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• k
  k

  a vector on the z-axis, having length 1 unit.
• K
  K

  abbreviation

  carrying capacity.
• k.
  k.

  abbreviation

  capacity.
• K.
  K.

  abbreviation

  kip; kips.

k

¹ American  

Symbol.

1. Mathematics. a vector on the z-axis, having length 1 unit.

2. Boltzmann constant.

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K ² American  

abbreviation

Ecology.

1. carrying capacity.

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K ³ American  

[key] / keɪ /

Or k

noun

• K's,
  plural
• Ks,
  plural
• k's,
  plural
• ks
  plural

1. the eleventh letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.

2. any sound represented by the letter K or k, as in bilk, kit, or sick.

3. something having the shape of a K .

4. a written or printed representation of the letter K or k.

5. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter K or k.

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K ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. the number 1000.

   The salary offered is $20K.

2. kilometer, especially in a footrace or wheelchair race on a road or track.

   She’s training to run her first 10K this summer.

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K ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Chess. king.

2. Physics. Kelvin.

3. Music. Köchel listing.

4. kindergarten.

   a K–12 boarding school.

5. Real Estate. kitchen.

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K ⁶ American  

Symbol.

1. the eleventh in order or in a series.

2. Computers.

   1. the number 1024 or 2 10 .

      A binary 32K memory has 32,768 positions.

   2. kilobyte.

3. Baseball. strikeout; strikeouts.

4. Physics. kaon.

5. Biochemistry. lysine.

6. Chemistry. potassium.

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k. ⁷ American  

abbreviation

1. Electricity. capacity.

2. karat.

3. kilogram; kilograms.

4. Chess. king.

5. knight.

6. knot.

7. kopeck.

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K. ⁸ American  

abbreviation

1. kip; kips.

2. Knight.

3. kwacha.

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K ¹ British  

symbol

1. kelvin(s)

2. chess king

3. chem potassium

4. physics kaon

5. currency

   1. kina

   2. kip

   3. kopeck

   4. kwacha

   5. kyat

6. one thousand

7. computing

   1. a unit of 1024 words, bits, or bytes

   2. (not in technical usage) 1000

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abbreviation

1. Cambodia (international car registration)

k ² British  

/ keɪ /

noun

1. the 11th letter and 8th consonant of the modern English alphabet

2. a speech sound represented by this letter, usually a voiceless velar stop, as in kitten

3. See five Ks

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k ³ British  

symbol

1. kilo(s)

2. maths the unit vector along the z-axis

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K ⁴ British  

abbreviation

1. Köchel: indicating the serial number in the catalogue (1862) of the works of Mozart made by Ludwig von Köchel (1800–77)

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• K's
  plural
• Ks
  plural
• k's
  plural
• ks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of K⁴

Abbreviation of kilo- K ² for def. 1; abbreviation of kilometer ( def. ) K ² for def. 2

Origin of K⁶

K ⁴ def. 6 from German Kalium

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

k K k. K. K's Ks k's ks

The economy has shifted from a lowercase k to an uppercase one, a Wall Street researcher told me this past week.

From Barron's ● Dec. 4, 2025

The k track was the mirror image of a particle seen before by colleagues in Manchester, but the Manchester team's track decayed into two pions, not three.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2024

If the objects are distributed evenly among the drawers, then, on average, n ⁄ k objects end up in the same drawer.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 20, 2023

He then shared a story how when he was younger, he once got the letters x,y, z and k in Scrabble — and spent 15 minutes determined to try to make a move.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 26, 2022

“Like a k is turquoise blue, whether I think of it, read it, or hear it. It’s just there, inside my head, plain as day.”

From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass

It wasn’t until the fifth that Skubal at last punctuated Jac with a K.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

The deal, if successful, would be the largest-ever acquisition for the owner of Circle K, which abandoned a $47 billion takeover attempt of Seven & i, the Japanese owner of 7-Eleven, last July.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Last year, the ministers, K Shanmugam and Tan See Leng, sued Bloomberg and reporter Low De Wei for a 2024 article which had mentioned their property deals.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

That K shape, they said, has increasingly been molded by so-called superfans — artists’ most devoted followers, who are willing to pay up for seats at the front of the house and VIP packages.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

Across the street I saw Ellis Carter and Danny the K kicking a soda can.

