kite

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

1. To cause (something) to move upwards rapidly like a toy kite; also (chiefly US, figuratively) to cause (something, such as costs) to increase rapidly.
2. (slang) 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.
3. To keep ahead of (an enemy) and repeatedly attack it from a distance, without exposing oneself to danger.
4. 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.
5. To (cause to) glide in the manner of a kite (“bird”).
6. To manipulate like a toy kite; also, usually preceded by an inflection of go: to fly a toy kite.
7. (slang) 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.
8. (slang) To steal.
9. To travel by kite, as when kitesurfing.
10. To move rapidly; to rush.
11. To deflect sideways in the water.
12. (slang) To pass a (usually concealed) letter or oral message, especially illegally, into, within, or out of a prison.

Synonyms

hawk

accommodation bill

falcon

eagle

🦅

accommodation kite

soar

owl

🦉

horned owl

deltoid

bad check

fictitious bill

bad cheque

crow

accommodation note

paper kite

rubber check

skim over

crested serpent eagle

rubber cheque

wind-whirl

small hawk

protest check

kiting cheque

dishonourable cheque

fictitious paper

kite bill

accommodation notes

accommodation paper

bird

🐦

breeze

etc.

glide

goshawk

harrier

sharper

skim

stiff

swallow

vulture

black kite

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kaɪt/

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-Germanic *kūts (“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.