kangaroo |
any of a group of large plant-eating marsupials of Australia and Tanzania, having powerful hind legs for jumping and a long, heavy tail used for balance. |
kangaroo court |
an unauthorized court, such as one set up by prison inmates or strikers, that often disregards or parodies normal legal procedures. |
kangaroo rat |
any of various long-tailed and long-legged jumping rodents of desert regions in Mexico and the western United States, or a similar one of Australia. |
kanji |
the part of the Japanese writing system that uses characters derived from Chinese ideographs. (Cf. kana.) [2 definitions] |
Kansas |
a Midwestern U.S. state between Missouri and Colorado. (abbr.: KS) |
kaolin |
a very fine white clay used to make porcelain and finishes for paper and textiles. |
kaon |
in physics, a meson that is positive, negative, or neutral and that is the product of a high-energy collision; K meson. |
kaph |
the name of the eleventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
kapok |
the silky, fibrous down in the seeds of various tropical trees, used for insulation and padding. |
Kaposi's sarcoma |
a cancer of connective tissue that is marked by painless external lesions and sometimes affects internal organs, occurring in esp. serious form among people with AIDS. |
kappa1 |
the name of the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet. |
kappa2 |
in Japanese mythology, a monkey-sized river imp having fish scales, a turtle's shell, a bird's or monkey's face, and a depression on the top of its head that holds the liquid that endows it with superhuman strength, said to prey on travelers. |
karakul |
one of an Asian sheep breed having dark, curly wool. [2 definitions] |
karaoke |
a form of musical entertainment originating in Japan in which prerecorded instrumental music from popular songs is played while a person performs live vocals through a microphone. |
karat |
a unit of measure for the purity of gold equal to one twenty-fourth part of pure gold. |
karate |
a method of weaponless self-defense, based on strategically placed hard blows with the elbows or the edges of hands or feet. |
Karl Marx |
a German political philosopher and economist who founded modern socialism (b.1818--d.1883). |
karma |
in Hinduism and Buddhism, the principle that one's actions determine one's future in this life or in other incarnations. [3 definitions] |
karst |
an area where limestone predominates, characterized by ravines, sinks, and caverns caused by underground streams. |
kart |
a small, lightweight, gas-powered, four-wheeled vehicle used for racing or recreation; go-cart. |
Kasbah |
see "Casbah." |