king

[ king ]
See synonyms for king on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a male sovereign or monarch; a man who holds by life tenure, and usually by hereditary right, the chief authority over a country and people.

  2. (initial capital letter) God or Christ.

  1. a person or thing preeminent in its class: a king of actors.

  2. a playing card bearing a picture of a king.

  3. Chess. the chief piece of each color, whose checkmating is the object of the game; moved one square at a time in any direction.

  4. Checkers. a piece that has been moved entirely across the board and has been crowned, thus allowing it to be moved in any direction.

  5. Entomology. a fertile male termite.

  6. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter K.

verb (used with object)
  1. to make a king of; cause to be or become a king; crown.

  2. Informal. to design or make (a product) king-size: The tobacco company is going to king its cigarettes.

verb (used without object)
  1. to reign as king.

adjective
  1. Informal. king-size.

Verb Phrases
  1. king it, to play the king; behave in an imperious or pretentious manner: He kinged it over all the other kids on the block.

Origin of king

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English cyng, cyni(n)g; cognate with German König, Dutch koning, Old Norse konungr, Swedish konung, Danish konge; equivalent to kin + -ing3

Other words from king

  • kingless, adjective
  • king·less·ness, noun
  • kinglike, adjective
  • outking, verb (used with object)
  • subking, noun
  • un·der·king, noun
  • un·kinged, adjective
  • un·king·like, adjective

Words Nearby king

Other definitions for King (2 of 2)

King
[ king ]

noun
  1. Bil·lie Jean (Mof·fitt) [bil-ee jeen-mof-it], /ˈbɪl i ˈdʒin ˈmɒf ɪt/, born 1943, U.S. tennis player.

  2. Clarence, 1842–1901, U.S. geologist and cartographer.

  1. Co·ret·ta Scott [kaw-ret-uh-skot], /kɔˈrɛt ə ˈskɒt/, 1927–2006, U.S. civil rights leader (widow of Martin Luther King, Jr.)

  2. Ernest Joseph, 1878–1956, U.S. naval officer.

  3. Martin Luther, Jr., "MLK", 1929–68, U.S. Baptist minister: civil rights leader; Nobel Peace Prize 1964.

  4. Maxine "Micki", born 1944, U.S. springboard and platform diver.

  5. Richard, 1825–85, U.S. rancher and steamboat operator.

  6. Riley B. "B.B.", 1925–2015, U.S. blues singer and guitarist.

  7. Rufus, 1755–1827, U.S. political leader and statesman.

  8. Stephen, born 1947, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.

  9. William Lyon Mackenzie, 1874–1950, Canadian statesman: prime minister 1921–26, 1926–30, 1935–48.

  10. William Rufus De·Vane [duh-veyn], /dəˈveɪn/, 1786–1853, vice president of the U.S. 1853.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use king in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for king (1 of 2)

king

/ (kɪŋ) /


noun
  1. a male sovereign prince who is the official ruler of an independent state; monarch: Related adjectives: royal, regal, monarchical

    • a ruler or chief: king of the fairies

    • (in combination): the pirate king

    • a person, animal, or thing considered as the best or most important of its kind

    • (as modifier): a king bull

  1. any of four playing cards in a pack, one for each suit, bearing the picture of a king

  2. the most important chess piece, although theoretically the weakest, being able to move only one square at a time in any direction: See also check (def. 30), checkmate

  3. draughts a piece that has moved entirely across the board and has been crowned, after which it may move backwards as well as forwards

  4. king of kings

    • God

    • a title of any of various oriental monarchs

verb(tr)
  1. to make (someone) a king

  2. king it to act in a superior fashion

Origin of king

1
Old English cyning; related to Old High German kunig king, Danish konge

Derived forms of king

  • kinghood, noun
  • kingless, adjective
  • kinglike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for King (2 of 2)

King

/ (kɪŋ) /


noun
  1. B.B., real name Riley B. King. born 1925, US blues singer and guitarist

  2. Billie Jean (née Moffitt). born 1943, US tennis player: winner of twelve Grand Slam singles titles, including Wimbledon (1966–68, 1972–73, and 1975) and the US Open (1967, 1971–72, and 1974)

  1. Martin Luther. 1929–68, US Baptist minister and civil-rights leader. He advocated nonviolence in his campaigns against the segregation of Black people in the South: assassinated: Nobel Peace Prize 1964

  2. Stephen (Edwin). born 1947, US writer esp of horror novels; his books, many of which have been filmed, include Carrie (1974), The Shining (1977), Misery (1988), and Everything's Eventual (2002)

  3. William Lyon Mackenzie. 1874–1950, Canadian Liberal statesman; prime minister (1921–26; 1926–30; 1935–48)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with king

king

In addition to the idiom beginning with king

, also see

  • live like a king

.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.