From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia

It was truly a scene at that time, often set to music by Robert John Burck, a. k. a. the Naked Cowboy, a fervent supporter of Mr. Trump.

From New York Times ● Aug. 15, 2017

But just as bell hooks, the feminist writer, and k. d. lang, the singer-songwriter, often see their names appear with unwanted capital letters, lowercase compositions are often capitalized on their way to publication.

From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2017

The Japanese took to the game so wholeheartedly that today their system is actually overbuilt; generating stations with a capacity of some 300,000 k. w. lie idle.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then join the points i. and b. and k. and f. respectively, by the lines i. b. and k. f.

From Of the Just Shaping of Letters by Albrecht D?rer

He was inclined to be facetious, and wanted to know if I had come across any more k. v's.

From The Window at the White Cat by Mary Roberts Rinehart

The team combined observations from the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, the world's largest solar telescope, with advanced computer simulations.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

“Paradise” star Sterling K. Brown and “Slow Horses” lead Gary Oldman are joined by “Task” star Mark Ruffalo and “The Diplomat” co-star Rufus Sewell in taking on Wyle for best drama actor.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

“Kids, seniors and families all across L.A. are going to get what they need and deserve,” said Sarah K. Friedman, a manager of special programs for the advocacy group Trust for Public Land.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

Now, its listing, which is held by Kori Sassower and Brian K. Lewis of Compass,

From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026

The leading early investigator, G. K. Gilbert of Columbia University, modeled the effects of impacts by flinging marbles into pans of oatmeal.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

New members to Circle K’s loyalty program get 25 cents off a gallon for their first five fuel-ups.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026

During the trial, the court also heard that, for the length of K's captivity, Wixon claimed benefits on her behalf.

From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026

With Albania already assured of second place, Serbia beat Latvia 2-1 in a dead-rubber in Group K's other match.

From Barron's ● Nov. 16, 2025

Stanford bound Mike Erspamer with the complete game shutout & 9 K’s; Kai Cesare with a 2 run double.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2025

By the end of the night, a slightly tweaked formula had worked for two more K's: IX and XIV.

From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green

Only four pitchers in the majors this year recorded more Ks with a single pitch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2024

It played into the parting of ways with Eugenio Suarez and Teoscar Hernandez, who ranked first and second, respectively, in American League Ks last season.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 31, 2024

The student didn't even care to investigate what the three Ks meant in Murillo's book title.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2023

With the nine strikeouts, he finished the month of August with 53 Ks, the second-most in Royals history behind Dennis Leonard’s 55 in June 1977.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 30, 2023

Once I felt the coast was clear, I began, first drawing the connected Ks and finishing with a wide circle around them, my custom style.

From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore

Hard consonants - k's, d's, hard c's and hard g's - gave me hell.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 21, 2010

It was because she has trouble saying words sometimes, especially beginnings, like b’s and t’s and k’s.

From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

It is the repeated k's that make the croak so life-like. take him tail.

From Jamaican Song and Story Annancy stories, digging sings, ring tunes, and dancing tunes by Walter Jekyll

I believe it to be a sign of a man having arrived at the dignity of marriage; it is called esikoko, the two k’s signifying two clicks of the tongue.

From Sporting Scenes amongst the Kaffirs of South Africa by A. W. (Alfred Wilks) Drayson

It was not pedantic philology at which he aimed, though he did not disdain occasional picturesque archaisms, such as "yatches" for "yachts," or despise the artful aid of terminal k's, long s's, and old-cut type.

From De Libris: Prose and Verse by Austin Dobson

Bills 31st in NFL with 16 sac ks, including 10 in 23-0 win over Redskins.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2011

Fyodorov and his colleagues have performed more than 2,000 "radial ks" with, they claim, most of the cases improving to at least 20/25 vision.

From Time Magazine Archive

With the construction of big military bases at Dutch Harbor, Kodiak, Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska became more than a massive map sprinkled with names full of harsh ks and ts.

From Time Magazine Archive

Exceptions.—X final, being equivalent to ks, is never doubled; and when the derivative does not retain the accent of the root, the final consonant is not always doubled: as, prefer' + ence = pref'erence.

From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton

The x, which occasionally appears, is to be pronounced ks, as in English.

From The Iroquois Book of Rites by Horatio Hale