Meaning

• Noun

  1. A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae.
  2. A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae.
  3. A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae.
  4. A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae.
  5. A rapacious person.
  6. 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.
  7. A tethered object which deflects its position in a medium by obtaining lift and drag in reaction with its relative motion in the medium.
  8. A planetary configuration wherein one planet of a grand trine is in opposition to an additional fourth planet.
  9. (slang) 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.
  10. (slang) An accommodation bill (“a bill of exchange endorsed by a reputable third party acting as a guarantor, as a favour and without compensation”).
  11. (slang) A rider who is good at climbs but less good at descents.
  12. 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.
  13. (slang) An aeroplane or aircraft.
  14. 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.
  15. (slang) A spinnaker (“supplementary sail to a mainsail”).
  16. The brill (Scophthalmus rhombus), a type of flatfish.
  17. (slang) A (usually concealed) letter or oral message, especially one passed illegally into, within, or out of a prison.

• Verb