English
kite
see also: Kite
Pronunciation Noun

kite (plural kites)

  1. A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae.
    A pair of kites built a nest on the cliff.
    • 1627, [Francis Bacon], “IX. Century. [Experiments in Consort, Touching Perception in Bodies Insensible, Tending to Natural Diuination, or Subtill Trialls.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: Published after the authors death, by VVilliam Rawley; printed by I[ohn] H[aviland and Augustine Mathewes] for William Lee […], OCLC 1044242069 ↗; Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: Published […] by VVilliam Rawley. Printed by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], 1631, OCLC 1044372886 ↗, paragraph 824, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=dul1.ark:/13960/t8v991c13;view=1up;seq=226 page 208]:
      [...] Kites flying aloft, ſhew Faire and Drie Weather. [...] [T]he Kite affecteth not ſo much the Groſſneſſe of the Aire, as the Cold and Freſhneſſe thereof; For being a Bird of Prey, and therefore Hot, ſhee delighteth in the Fresh Aire; And (many times) flyeth againſt the Wind, [...]
    • 1705, [Jonathan Swift], “A Full and True Account of the Battel Fought Last Friday, between the Antient and the Modern Books in St. James’s Library”, in A Tale of a Tub. […], London: Printed for John Nutt, […], OCLC 752990886 ↗, page 270 ↗:
      [...] I hope, that vile Carcaſs will firſt become a Prey to Kites and Worms.
    1. Any bird of the subfamily Milvinae, with long wing#Noun|wings and weak leg#Noun|legs, feed#Noun|feeding mostly on carrion and spend#Verb|spending long periods soaring; specifically, the red kite (Milvus milvus) and the black kite (Milvus migrans).
      Synonyms: glede
    2. A bird of the genus Elanus, having thin#Adjective|thin pointed#Adjective|pointed wings, that prey#Verb|preys on rodents and hunt#Verb|hunts by hovering; also, any bird of related genera in the subfamily Elaninae.
    3. Some species in the subfamily Perninae.
  2. (figuratively) A rapacious person.
    • c. 1603–1606, [William Shakespeare], […] His True Chronicle Historie of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three Daughters. […] (First Quarto), London: Printed for Nathaniel Butter, […], published 1608, OCLC 54196469 ↗, [Act I, scene iv] ↗:
      [D]eteſted kite, thou li[e]ſt[.] [M]y traine, and{{sic
      Detested kite, you lie! My train [i.e., knights in attendance] are men specially chosen for their rare qualities, know all the particulars of their duty, and most conscientiously uphold their reputation, [...]
  3. A lightweight#Adjective|lightweight toy#Noun|toy or other device, traditionally flat#Adjective|flat and shape#Verb|shaped like a triangle with a segment#Noun|segment of a circle#Noun|circle attached to its base#Noun|base or like a quadrilateral (see sense 9), carry#Verb|carried on the wind#Noun|wind and tether#Verb|tethered and control#Verb|controlled from the ground#Noun|ground by one or more line#Noun|lines.
    On windy spring days, we would fly kites.
  4. A tethered#Adjective|tethered object#Noun|object which deflects its position#Noun|position in a medium#Noun|medium by obtaining lift#Noun|lift and drag#Noun|drag in reaction with its relative#Adjective|relative motion in the medium.
  5. (astrology) A planetary configuration wherein one planet of a grand trine is in opposition to an additional fourth planet.
  6. (banking, slang) A blank#Adjective|blank cheque; a fraudulent cheque, such as one issue#Verb|issued even though there are insufficient funds to honour#Verb|honour it, or one that has been altered without authorization.
  7. (finance, slang) An accommodation bill.
  8. (cycling, slang) A rider who is good at climb#Noun|climbs but less good at descents.
  9. (geometry) A polygon resembling the shape#Noun|shape of a traditional toy kite (sense 3): a quadrilateral having two pair#Noun|pairs of edge#Noun|edges of equal#Adjective|equal length, the edges of each pair touch#Verb|touching each other at one end.
    Four-sided figures without parallel sides include trapezoids and kites.
  10. (military aviation, slang) An aeroplane or aircraft.
  11. (sailing, dated) In a square-rigged ship#Noun|ship: originally a sail#Noun|sail position#Verb|positioned above a topsail; later a lightweight#Adjective|lightweight sail set above the topgallants, such as a studding sail or a jib topsail.
    • 1857, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Voyage to England”, in English Traits, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, OCLC 401140 ↗, page 33 ↗:
      Our good master keeps his kites up to the last moment, studding-sails alow and aloft, and, by incessant straight steering, never loses a rod of way.
      small This is the first attested use of the word in this sense.
  12. (sailing, slang) A spinnaker.
  13. (Britain, dialectal) The brill (Scophthalmus rhombus), a type of flatfish.
  14. (US, prison slang) A (usually concealed) letter#Noun|letter or oral#Adjective|oral message#Noun|message, especially one pass#Verb|passed illegally into, within, or out of a prison.
Translations Translations Translations Verb

