Kauri
(||Ka"u*ri) n. [Native name.] (Bot.) A lofty coniferous tree of New Zealand Agathis, or Dammara,
australis), furnishing valuable timber and yielding one kind of dammar resin. [Written also kaudi, cowdie,
and cowrie.]
Kava
(Ka"va) n. [Polynesian.] (Bot.) A species of Macropiper (M. methysticum), the long pepper, from
the root of which an intoxicating beverage is made by the Polynesians, by a process of mastication; also,
the beverage itself. [Written also kawa, kava, and ava.]
Kavass
(Ka*vass") n.; pl. Kavasses (#) [Turk. kavvas] An armed constable; also, a government servant
or courier. [Turkey]
Kaw
(Kaw) v. i. & n. See Caw.
Kawaka
(Ka*wa"ka) n. (Bot.) a New Zealand tree, the Cypress cedar having a valuable, fine-grained,
reddish wood.
Kawn
(Kawn) n. An inn. [Turkey] See Khan.
Kayak
(Kay"ak) n. (Naut.) A light canoe, made of skins stretched over a frame, and usually capable
of carrying but one person, who sits amidships and uses a double-bladed paddle. It is peculiar to the
Eskimos and other Arctic tribes.
Kayaker
(Kay"ak*er) n. One who uses a kayak.
Kayko
(Kay"ko) n. (Zoöl.) The dog salmon.
Kayles
(Kayles) n. pl. [Akin to Dan. kegle, Sw. kegla, D. & G. kegel, OHG. kegil, whence F. quille.]
A game; ninepins. [Prov Eng.] Carew.
Kaynard
(Kay"nard) n. [F. cagnard.] A lazy or cowardly person; a rascal. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Keck
(Keck) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Kecked ; p. pr. & vb. n. Kecking.] [Cf. dial. G. köcken, köken.] To
heave or to retch, as in an effort to vomit. [R.] Swift.
Keck
(Keck), n. An effort to vomit; queasiness. [R.]
Keckle
(Kec"kle) v. i. & n. See Keck, v. i. & n.
Keckle
(Kec"kle), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Keckled ; p. pr. & vb. n. Keckling ] (Naut.) To wind old rope
around, as a cable, to preserve its surface from being fretted, or to wind iron chains around, to defend
from the friction of a rocky bottom, or from the ice. Totten.
Keckling
(Kec"kling) n. Old rope or iron chains wound around a cable. See Keckle, v. t.
Kecklish
(Kec"klish) a. [From keck, keckle.] Inclined to vomit; squeamish. [R.] Holland.
Kecksy
(Keck"sy) n.; pl. Kecksies [Properly pl. of kex. See Kex.] (Bot.) The hollow stalk of an
umbelliferous plant, such as the cow parsnip or the hemlock. [Written also kex, and in pl., kecks, kaxes.]
Nothing teems
But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs.
Shak. Kecky
(Keck"y) a. Resembling a kecksy. Grew.
Kedge
(Kedge) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Kedged (kejd); p. pr. & vb. n. Kedging.] [Cf. dial. Sw. keka to
tug, to drag one's self slowly forward; or perh. fr. ked, and kedge, n., for keg anchor, named from the
keg or cask fastened to the anchor to show where it lies.] (Naut.) To move (a vessel) by carrying out a
kedge in a boat, dropping it overboard, and hauling the vessel up to it.
