Select a letter for some words
kalantas
A Philippine timber tree ( or ) having hard red fragrant wood.
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.
Kamtschadales
An aboriginal tribe inhabiting the southern part of the Kamchatka peninsula; called also and .
Kanawha
The Kanawha River, a tributary of the Ohio River.
kanchil
A small chevrotain of the genus , esp. , or , inhabiting Java, Sumatra, and adjacent islands; a deerlet. It is noted for its agility and cunning.
Kansas
A state of the central United States, bordering the Mississippi River to the west.
Kapok
A silky wool derived from the seeds of (syn. ), a bombaceous tree of the East and West Indies.
Karaism
Doctrines of the Karaites.
Karpholite
A fibrous mineral occurring in tufts of a straw-yellow color. It is a hydrous silicate of alumina and manganese.
Karvel
See , and .
Kayak
A light canoe, made of skins stretched over a frame, and usually capable of carrying but one person, who sits amidships and uses a double-bladed paddle. It is peculiar to the Eskimos and other Arctic tribes.
Kedge
To move (a vessel) by carrying out a kedge in a boat, dropping it overboard, and hauling the vessel up to it.
Kedlock
See .
Kee
See , , and .
Keel
To cool; to skim or stir.
Keelage
The right of demanding a duty or toll for a ship entering a port; also, the duty or toll.
Keels
Ninepins. See .
Keilhauite
A mineral of a brownish black color, related to titanite in form. It consists chiefly of silica, titanium dioxide, lime, and yttria.
Kelotomy
See .
keramic
Same as .
Kerargyrite
See .
Kerf
A notch, channel, or slit made in any material by cutting or sawing.
Kern
A light-armed foot soldier of the ancient militia of Ireland and Scotland; -- distinguished from , and often used as a term of contempt.
Ketch
An almost obsolete form of sailing vessel, with a mainmast and a mizzenmast, -- usually from one hundred to two hundred and fifty tons burden.
Keyhole
A hole or apertupe in a door or lock, for receiving a key.
Keynote
The tonic or first tone of the scale in which a piece or passage is written; the fundamental tone of the chord, to which all the modulations of the piece are referred; -- called also .
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.
kiaat
a deciduous South African tree () having large odd-pinnate leaves and profuse fragrant orange-yellow flowers; it yields a red juice and heavy strong durable wood.
Kibblings
Portions of small fish used for bait on the banks of Newfoundland.
kibbutz
an Israeli communal{2} form of agricultural settlement. Originally it was predominantly agricultural and practiced a very high level of sharing, including collective rearing of children. More recently (by 1998) industries have taken over a significant role in the Kibbutz economy, and the level of sharing has dropped significantly.
Kid
of .
Kilkenny cats
Two cats fabled, in an Irish story, to have fought till nothing was left but their tails. It is probably a parable of a local contest between Kilkenny and Irishtown, which impoverished both towns.
kinase
One of a class of enzymes that catalyze transfer of a phosphate group from ATP to another molecule; it is a type of .
Kingston metal
An alloy of tin, copper, and mercury, sometimes used for the bearings and packings of machinery.
Kinnikinic
Prepared leaves or bark of certain plants; -- used by the Indians of the Northwest for smoking, either mixed with tobacco or as a substitute for it. Also, a plant so used, as the osier cornel (), and the bearberry ().
Kinshasa
the capital city of Zaire, formerly named .
Kinship
Family relationship.
Kinsmanship
Kinship.
Kinswoman
A female relative.
Kish
A workman's name for the graphite which forms incidentally in iron smelting.
kissing cousin
A cousin sufficiently well acquainted to be greeted with a kiss; a type of .
Kistvaen
A Celtic monument, commonly known as a .
Kitcat
A game played by striking with a stick small piece of wood, called a , shaped like two cones united at their bases; tipcat.
Kitchen
To furnish food to; to entertain with the fare of the kitchen.
Kitten
A young cat.
kleagle
An officer, especially an attorney, of the .
Klinkstone
See .
Knack
To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise to chink.
Knee
In man, the joint in the middle part of the leg.
knickers
The name for a style of loose-fitting short trousers, gathered in and ending at the knees; smallclothes; called also .
Knickknackery
Knickknacks.
Knife
To prune with the knife.
Knight banneret
A knight who carried a banner, who possessed fiefs to a greater amount than the knight bachelor, and who was obliged to serve in war with a greater number of attendants. The dignity was sometimes conferred by the sovereign in person on the field of battle.
Knight-er-ratic
Pertaining to a knight-errant or to knight-errantry.
Knitting
The work of a knitter; the network formed by knitting; knitwork.
Knobbed
Containing knobs; full of knobs; ending in a nob. See of .
Knobbling fire
A bloomery fire. See .
knockabout
Marked by knocking about or roughness.
knockoff
A cheap imitation of something popular, produced illegally without a license from the trademark owner, and of inferior materials.
Knockstone
A block upon which ore is broken up.
Knottiness
The quality or state of being knotty or full of knots.
Know
To perceive or apprehend clearly and certainly; to understand; to have full information of; .
Knowa bleness
The state or quality of being knowable.
knowledge-intensive
Requiring access to and manipulation of large quantities of knowledge; .
knucks
same as .
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.
Kodak
To photograph with a kodak; hence, to describe or characterize briefly and vividly.
Kodiak
Same as .
Koellia
The genus comprising the American mountain mint, synonymous with .
konini
An erect deciduous shrub or tree (), native to New Zealand, growing up to 10 feet, with maroon-flushed flowers.
Konseal
A form of capsule for inclosing a dose of medicine that is offensive, caustic, or the like.
kopeck
A small Russian coin, continued as a unit of currency within the Soviet Union. One hundred kopecks make a ruble. The ruble was worth about sixty cents (U. S.) in 1910; in 1991 a two-kopeck coin could be used for a local telephone call at a pay telephone. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1993, the exchange value of the ruble declined rapidly and by the end of 1994 the ruble was worth three hundredths of a cent, and by 1997 two hundredths of a cent. By 1993, the kopek had become of such small value that it was obsolete and no longer minted.
Korean
Of or pertaining to Korea; .
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.
Kowtow
To perform the kowtow. Same as
Ksar
See .
kurchatovium
A transuranic element of atomic number 104, symbol ; also called , symbol . It is produced in very small quantities by nuclear reactions. In November 1993 the nomenclature committe of the American Chemical Society approved the name for element 104. Russsian investigators who claim to have first discovered element 104, isotope 260 (half-life 0.3 seconds) in 1964 at Dubna proposed the name . However, investigators at Berkely in 1969 produced several isotopes of element 104 but were unable to produce isotope 260; they reported finding isotope 257, with a half-life of 4-5 seconds, isotope 259 with a half-life of 3-4 seconds, and isotope 258 with a shorter half-life.
Kurdish
Of or pertaining to the Kurds, the Kurdish language, or Kurdistan.
Kurdish
The language of the Kurds; it is related to Farsi, the modern Iranian language.
Kurilian
Of or pertaining to the Kurile Islands, a chain of islands in the Pacific ocean, extending from the southern extremity of Kamchatka to Yesso.
Kyanite
See .
Kyanol
Aniline.
Kydde
of , to show.
Kynurenic
Pertaining to, or designating, an acid obtained from the urine of dogs. By decomposition the acid yields a nitrogenous base (called ) and carbonic acid.