kite
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: aeronautics
aerospace
astrology
aviation
banking
business
cycling
engineering
finance
geometry
government
hobbies
human-sciences
lifestyle
mathematics
military
mysticism
natural-sciences
nautical
philosophy
physical-sciences
politics
sailing
sciences
sports
transport
video-games
war
Etymology: The noun is from Middle English kyte, kīte, kete (“a kite endemic to Europe, especially the red kite (Milvus milvus)”), from Old English cȳta (“kite; bittern”), from Proto-West Germanic *kūtijō, diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *kūt (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewH-d- (“to cry, screech”). The English word is cognate with Scots kyt, kyte (“kite; bird of prey”), Middle High German kiuzelīn, kützlīn (“owling”) (modern German Kauz (“owl”)). Possibly a doublet of coot.
Sense 3 (“lightweight toy”) is from the fact that it hovers in the air like the bird.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Inflected forms:
form: kites
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: kight
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: kyte
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: kites
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: kiting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: kited
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: kited
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae.
pos: noun
examples: A pair of kites built a nest on the cliff.
And yet the ſillie kight, well weyde in each degree,
 May ſerue ſometimes (as in his kinde) for mans commoditie.
 The kight can weede the worme from corne and coſtly ſeedes,
 The kight cã kill the mowldiwarpe, in pleaſant meads yͭ breeds:
 Out of the ſtately ſtreetes the kight can clenſe the filth,
 As mẽ can clẽſe the worthleſſe weedes frõ fruteful fallow tilth; […]
Monſieur de Sanſſac was appointed to attend vpon him [Francis I of France] with all ſorts of Haukes, wherein the ſaide Emperour ſemed to take great delight, eſpecially with flying at the Kight, which the French call Voler le Milan, […]
Kites flying aloft, ſhew Faire and Drie Weather. […] the 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, […]
I hope, that vile Carcaſs will firſt become a Prey to Kites and Worms.
gloss: A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae.
pos: noun
examples: The milvus, or kite, is a native of Europe, Asia, and Africa. […] Its motion in the air distinguishes it from all other birds, being so smooth and even that it is scarcely perceptible.
In Hindu erotic literature, to consummate sexual supremacy, a prescription often in use requires a mixture of honey and cowach, the prickly hairs of a tropical pod, along with the remains of a dead kite, in pulverized form.
gloss: A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae.
pos: noun
examples: The ‘white-tailed’ kites in the genus Elanus (‘kite’) are small, gull-like, grey-and-white hawks with black forewing patches and varying amounts of black on the underwings.
gloss: A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae.
pos: noun
examples: The swallow-tailed kite of the New World (Elanoides forficatus) is a striking black and white bird of the subfamily Perninae. It is about 60 cm (24 inches) long, including its long forked tail. It is most common in tropical eastern South America but also occurs from Central America to the United States.
gloss: A rapacious person.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
examples: deteſted kite, thou li[e]ſt[.] [M]y traine, and^([sic – meaning are]) men of choiſe and rareſt parts, that all particulars of dutie knowe, and in the moſt exact regard, ſupport the worſhip of their name, [...]
gloss: A lightweight toy or other device, traditionally flat and shaped like a triangle with a segment of a circle attached to its base or like a quadrilateral (see sense 9), carried on the wind and tethered and controlled from the ground by one or more lines.
pos: noun
examples: On windy spring days, we would fly kites.
What for do ye want to get baker's bread, aunt? This dough will rise as high as a kite in the south wind.
