Ku·che·an [kü-'chē-ən] -n

  1. tocharian b

ku·chen ['kü-kən, -k̲ən] -n

  1. any of various coffee cakes made from sweet yeast dough

ku·do ['kü-(,)dō, 'kyü-] -n

  1. award, honor
    • a score of honorary degrees and...other kudo s -- Time
  2. compliment, praise
    • rarely hear that kind of kudo to men anymore -- Ellen Goodman

ku·dos ['kü-,däs, 'kyü-, -,dōs] -n

  1. fame and renown resulting from an act or achievement : prestige
  2. praise given for achievement

ku·du ['kü-(,)dü] -n

  1. a large grayish brown African antelope ( Tragelaphus strepsiceros) with large annulated spirally twisted horns
  2. a related antelope ( T. imberbis)

kud·zu ['ku̇d-(,)zü, 'kəd-] -n

  1. an Asian vine ( Pueraria lobata) of the legume family that is used for forage and erosion control and is often a serious weed in the southeastern U.S.

ku·fi ['kü-fē] -n

  1. a close-fitting brimless cylindrical or round hat

ku·gel ['kü-gəl] -n

  1. a baked pudding (as of potatoes or noodles) usu. served as a side dish

Kui·per Belt ['kī-pər-] -n

  1. a band of small celestial bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune from which many short-period comets are believed to originate

Ku Klux·er ['kü-'klək-sər also 'kyü- or 'klü-] -n

  1. a member of the Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan ['kü-'kləks-'klan also 'kyü- or 'klü-] -n

  1. an American post-Civil War secret society advocating white supremacy
  2. a 20th century secret fraternal group held to confine its membership to American-born white Christians

Ku Klux Klansman -n

  1. ku kluxer

kuk·ri ['ku̇-krē] -n

  1. a curved short sword with a broad blade used esp. by Gurkhas

ku·lak ['kü-,lak, -,läk, kü-'] -n

  1. a prosperous or wealthy peasant farmer in 19th century Russia
  2. a farmer characterized by Communists as having excessive wealth

kul·tur [ku̇l-'tu̇r] -n

  1. culture
  2. culture emphasizing practical efficiency and individual subordination to the state
  3. German culture held to be superior esp. by militant Nazi and Hohenzollern expansionists

Kul·tur·kampf [-,käm(p)f] -n

  1. conflict between civil government and religious authorities esp. over control of education and church appointments
  2. a conflict between cultures or value systems

kumiss [kü-'mis, 'kü-məs] -n

(variant of koumiss)

  1. a beverage of fermented mare's milk made orig. by the nomadic peoples of central Asia

kum·mel ['ki-məl] -n

  1. a colorless liqueur flavored principally with caraway seeds

kum·quat ['kəm-,kwät] -n

  1. any of several small yellow to orange citrus fruits with sweet spongy rind and somewhat acid pulp that are used chiefly for preserves
  2. a tree or shrub (genus Fortunella) of the rue family that bears kumquats

kun·da·li·ni [,ku̇n-də-'lē-nē, ,kən-] -n

  1. the yogic life force that is held to lie coiled at the base of the spine until it is aroused and sent to the head to trigger enlightenment

Kung ['ku̇ŋ, 'küŋ; in !Kung the initial sound is a type of click] -n

  1. a member of a people of southern Africa usu. preceded in writing by
  2. the Khoisan language of the Kung people usu. preceded in writing by

kung fu [,kəŋ-'fü, ,ku̇ŋ-] -n

  1. any of various Chinese martial arts and related disciplines that are practiced esp. for self-defense, exercise, and spiritual growth

kung pao ['kəŋ-'pau̇, 'küŋ-, 'ku̇ŋ-] -adj

  1. being stir-fried or sometimes deep-fried and served in a spicy hot sauce usu. with peanuts
    • kung pao chicken

kunz·ite ['ku̇n(t)-,sīt] -n

  1. a pinkish-lilac variety of spodumene used as a gem

Kurd ['ku̇rd, 'kərd] -n, adj

  1. a member of a pastoral and agricultural people who inhabit a plateau region in adjoining parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Armenia, and Azerbaijan

Kurdish -n

  1. the Iranian language of the Kurds

Kur·di·stan [,ku̇r-də-'stan, ,kər-] -n

  1. an Oriental rug woven by the Kurds and noted for fine colors

kur·gan [ku̇r-'gän, -'gan] -n

  1. a burial mound of eastern Europe or Siberia

kur·ra·jong ['kər-ə-,jȯŋ, 'kə-rə-, -,jäŋ] -n

  1. any of several Australian trees or shrubs (family Sterculiaceae, esp. genus Brachychiton)
  2. one ( B. populneum) often planted as a shade tree or in windbreaks

kur·ta ['kər-tə, 'ku̇r-tä] -n

  1. a long loose-fitting collarless shirt of a style originating in India

kur·to·sis [(,)kər-'tō-səs] -n

  1. the peakedness or flatness of the graph of a frequency distribution esp. with respect to the concentration of values near the mean as compared with the normal distribution

ku·ru ['ku̇r-(,)ü] -n

  1. a rare progressive fatal prion disease that resembles Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and has occurred among tribespeople in eastern New Guinea who engaged in a form of ritual cannibalism

ku·rus [kə-'rüsh] -n

  1. see lira at

Kutenai ['kü-tə-,nā, -,nē] -n

(variant of Kootenai)

  1. a member of an American Indian people of the Rocky Mountains in both the U.S. and Canada
  2. the language of the Kootenai people