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Kiddy

A young fellow; formerly, a low thief.

Kidnap

To take (any one) by force or fear, and against one's will, with intent to carry to another place.

kidnapping

the unlawful act of capturing and carrying away a person against their will and holding them in false imprisonment.

Kidney-shaped Kidney-form

Having the form or shape of a kidney; reniform; as, a kidney-shaped leaf; a kidney-shaped swimming pool.

Kidneywort

A kind of saxifrage (Saxifrage stellaris). The navelwort.

kidskin

A soft smooth leather from the hide of a young goat; kid{3}.

Kier

A large tub or vat in which goods are subjected to the action of hot lye or bleaching liquor; -- also called keeve.

Kieselguhr

Siliceous earth; diatomaceous earth; specifically, porous infusorial earth, used as an absorbent of nitroglycerin in the manufacture of dynamite.

Kieserite

Hydrous sulphate of magnesia found at the salt mines of Stassfurt, Prussian Saxony.

Kiggelaria

A small genus of South African shrubs or small trees.

kike

A derogatory name for a jew, usually intended and taken as disparaging and offensive.

Kilderkin

A small barrel; an old liquid measure containing eighteen English beer gallons, or nearly twenty-two gallons, United States measure.

Kilerg

A unit of work equal to one thousand ergs.

kiley

An Australian boomerang, having one side flat and the other convex.

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.

Kill

The act of killing.

Kill-joy

One who causes gloom or grief; a dispiriting person; a spoilsport.

killable

fit to kill, especially for food.

Killdeer Killdee

A small American plover (Charadrius vociferus, formerly Aegialitis vocifera) of inland waters and fields having a distinctive cry. The adult has two black bands around the neck and upper breast, but the young chick has only the breast band. It ranges from Canada to Mexico and the West Indies.

Killer

One who deprives of life; one who, or that which, kills.

Killesse

A gutter, groove, or channel. A hipped roof.

Killifish

Any one of several small American cyprinodont fishes of the genus Fundulus and allied genera. They live equally well in fresh and brackish water, or even in the sea. They are usually striped or barred with black. Called also minnow, and brook fish. See Minnow.

Killigrew

The Cornish chough. See under Chough.

Killing

Literally, that kills; having power to kill; fatal; in a colloquial sense, conquering; captivating; irresistible.

killing

The act or process of causing a living organism to die.

Killock

A small anchor; also, a kind of anchor formed by a stone inclosed by pieces of wood fastened together.

Killow

An earth of a blackish or deep blue color.

Kiln

A large stove or oven; a furnace of brick or stone, or a heated chamber, for the purpose of hardening, burning, or drying anything; as, a kiln for baking or hardening earthen vessels; a kiln for drying grain, meal, lumber, etc.; a kiln for calcining limestone.

Kiln-dry

To dry in a kiln; as, to kiln-dry meal or grain.

Kilnhole

The mouth or opening of an oven or kiln.

Kilo

An abbreviation of Kilogram.

Kilo-

A combining form used to signify thousand in forming the names of units of measurement; as, kilogram, kilometer, kilowatt, etc.

Kilogramme Kilogram

A measure of mass and weight, being a thousand grams, equal to 2.2046226 pounds avoirdupois (15,432.34 grains). It is nearly equal to the mass of a cubic decimeter of distilled water at the temperature of maximum density, or 39/ Fahrenheit. See 3rd gram.

Kilogrammetre Kilogrammeter

A measure of energy or work done, being the amount expended in raising one kilogram through the height of one meter, in the latitude of Paris.

Kilolitre Kiloliter

A measure of capacity equal to a cubic meter, or a thousand liters. It is equivalent to 35.315 cubic feet, and to 220.04 imperial gallons, or 264.18 American gallons of 321 cubic inches.

Kilometre Kilometer

A measure of length, being a thousand meters. It is equal to 3,280.84 feet, or 0.62137119 of a mile.

Kilostere

A cubic measure containing 1000 cubic meters, and equivalent to 35,315 cubic feet.

Kilovolt

A unit of electromotive force equal to one thousand volts.

Kilt

To tuck up; to truss up, as the clothes.

kilter

Regular order or proper condition. Same as kelter, but kilter is the more common spelling in the U. S. Used chiefly in the phrase out of kilter, meaning out of order or irregular in some manner.

Kilting

A perpendicular arrangement of flat, single plaits, each plait being folded so as to cover half the breadth of the preceding one.

Kimbo

Crooked; arched; bent.

kimono

A kind of loose robe or gown tied with a sash, worn as a traditional outer garment by Japanese women and men. Women may wear it with a broad sash called an obi, having a large bow in the back. At present (1998), most Japanese wear it only at home or on ceremonial occasions, western-style clothing being more common in the workplace.

Kin

Of the same nature or kind; kinder.

kinaesthesis kinaesthesia

The perception attendant upon the movements of the muscles; the sensation accompanying movement of the muscles.

kinase

One of a class of enzymes that catalyze transfer of a phosphate group from ATP to another molecule; it is a type of phosphorylase.

Kincob

India silk brocaded with flowers in silver or gold. Of the nature of kincob; brocaded.

Kind-hearted

Having kindness of nature; sympathetic; characterized by a humane disposition; as, a kind-hearted landlord.