Housing a Dirigible […] When the ship is kept head on to the wind, it is easy enough to guide her, but when a wind blows across the mouth of the shed, every man's heart is in its throat. The ship offers so much more surface sidewise than endwise that she becomes an enormous kite.
gloss: A tethered object which deflects its position in a medium by obtaining lift and drag in reaction with its relative motion in the medium.
pos: noun
examples: The purpose of the water kite is to float beneath or beside the ship at a depth sufficient to insure safety.
gloss: A planetary configuration wherein one planet of a grand trine is in opposition to an additional fourth planet.
pos: noun
examples: Frequently a kite formation is created by one of the planets in the trine by its opposition to another planet, which allows expulsion and redirection of the pent-up energy associated with a closed circuit.
gloss: A blank cheque; a fraudulent cheque, such as one issued even though there are insufficient funds to honour it, or one that has been altered without authorization.
pos: noun
tags: slang
examples: But she said, "if this was a kite, he didn't realize that you don't have the float time of the old days," which made check-kiting easier.
gloss: An accommodation bill (“a bill of exchange endorsed by a reputable third party acting as a guarantor, as a favour and without compensation”).
pos: noun
tags: slang
examples: The advantages which are alleged to belong to the district system [of banking] are the following:— […] as each bank will have an agent in London, the bills they draw will thus have two parties as securities, and the public will have a pledge that there is no excessive issue in the form of kites or accommodation bills.
gloss: A rider who is good at climbs but less good at descents.
pos: noun
tags: slang
gloss: A polygon resembling the shape of a traditional toy kite (sense 3): a quadrilateral having two pairs of edges of equal length, the edges of each pair touching each other at one end.
pos: noun
examples: A kite is a quadrilateral with exactly two pairs of adjacent congruent sides. Note that a parallelogram has opposite congruent sides, whereas the congruent sides of kites are adjacent. Therefore, a kite is also a parallelogram only when both pairs of adjacent congruent sides of the kite are congruent to each other, making the kite a rhombus.
gloss: An aeroplane or aircraft.
pos: noun
tags: slang
examples: And did you know the Chiefie said that one of our kites went in the drink last night?
This time, the engine roared and the kite rocked against the brakes then sluggishly rolled down the strip.
gloss: In a square-rigged ship: originally a sail positioned above a topsail; later a lightweight sail set above the topgallants, such as a studding sail or a jib topsail.
pos: noun
tags: dated
examples: 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.
gloss: A spinnaker (“supplementary sail to a mainsail”).
pos: noun
tags: slang
examples: The key to a good gybe is to bring the spinnaker round to the old weather side before you begin, and then to steer to keep some wind in the kite.
gloss: The brill (Scophthalmus rhombus), a type of flatfish.
pos: noun
tags: UK
dialectal
examples: Brill (Scophthalmus rhombus) Also known as kite or pearl. Brill reaches a maximum length of 75cm (29½in). It lives in the Eastern Atlantic, from Iceland to Morocco, throughout the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
gloss: A (usually concealed) letter or oral message, especially one passed illegally into, within, or out of a prison.
pos: noun
tags: US
slang
examples: Officers must maintain control by making sure their inmate count is correct, by checking inmates' passes as they walk the hall […] This helps prevent the occasional juggling of goods, gang communication, such as kites (a written request from one inmate to another), and inmate assaults, such as face cuts or stabbings.
gloss: To cause (something) to move upwards rapidly like a toy kite; also (chiefly US, figuratively) to cause (something, such as costs) to increase rapidly.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Rising interest rates have kited the cost of housing.
[…] when he saw the fuse of the firecracker was lighted, he turned the torch on the powder under the barrel of dried apples, and in a second everything went kiting; the barrel of dried apples with the cat in it went up to the ceiling, the stove was blown over the counter, the cheese box and the old groceryman went with a crash to the back end of the store, the front windows blew out on the sidewalk, the old man rushed out the back door with his whiskers singed and yelled "Fire!"
Lombard swung at the sweet pea he had dropped, caught it neatly with the toe of his shoe, and kited it upward with grim zest, as though doing that made him feel a lot better.
