.
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees.
KISS, noun A salute given with the lips; a common token of affection.
Kissed
KISS'ED, participle passive Saluted with a kiss.
Kisser
KISS'ER, noun One that kisses.
Kissing
KISS'ING, participle present tense Saluting with the lips.
Kissing-Comfit
KISS'ING-COMFIT, noun Perfumed sugar plums to sweeten the breath.
Kissing-Crust
KISS'ING-CRUST, noun In cookery, the crust of a loaf that touches another.
Kist
KIST, noun A chest. [Not used.]
Kit
KIT, noun A large bottle.
1. A small fiddle.
2. A kind of fish-tub, and a milk-pail.
[I know not that this word is used in America.]
KIT'-CAT, noun A term applied to a club in London, to which Addison and Steele belonged; so called from Christopher Cat, a pastry cook, who served the club with mutton pies; applied also to a portrait three fourths less than a half length, placed in the club-room.
Kitchen
KITCH'EN, noun [Latin coquina; from the root of Latin coquo, to cook.]
1. A cook-room; the room of a house appropriated to cookery.
A fat kitchen makes a lean will.
2. In ships, the galley or caboose.
3. A utensil for roasting meat; as a tin kitchen
Kitchen-Garden
KITCH'EN-G'ARDEN, noun A garden or piece of ground appropriated to the raising of vegetables for the table.
Kitchen-Maid
KITCH'EN-MAID, noun A female servant whose business is to clean the kitchen and utensils of cookery, or in general, to do the work of a kitchen.
Kitchen-Stuff
KITCH'EN-STUFF, noun Fat collected form pots and dripping pans.
Kitchen-Wench
KITCH'EN-WENCH, noun The woman who cleans the kitchen and utensils of cookery.
Kitchen-Work
KITCH'EN-WORK, noun Work done in the kitchen; as cookery, washing, etc.
Kite
KITE, noun A rapacious fowl of the genus Falco or hawk, remarkable for gliding through the air without frequently moving its wings; hence called glide.
1. A name of reproach, denoting rapacity.
2. A light frame of wood and paper constructed for flying in the air for the amusement of boys.
KITE, noun In the north of England, the belly.
Kitefoot
KI'TEFOOT, noun A sort of tobacco, so called.
Kitesfoot
KI'TESFOOT, noun A plant.
Kith
KITH, noun Acquaintance.
Kitling
KIT'LING, noun [Latin catulus.] A whelp; the young of a beast.
Kitten
KIT'TEN, noun kit'n. A young cat, or the young of the cat.
KIT'TEN, verb intransitive kit'n. To bring forth young, as a cat.
Kittiwake
KIT'TIWAKE, noun A fowl of the genus Larus, or gull kind.
Kittle
KIT'TLE, verb transitive To tickle. [Not used.]
Klick
KLICK, verb intransitive [a different orthography or diminutive of clack.]
1. To make a small, sharp sound by striking two things together.
2. In Scotland, to pilfer, by taking with a snatch.
KLICK, noun A stroke or blow. [A word in vulgar use.]
Knab
KNAB, verb transitive nab. To bite; to gnaw; to nibble. [This word may belong to the root of nibble, and it properly signifies to catch or seize suddenly with the teeth.]
Knabble
KNAB'BLE, verb intransitive To bite or nibble. [Not used.]
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828); edition by akaitsurugi (github.com/akaitsurugi/webster1828). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text from the CrossWire Bible Society.