Select a letter for some words
Kakistocracy
Government by the worst men.
Kame
A low ridge.
Kami
A title given to the celestial gods of the first mythical dynasty of Japan and extended to the demigods of the second dynasty, and then to the long line of spiritual princes still represented by the mikado.
Kauri
A tall coniferous tree of New Zealand , ), having white straight-grained wood furnishing valuable timber and also yielding one kind of .
Kawaka
a New Zealand tree, the Cypress cedar (), having a valuable, fine-grained, reddish wood.
Kayaker
One who uses a kayak.
Kaynard
A lazy or cowardly person; a rascal.
Keck
To heave or to retch, as in an effort to vomit.
Kecklish
Inclined to vomit; squeamish.
Keddah
An inclosure constructed to entrap wild elephants; an elephant trap.
Keenness
The quality or state of being keen.
Keep
To care; to desire.
Kele
To cool.
Kelter
Regular order or proper condition.
Kelvin
The SI unit of temperature, defined as being 1/273.16 of the triple point of water; abbreviated . The melting point of water at 760 mm pressure is 273.15 Kelvins, and the boiling point 373.15 Kelvins. One degree Kelvin is equal to one degree Centigrade, and degrees Fahrenheit.
Kempt
of ; combed.
Ken
Cognizance; view; especially, reach of sight or knowledge.
Kentledge
Pigs of iron used for ballast.
Kentucky
One of the United States.
kept
of .
keramic
Same as .
Kernish
Clownish; boorish.
Kerosene
An oil used for illuminating purposes, formerly obtained from the distillation of mineral wax, bituminous shale, etc., and hence called also . It is now produced in immense quantities, chiefly by the distillation and purification of petroleum. It consists chiefly of several hydrocarbons of the methane series, having from 10 to 16 carbon atoms in each molecule, and having a higher boiling point (175 - 325 C) than gasoline or the petroleum ethers, and a lower boling point than the oils.
Kersey
A kind of coarse, woolen cloth, usually ribbed, woven from wool of long staple.
Kettledrum
A drum made of thin copper in the form of a hemispherical kettle, with parchment stretched over the mouth of it.
keyless
lacking or not requiring a key; . Opposite of .
Keyseat
To form a key seat, as by cutting. See , under .
Key tone
See .
Khaya
A lofty West African tree (), related to the mahogany, which it resembles in the quality of the wood. The bark is used as a febrifuge.
Ki
The Sumerian goddess personifying earth; the counterpart of Akkadian .
Kickable
Capable or deserving of being kicked.
Kickapoos
A tribe of Indians which formerly occupied the region of Northern Illinois, allied in language to the Sacs and Foxes.
Kickshoe
A kickshaws.
Kickup
The water thrush or accentor.
Kid
A fagot; a bundle of heath and furze.
Kidling
A young kid.
Kike
To gaze; to stare.
Killer whale
see .
Killikinick
See .
Kilowatt
One thousand watts.
Kindless
Destitute of kindness; unnatural.
Kindness
The state or quality of being kind, in any of its various senses; manifestation of kind feeling or disposition beneficence.
Kindred
Relationship by birth or marriage; consanguinity; affinity; kin.
Kinesipathy
See .
King-post
A member of a common form of truss, as a roof truss. It is strictly a tie, intended to prevent the sagging of the tiebeam in the middle. If there are struts, supporting the main rafters, they often bear upon the foot of the king-post. Called also .
Kinic
See .
Kinkhaust
Whooping cough.
Kipper
A salmon after spawning.
Kiss
To salute with the lips, as a mark of affection, reverence, submission, forgiveness, etc.
Kit
A large bottle.
Kitchenry
The body of servants employed in the kitchen; the staff of a kitchen.
Kitish
Like or relating to a kite.
Kjoekken moeddings
See .
Klansman
a member of the .
Klicket
A small postern or gate in a palisade, for the passage of sallying parties.
Klipfish
Dried cod, exported from Norway.
Knab
To seize with the teeth; to gnaw.
Knapweed
The black centaury (); -- so called from the knoblike heads of flowers. Called also .
Knarled
Knotted. See .
Kneejoint
The joint of the knee.
Kneeler
One who kneels or who worships by or while kneeling.
Knight
A young servant or follower; a military attendant.
knish
A fried, or sometimes baked, turnover made from a round or square sheet of dough containing a filling, usually of meat or potatoes.
Knit
To form into a knot, or into knots; to tie together, as cord; to fasten by tying.
Knobber
See .
Knobstick
One who refuses to join, or withdraws from, a .
Know
To perceive or apprehend clearly and certainly; to understand; to have full information of; .
knowledge worker
A person whose occupation is predominantly concerned with generating or interpreting information, as contrasted with manual labor.
Known
of .
Koala
A tailless furry marsupial (), found in Australia. The female carries her young on the back of her neck. Called also , , , and . The lives almost all of its life in trees, moves sluggishly like a sloth, and eats eucalyptus leaves almost exclusively.
Kobellite
A blackish gray mineral, a sulphide of antimony, bismuth, and lead.
Kohl
A mixture of soot and other ingredients, used by Egyptian and other Eastern women to darken the edges of the eyelids.
Kokama
The gemsbok.
Koolokamba
A west African anthropoid ape (, or ), allied to the chimpanzee and gorilla, and, in some respects, intermediate between them.
Kop
Hill; mountain.
kor
A Hebrew unit of capacity.
Korrigum
A West African antelope (), allied to the sassaby. It is reddish gray, with a black face, and a black stripe on the outside of the legs above the knees.
Kotow
The prostration made by mandarins and others to their superiors, either as homage or worship, by knocking the forehead on the ground; a kowtow. There are degrees in the rite, the highest being expressed by three knockings.
Krang
The carcass of a whale after the blubber has been removed.
Kranging hook
A hook for holding the blubber while cutting it away.
Kreatin
See .
Kreatinin
See .
Kreutzer
A small copper coin formerly used in South Germany; also, a small Austrian copper coin.
Kriegsspiel
A game of war, played for practice, on maps.
Kruppize
To treat by, or subject to, the Krupp process.
Kulturkampf
Lit., culture war; -- a name, originating with (1821 - 1902), given to a struggle between the Roman Catholic Church and the German government, chiefly over the latter's efforts to control educational and ecclesiastical appointments in the interest of the political policy of centralization. The struggle began with the passage by the Prussian Diet in May, 1873, of the so-called , or , aiming at the regulation of the clergy. Opposition eventually compelled the government to change its policy, and from 1880 to 1887 laws virtually nullifying the May laws were enacted.
Kutch
The packet of vellum leaves in which the gold is first beaten into thin sheets.
kweek
A trailing grass () native to Europe, now cosmopolitan in warm regions; used for lawns and pastures especially in the Southern U. S. and India. Called also and .
Kyaw
A daw.
Kymograph
An instrument for measuring, and recording graphically, the pressure of the blood in any of the blood vessels of a living animal; -- called also .