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K - 34 dictionary results

K, k

  [key]
Use K in a Sentence
–noun, plural K's or Ks, k's or ks.
1. the eleventh letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
2. any sound represented by the letter K or k, as in bilk, kit, or sick.
3. something having the shape of a K.
4. a written or printed representation of the letter K or k.
5. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter K or k.

K

 
1. Chess. king.
2. Physics. Kelvin.
3. the number 1000: The salary offered is $20K. Origin:
abbr. of kilo-
4. Music. Köchel listing.
5. kindergarten : a K–12 boarding school.
6. Real Estate. kitchen.

K

 
Symbol.
1. the eleventh in order or in a series, or, when I is omitted, the tenth.
2. Chemistry. potassium. Origin:
< NL kalium
3. Computers.
a. the number 1024 or 210: A binary 32K memory has 32,768 positions.
b. kilobyte.
4. Baseball. strikeout; strikeouts.
5. Physics. kaon.
6. Biochemistry. lysine.

K

 
Ecology.
carrying capacity.

k

 
Symbol.
1. Mathematics. a vector on the z-axis, having length 1 unit.
2. Boltzmann constant.

K.

 
1. kip; kips.
2. Knight.
3. kwacha.

k.

 
1. Electricity. capacity.
2. karat.
3. kilogram; kilograms.
4. Chess. king.
5. knight.
6. knot.
7. kopeck.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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k 1 or K   (kā)   
n.   pl. k's or K's also ks or Ks
  1. The 11th letter of the modern English alphabet.
  2. Any of the speech sounds represented by the letter k.
  3. The 11th in a series.
  4. Something shaped like the letter K.
k 2  
abbr.  karat
K 1   (kā)   
n.   Slang
One thousand dollars.

[k(ilo)-.]
K 2  
The symbol for the element potassium.

[From New Latin kalium, potassium; see hypokalemia.]
K 3  
abbr.  
  1. kaon
  2. kelvin
  3. kilobyte
  4. kindergarten
  5. Games king
  6. Bible Kings
  7. strikeout
ka·on   (kā'ŏn')   
n.   Abbr. K
Any of a subgroup of unstable mesons that consist of an electrically charged form with a mass 966 times that of an electron and a neutral form with a mass 974 times that of an electron, produced as a result of a high-energy particle collision. Also called K-meson. See Table at subatomic particle.

[ka, pronunciation of the letter K + -on1.]
kar·at also car·at   (kār'ət)   
n.   Abbr. k or kt.
A unit of measure for the fineness of gold, equal to 1/24 part. Pure gold is 24 karat; gold that is 50 percent pure is 12 karat.

[Variant of carat.]
kel·vin   (kěl'vĭn)   
n.   Abbr. K
  1. A unit of absolute temperature equal to 1/273.16 of the absolute temperature of the triple point of water. One kelvin degree is equal to one Celsius degree. See Table at measurement.
  2. Kelvin A temperature scale in which zero occurs at absolute zero and each degree equals one kelvin. Water freezes at 273.15 K and boils at 373.15 K.

[After First Baron Kelvin.]
kil·o·byte   (kĭl'ə-bīt')   
n.   Abbr. K or KB
  1. A unit of computer memory or data storage capacity equal to 1,024 (210) bytes.
  2. One thousand bytes.
kin·der·gar·ten   (kĭn'dər-gär'tn, -dn)   
n.   Abbr. K
A program or class for four-year-old to six-year-old children that serves as an introduction to school.

[German : Kinder, genitive pl. of Kind, child (from Middle High German kint, from Old High German kind; see genə- in Indo-European roots) + Garten, garden (from Middle High German garte, from Old High German garto; see gher-1 in Indo-European roots).]
king   (kĭng)   
n.  
  1. A male sovereign.
  2. One that is supreme or preeminent in a particular group, category, or sphere.
  3. King
    1. The perfect, omniscient, omnipotent being; God.
    2. Christianity Jesus.
    3. Abbr. K A playing card bearing the figure of a king, ranking above a queen.
    4. Abbr. K The principal chess piece, which can move one square in any direction and must be protected against checkmate.
    5. A piece in checkers that has been moved to the last row on the opponent's side of the board and been crowned, thus becoming free to move both forward and backward.
  4. Games
    1. Abbr. K A playing card bearing the figure of a king, ranking above a queen.
    2. Abbr. K The principal chess piece, which can move one square in any direction and must be protected against checkmate.
    3. A piece in checkers that has been moved to the last row on the opponent's side of the board and been crowned, thus becoming free to move both forward and backward.
  5. Kings (used with a sing. verb) Abbr. K or Kgs. See Table at Bible.
adj.  Principal or chief, as in size or importance.
tr.v.   kinged, king·ing, kings Games
To make (a piece in checkers) into a king; crown.

