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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  

[kay] / 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

Alcoa san k 7% after the aluminum producer’s first-quarter earnings and revenue fell short of analysts’ expectations.

From Barron's ● Apr. 17, 2026

The track she was looking at, later labelled k, was evidence of an unknown particle, now known as the kaon or K meson.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2024

Choose a value from 0 to 9 for i, j and k.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 24, 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

But have you ever wondered why there's a k in garlicky when there isn’t one in garlic?

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

Under Germany's privacy rules, he will be named during the trial only as Serhii K, but during extradition proceedings he was identified as Serhii Kuznetsov.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

They "strongly suspect" that Serhii K led a crew that included four deep-sea divers, using a rented yacht called Andromeda.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

The current variant, H3N2 subclade K, appears similar to last year’s strain and is included in this year’s vaccine, reducing concern about a major mismatch between the vaccine and the flu strain, Chin-Hong said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Authorities told Courtesy K its help wasn’t needed, and the vessel continued its journey, Kokkinos said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

He had watched Miss K multiply by writing squiggles with chalk on the blackboard.

From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary

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

For a more detailed study of diffusion in general the following papers may be consulted:—L. Boltzmann, “Zur Integration der Diffusionsgleichung,” Sitzung. der k. bayer.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 4 "Diameter" to "Dinarchus" by Various

We see by the Fargo papers that Mrs. Bernt Wick gave a dinner recently, and we hope that Miss Candle, the w. k. night nurse, was among the guests.

From The So-called Human Race by Bert Leston Taylor

"Christa Pike was discharged from a local hospital and is now at Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center where she has been housed for more than 30 years," her lawyers said in a statement Saturday.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026

Boulder County, and Madiba K. Dennie, attorney and deputy editor at Balls and Strikes, explains what went down.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026

Scientists from the laboratories of Alex K. Shalek, director of MIT's Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, and Matthew Vander Heiden, director of the Koch Institute, also participated in the work.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

Dr. Ashish K. Jha, an American scientist and biosecurity expert, said Russia owed the world transparency over the incident.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

The two boys rushed over to Matt to see what the paper said about Miss K. Ralph climbed out of his car.

From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary

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

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

For The K's guitarist Ryan Breslyn, soaring costs have put him off returning to the US after his last tour seven years ago when the group supported The Who.

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2024

If he could somehow get hold of the pieces of his motorcycle, and if he could manage to nip off a strand of Miss K’s strong hair, perhaps he could tie his motorcycle together again.

From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2024

Expected Game 1 starter Spencer Strider broke John Smoltz’s record for strikeouts, leading the majors with 281 Ks in 186 2/3 innings.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 6, 2023

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

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2023

Lucas Erceg retired Byron Buxton on a called third strike to escape a bases-loaded jam in the sixth - one of four Ks by Erceg among his five outs.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 15, 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

Here in Fiji the singing was harsh and discordant, as k’s and r’s abound in the language.

From Wanderings among South Sea Savages and in Borneo and the Philippines by H. Wilfrid Walker

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

There is vacillation in his k's and self-esteem in his capitals.

From The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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

From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2011

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

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

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

I merely mention that the patronymics ending in kins got abbreviated into kiss, and kes, and ks.

From Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature by Charles W. Bardsley