Kindergarten

A class within a primary school or a separate school for young children, usually between the ages of four and six years, designed to adapt children to the classroom environment before beginning academic training, on the theory that education should be begun by gratifying and cultivating the normal aptitude for exercise, play, observation, imitation, and construction; -- a name given by Friedrich Froebel, a German educator, who introduced this method of training, in rooms opening on a garden.

Kindle

To take fire; to begin to burn with flame; to start as a flame.

Kindler

One who, or that which, kindles, stirs up, or sets on fire.

Kindless

Destitute of kindness; unnatural.

Kindling

The act of causing to burn, or of exciting or inflaming the passions.

Kindness

The state or quality of being kind, in any of its various senses; manifestation of kind feeling or disposition beneficence.

Kindred

Related; congenial; of the like nature or properties; as, kindred souls; kindred skies; kindred propositions.

Kine Kin

The unit velocity in the C. G. S. system -- a velocity of one centimeter per second.

Kinematics

The science which treats of motions considered in themselves, or apart from their causes; the comparison and relation of motions.

Kinesiatrics

A mode of treating disease by appropriate muscular movements; -- also termed kinesitherapy, kinesipathy, lingism, and the movement cure.

Kinesodic

Conveying motion; as, kinesodic substance; -- applied esp. to the spinal cord, because it is capable of conveying doth voluntary and reflex motor impulses, without itself being affected by motor impulses applied to it directly.

kinesthetics

The ability to feel movements of the limbs and body.

kinetic

Moving or causing motion; motory; active, as opposed to latent.

kinetogenesis

The doctrine or hypothesis that animal structures have been produced, directly or indirectly, by animal movements.

kinetograph

A camera for making chronophotographs. A machine for the projection of chronophotographs upon a screen for the purpose of producing the effect of an animated picture. A combined animated-picture machine and phonograph in which sounds appropriate to the scene are automatically uttered by the latter instrument. It has been superseded by recording techniques allowing the sounds to be recorded directly on the motion-picture film.

kinetophone

A machine combining a kinetoscope and a phonograph synchronized so as to reproduce a scene and its accompanying sounds. It has been superseded by recording techniques allowing the sounds to be recorded directly on the motion-picture film.

kinetoscope

An instrument for producing curves by the combination of circular movements; -- called also kinescope.

Kinetoscope

An obsolete form of moving picture viewer, in which a film carrying successive instantaneous views of a moving scene travels uniformly through the field of a magnifying glass. The observer sees each picture, momentarily, through a slit in a revolving disk, and these glimpses, blended by persistence of vision, give the impression of continuous motion. It has been superseded by more recent versions of movie projector and electronic video viewers.

kinfolk

Relatives; kindred; kin; kinsfolk; persons of the same family or closely related families.

King

To supply with a king; to make a king of; to raise to royalty.

King Charles spaniel

A variety of small pet dogs, having, drooping ears, a high, dome-shaped forehead, pug nose, large, prominent eyes, and long, wavy hair. The color is usually black and tan.

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 crown-post.

King's Bench

Formerly, the highest court of common law in England; -- so called because the king used to sit there in person. It consisted of a chief justice and four puisne, or junior, justices. During the reign of a queen it was called the Queen's Bench. Its jurisdiction was transferred by the judicature acts of 1873 and 1875 to the high court of justice created by that legislation.

Kingbird

A small American bird (Tyrannus tyrannus, or Tyrannus Carolinensis), noted for its courage in attacking larger birds, even hawks and eagles, especially when they approach its nest in the breeding season. It is a typical tyrant flycatcher, taking various insects upon the wing. It is dark ash above, and blackish on the bead and tail. The quills and wing coverts are whitish at the edges. It is white beneath, with a white terminal band on the tail. The feathers on the head of the adults show a bright orange basal spot when erected. Called also bee bird, and bee martin. Several Southern and Western species of Tyrannus are also called king birds.

Kingbolt

A vertical iron bolt, by which the forward axle and wheels of a vehicle or the trucks of a railroad car are connected with the other parts.

Kingcraft

The craft of kings; the art of governing as a sovereign; royal policy.

Kingdom

The rank, quality, state, or attributes of a king; royal authority; sovereign power; rule; dominion; monarchy.

Kingdomed

Having a kingdom or the dignity of a king; like a kingdom.

Kingfish

An American marine food fish of the genus Menticirrus, especially Menticirrus saxatilis, or Menticirrus nebulosos, of the Atlantic coast; -- called also whiting, surf whiting, and barb. The opah. The common cero; also, the spotted cero. See Cero. The queenfish.

Kingfisher

Any one of numerous species of birds constituting the family Alcedinid/. Most of them feed upon fishes which they capture by diving and seizing them with the beak; others feed only upon reptiles, insects, etc. About one hundred and fifty species are known. They are found in nearly all parts of the world, but are particularly abundant in the East Indies.

Kinghood

The state of being a king; the attributes of a king; kingship.

Kinglet

A little king; a weak or insignificant king.

Kingly

In a kingly or kinglike manner.

Kingship

The state, office, or dignity of a king; royalty.

Kingston metal

An alloy of tin, copper, and mercury, sometimes used for the bearings and packings of machinery.

Kingston valve

A conical valve, opening outward, to close the mouth of a pipe which passes through the side of a vessel below the water line.

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