Today, the Bangs auction house would have been rubbing its hands with unconcealed glee and kiting the price of the manuscript into the stratosphere. In 1877, no bidding took place. Bangs merely announced that the letter had been sold for $13.
gloss: To tamper with a document or record by increasing the quantity of something beyond its proper amount so that the difference may be unlawfully retained; in particular, to alter a medical prescription for this purpose by increasing the number of pills or other items.
pos: verb
tags: slang
transitive
examples: A pharmacist "kited" and "shorted" a significant percentage of prescriptions. "Kiting" refers to the pharmacist's forging upward the number of pills originally prescribed by the physician, charging Medicaid for the increased amount but providing the patient with the originally prescribed quantity.
Pharmacists have kited Medicaid prescriptions by raising the number of pills called for on a prescription blank from, say, 100 to 200, and billing Medicaid for the larger amount.
Sir, I have a lead that the sergeants in charge at the down town airmen's club have been kiting the winnings on the slot machines. […] Some of them will give the kid his $10.00 winnings, have him sign for it in the ledger. After the kid walks away he/they add a zero to make it look like the kid won a $100 instead of the ten. Then they pocket the $90.00.
gloss: To keep ahead of (an enemy) and repeatedly attack it from a distance, without exposing oneself to danger.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To attack (an enemy) or otherwise cause it to give chase, so as to lead it somewhere (like a kite is led on a string), for example into a trap or ambush or away from its comrades or something it was protecting.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I hate it when my knight is kited away from the castle that I'm attacking!
gloss: To (cause to) glide in the manner of a kite (“bird”).
pos: verb
tags: ambitransitive
transitive
examples: If you're pulling or kiting a creature and it aggros an innocent passer-by, it's your fault and you should apologize.
The wind kited us toward shore.
It was mere happenstance that the Weston meteor kited across the sky on December 14, 1807, the same day President [Thomas] Jefferson's Non-Importation Act, which restricted trade with Great Britain and France during the Napoleonic Wars, went into effect.
In the distance creatures on leathery wings kited across the sky, lofted by thermal winds.
gloss: To manipulate like a toy kite; also, usually preceded by an inflection of go: to fly a toy kite.
pos: verb
tags: ambitransitive
rare
examples: Want to go kite with me this weekend?
Finally, if you have no one to fly a kite with, you can kite alone.
Only during the brief time of experimentation with flight that preceded the invention of the airplane, when kites fired the western imagination with visions of human flight, did kiting become significant.
Then there was the motorized paraglider. I was actually lucky on this one—I had a full four days to practice on it. However, I was also dealing with a 10-pound (4.5 kg) motor on my back and a huge parachute that I had to learn to kite behind me.
gloss: To write or present (a cheque) on an account with insufficient funds, either to defraud or expecting that funds will become available by the time the cheque clears.
pos: verb
tags: ambitransitive
slang
examples: He was convicted of kiting checks and sentenced to two years in prison.
“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.”
The fame and money brought in by Only in America meant no more name changes, no need to kite checks, and no sneaking past the landlord.
gloss: To steal.
pos: verb
tags: US
ambitransitive
broadly
slang
examples: Andy also kept a box of that [steel wool] in his cell, although he didn't get it from me—I imagine he kited it from the prison laundry.
Little bastards were always trying to kite stuff, particularly the candy and the girly magazines.
gloss: To travel by kite, as when kitesurfing.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: We spent the afternoon kiting around the bay.
If we kited again, it would be very dangerous with the steep slope and the heavy weight crashing on behind us and, in any event, Pat and Dave's kites were ridiculously tangled.
A rare north wind and conditions of good visibility allowed me to try my luck at kiting again. Without stopping for chocolate and taking quick gulps of energy orange from my Thermos, I kited 117 miles in one day.
gloss: To move rapidly; to rush.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: They commenced whipping their horses at the base, and, as one of the prisoners expressed it, "they went kiting up the hill, and for nearly a mile after the summit had been gained."
Q. The supervisor of a particular district would go around in his carriage. […] They went kiting around for a couple of weeks?