kite (kites, present participle kiting; past and past participle kited)

  1. (transitive) To cause#Verb|cause (something) to move#Verb|move upwards rapidly like a toy#Noun|toy kite; also (chiefly, US, figuratively) to cause (something, such as cost#Noun|costs) to increase#Verb|increase rapidly.
    Rising interest rates have kited the cost of housing.
  2. (transitive, slang) To tamper with a document#Noun|document or record#Noun|record by increasing the quantity of something beyond its proper amount#Noun|amount so that the difference may be unlawfully retained; in particular, to alter a medical prescription for this purpose by increasing the number of pill#Noun|pills or other items.
  3. (transitive, video games) To keep#Verb|keep ahead of (an enemy) in order to attack#Verb|attack repeatedly from a distance#Noun|distance, without exposing oneself to danger.
  4. (ambitransitive) To (cause to) glide#Verb|glide in the manner of a kite.
    Synonyms: soar
    The wind kited us toward shore.
  5. (ambitransitive, rare) To manipulate like a toy kite; also, usually preceded by an glossary inflection of go: to fly#Verb|fly a toy kite.
    Want to go kite with me this weekend?
  6. (ambitransitive, banking, slang) To write or present#Verb|present (a cheque) on an account#Noun|account with insufficient funds#Noun|funds, either to defraud or expecting that funds will become available by the time the cheque clear#Verb|clears.
    He was convicted of kiting checks and sentenced to two years in prison.
    • 1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “In which Dr. Sturk Tries This Way and That for a Reprieve on the Eve of Execution”, in The House by the Church-yard. [...] In Three Volumes, volume II, London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], OCLC 18952474 ↗, pages 65–66 ↗:
      “An affair of honour?” said O’Flaherty, squaring himself. He smelt powder in everything. / “More like an affair of dishonour,” said Toole, buttoning his coat. “He’s been ‘kiting’ all over the town. Nutter can distrain for his rent to-morrow, and Cluffe called him outside the bar to speak with him; put that and that together, sir.”
  7. (ambitransitive, US, slang, by extension) To steal#Verb|steal.
  8. (intransitive) To travel#Verb|travel by kite, as when kitesurfing.
    We spent the afternoon kiting around the bay.
  9. (intransitive, figuratively) To move rapidly; to rush#Verb|rush.
  10. (intransitive, engineering, nautical) To deflect sideways in the water#Noun|water.
  11. (intransitive, US, prison slang) To pass#Verb|pass a (usually concealed) letter#Noun|letter or oral#Adjective|oral message#Noun|message, especially illegally into, within, or out of a prison.
Translations
  • German: einen Drachen steigen lassen
  • Russian: запуска́ть зме́я
Pronunciation Noun

kite (plural kites)

  1. (Northern England, Scotland, dialectal) The stomach#Noun|stomach; the belly.
    • 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, “I Make Acquaintance of My Uncle”, in Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, Limited., OCLC 1056292939 ↗, page 17 ↗:
      "You know my father's name?" / "It would be strange if I didnae," he returned, "for he was my born brother; and little as ye seem to like either me or my house, or my good parritch, I'm your born uncle, Davie, my man, and you my born nephew. So give us the letter, and sit down and fill your kyte."
Pronunciation
  • (RP, GA) IPA: /ˈkiːtɛ/
Noun

kite (plural kite)

  1. (Egyptology) A measure#Noun|measure of weight equivalent#Adjective|equivalent to frac 1 deben (about 0.32 ounces or 9.1 grams).
Kite
Proper noun
  1. Surname


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.004
Offline English dictionary