[Middle English, from Old English cyning; see genə- in Indo-European roots.]
po·tas·si·um   (pə-tās'ē-əm)   
n.   Symbol K
A soft, silver-white, highly or explosively reactive metallic element that occurs in nature only in compounds. It is obtained by electrolysis of its common hydroxide and found in, or converted to, a wide variety of salts used especially in fertilizers and soaps. Atomic number 19; atomic weight 39.098; melting point 63.65°C; boiling point 774°C; specific gravity 0.862; valence 1. See Table at element.

[From potash (from which it was first obtained).]
po·tas'sic adj.
strike·out   (strīk'out')   
n.   Baseball Abbr. K or SO
An out made by a batter charged with three strikes and credited to the pitcher who threw the strikes.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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K

K\, (k[=a]), the eleventh letter of the English alphabet, is nonvocal consonant. The form and sound of the letter K are from the Latin, which used the letter but little except in the early period of the language. It came into the Latin from the Greek, which received it from a Ph[oe]nician source, the ultimate origin probably being Egyptian. Etymologically K is most nearly related to c, g, h (which see).

Note: In many words of one syllable k is used after c, as in crack, check, deck, being necessary to exhibit a correct pronunciation in the derivatives, cracked, checked, decked, cracking; since 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 now it is omitted.

Note: See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 240, 178, 179, 185.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : K
Spanish: contra,
German: an,
Japanese: ～にもたれて
More Translations »

K

/K/ n. [from kilo-] A kilobyte. Used both as a spoken word and a written suffix (like meg and gig for megabyte and gigabyte). See quantifiers.
Jargon File 4.2.0
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K 
"one thousand dollars," 1970s, from kilo-. As an indication of "strikeout" in baseball scorekeeping, first recorded c.1880, said to be from last letter of struck, since first letter was already being used as abbreviation for sacrifice. The invention of the scorecard symbols is attributed to newspaperman Henry Chadwick. K as a measure of capacity (esp. in computer memory) or number (esp. of salary), meaning "one thousand" is an abbrev. of kilo (q.v.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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K

A Nasdaq stock symbol specifying that the stock has no voting rights.

Investopedia Commentary

Nasdaq-listed securities have four or five characters. If a fifth letter appears, it identifies the issue as other than a single issue of common stock or capital stock.

See also: Nasdaq, Stock Symbol, Voting Right

Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
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k

Used in the dividend column of stock transaction tables of newspapers to indicate dividends that have been paid so far during the year on an issue of preferred stock with dividends in arrears: pf 1.75k.


K

Used frequently in the financial literature as a symbol for 1,000.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Main Entry: K
Function: symbol
1 dissociation constant; ionization constant
2 [New Latin kalium] potassium
3 kelvin
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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K 1

The symbol for the element potassium.

K 2
abbr.
Kelvin

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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K  
  1. Abbreviation of kelvin
  2. The symbol for potassium.

potassium   (pə-tās'ē-əm)  Pronunciation Key 
Symbol K
A soft, highly reactive, silvery-white metallic element of the alkali group occurring in nature only in compounds. It is essential for the growth of plants and is used especially in fertilizers and soaps. Atomic number 19; atomic weight 39.098; melting point 63.65°C; boiling point 774°C; specific gravity 0.862; valence 1. See Periodic Table.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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K unit
kilo-, a kilobyte. Used both as a spoken word and a written suffix, like meg and gig for megabyte and gigabyte.
See prefix.
[The Jargon File]
(1995-09-29)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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k
  1. karat
  2. 1000
K
  1. Cambodia (international vehicle ID)
  2. kaon
  3. Kelvin
  4. kicker
  5. kilobyte
  6. kindergarten
  7. king
  8. Kings
  9. knight
  10. 1,000
  11. 1,024 (the closest number to 1,000 that is a power of 2—used for certain measurements, such as bytes)
  12. potassium
  13. strikeout
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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