A. Yes, sir; for four weeks prior to election.
Q. Were the carriages necessary?
A. I didn't see any necessity for them.
[…] the big boy stuck his foot out so she fell. Nursie saw and started for her, but she scrambled up and went kiting for the bench, and climbed on it, […]
gloss: To deflect sideways in the water.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: This column action causes the tow line to kite either to the port or the starboard side, […]
gloss: To pass a (usually concealed) letter or oral message, especially illegally, into, within, or out of a prison.
pos: verb
tags: US
intransitive
slang
examples: Prison Hall in Central Hospital was claimed by some patients to be "organized" in the more extensive manner of prisons for the sane. Here, it was claimed, an attendant could be bribed to "kite" a letter or bring in contraband, […]
I have been working like a dam mule this morning and just found time to kite you.
Derived words: Species of birds
black kite
black-winged kite
Brahminy kite
elanid kite
honey kite
Mississippi kite
pariah kite
red kite
snail kite
swallow-tailed kite
whistling kite
yellow-billed kite
Other terms
bow kite
box kite
cellular kite
desert kite
Eddy kite
fly a kite
fly the kite
go fly a kite
gyrokite
Hargrave kite
helikite
hellkite
high as a kite
higher than a kite
kiteboard
kiteboarding
kite buggy
kite fighting
kitefin
kite fishing
kite flying
kiteflying
kitefun
kite gliding
kite jump
kite jumper
kite jumping
kite-leaved poison
kiteless
kitelike
kitemaker
kitemaking
kitemark
kite runner
kite shield
kitesurf
kitesurfer
kite surfing
kitish
kytoon
Malay kite
paper kite butterfly
parakite
polykite
power kite
powerkite
rotor kite
shufti kite
snowkite
stunt kite
kite around
kiter
kiting
Translations:
lang: Acehnese
word: kleuëng
lang: Albanian
word: qift
lang: Northern Altai
word: сары
roman: sarï
lang: Southern Altai
word: тейлеген
roman: teylegen
lang: Arabic
word: حَدَأَة
roman: ḥadaʔa
lang: Arabic
word: حداية
roman: ḥedaya
lang: Armenian
word: ուրուր
roman: urur
lang: Armenian
word: ցին
roman: cʻin
lang: Assamese
word: চিলনী
roman: siloni
lang: Assamese
word: চিলা
roman: sila
lang: Assamese
word: শেন চৰাই
roman: xen sorai
lang: Asturian
word: milán
lang: Asturian
word: milatu
lang: Asturian
word: galfarru
lang: Azerbaijani
word: çalağan
lang: Basque
word: miru
lang: Bats
word: ძე̄რ
roman: ʒēr
lang: Belarusian
word: каршу́н
roman: karšún
lang: Breton
word: skoul
lang: Bulgarian
word: ка́ня
roman: kánja
lang: Burmese
word: စွန်
roman: cwan
lang: Catalan
word: milà
lang: Chechen
word: гӏиргӏа
roman: ğirğa
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 鳶 /鸢
roman: yuān
lang: Czech
word: luňák
lang: Danish
word: glente
lang: Dutch
word: wouw
lang: Esperanto
word: milvo
lang: Faroese
word: gletta
lang: Finnish
word: haukka
lang: Finnish
word: liitohaukka
lang: French
word: milan
lang: Old French
word: escofle
lang: West-Frisian
word: glee
lang: Friulian
word: nibli
lang: Galician
word: albela
lang: Galician
word: bullafre
lang: Galician
word: busaco
lang: Galician
word: miango
lang: Galician
word: millafre
lang: Galician
word: mioto
lang: Georgian
word: ძერა
roman: ʒera
lang: German
word: Milan
lang: Greek
word: τσίφτης
roman: tsíftis
lang: Ancient Greek
word: ἴκτινος
roman: íktinos
lang: Ancient Greek
word: λούπης
roman: loúpēs
lang: Hebrew
word: דַּיָּה
roman: dayá
lang: Hindi
word: चील
roman: cīl
lang: Hungarian
word: kánya
lang: Hungarian
word: kuhi
lang: Irish
word: cúr
lang: Italian
word: nibbio
lang: Japanese
word: トビ
roman: tobi
lang: Japanese
word: 鳶
roman: tobi
lang: Kaitag
word: анкъкъав
roman: anɢɢav
lang: Kashmiri
word: گانٛٹھ
roman: gānṭh
lang: Kashmiri
word: گٲنٛٹھ
roman: gạ̄nṭh
lang: Ket
word: ӄа’ӈ
roman: qa'ŋ
lang: Ket
word: ӄаӈгит
roman: qaŋgit
lang: Khmer
word: ខ្លែង
roman: khlaeng
lang: Korean
word: 솔개
roman: solgae
lang: Central Kurdish
word: کۆلارە
roman: kolare
lang: Latin
word: milvus
lang: Latvian
word: klija
lang: Laz
word: მჯაჯი
roman: mcaci
lang: Laz
word: ჩაილაღი
roman: çailaği
lang: Lithuanian
word: peslys
lang: Macedonian
word: луња
roman: lunja
lang: Eastern Mari
word: курныж
roman: kurnyž
lang: Mazanderani
word: جول
roman: jul
lang: Middle English
word: glede
lang: Middle English
word: kyte
lang: Mingrelian
word: ძერა
roman: ʒera
lang: Mongolian
word: элээ
roman: elee
lang: Mongolian
word: илээ
roman: ilee
lang: Mongolian
word: ᠡᠯᠢᠶ᠎ᠡ
roman: eliy-e
lang: Nanai
word: пичуэн
roman: pičuen
lang: Neapolitan
word: niglio
lang: Nivkh
word: пʼиск
roman: pʼisk
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: glente
lang: Occitan
word: milan
lang: Old English
word: glida
lang: Persian
word: خات
roman: xât
lang: Persian
word: غَلیواج
roman: ġalivâj
lang: Persian
word: زَغَن
roman: zaġan
lang: Persian
word: کورکور
roman: kurkur
lang: Persian
word: موشگیر
roman: mūšgīr
lang: Persian
word: جول
roman: jūl
lang: Polish
word: kania
lang: Portuguese
word: milhafre
lang: Punjabi
word: ਇੱਲ
roman: illa
lang: Romanian
word: milan
lang: Romanian
word: erete
lang: Romanian
word: gaie
lang: Russian
word: ко́ршун
roman: kóršun
lang: Santali
word: ᱠᱩᱲᱤᱫ
roman: kuṛit’
lang: Sardinian
word: asturolia
lang: Sardinian
word: tiloria
lang: Sardinian
word: tzirolia
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: clamhan
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: луња
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: lunja
lang: Sicilian
word: nigghiu
lang: Slovak
word: haja
lang: Slovene
word: škarjek
lang: Slovene
word: škarnik
lang: Slovene
word: škarnjek
lang: Spanish
word: aguililla
lang: Spanish
word: milano
lang: Svan
word: ჟუ̂ი̄ნა
roman: žûīna
lang: Swahili
word: mwewe
lang: Swedish
word: glada
lang: Tarifit
word: asiwan
lang: Tatar
word: тилгән
roman: tilgän
lang: Tibetan
word: པིང་ཀྱུ་མ
roman: ping kyu ma
lang: Turkish
word: çaylak
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: صیچانجیل
roman: sıçancıl
lang: Ukrainian
word: шулі́ка
roman: šulíka
lang: Urdu
word: چیل
roman: cīl
lang: Venetan
word: poja
lang: Venetan
word: pogia
lang: Welsh
word: barcud
lang: Wolof
word: céeli bi
lang: Yakut
word: элиэ
roman: elie
lang: Finnish
word: leko
lang: Finnish
word: leija
lang: Finnish
word: spinnu