kea
noun
a large, greenish New Zealand parrot, Nestor notabilis.
kea
1 American
[key-uh, kee-uh]
/ ˈkeɪ ə, ˈki ə /
noun
Kea
2
American
[key-ah, kee-uh]
/ ˈkeɪ ɑ, ˈki ə /
noun
Kéa
1
British
/ ˈkɛa /
noun
Kea
2
British
noun
kea
3
British
/ ˈkeɪə /
noun
Etymology
Origin of kea
Borrowed into English from Maori around 1860–65
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The next highest votes went to the kea, which got 12,506 votes; and the kakaruia or black robin, which followed closely with 11,726 votes.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2025
Rounding out the top five were the kea, kākāpō and the fantail.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2023
At least one major zoo, at Chester, said it would close while Bristol Zoo said squirrel monkeys, kea parrots and red pandas were being fed frozen ice lollies filled with vegetables, leaves or mealworms.
From Reuters ● Jul. 19, 2022
In “The Bird Way,” Jennifer Ackerman takes a detailed look at the lives of birds — including their parenting strategies — like the bowerbird, the cuckoo and the kea.
From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2020
In New Zealand there is a parrot, the kea, that once lived upon honey and fruit, but that now lives upon the sheep, tearing its way down to the kidney fat.
From Ways of Nature by Burroughs, John
Unlike past Decembers, quietness has fallen over the park, as local and foreign tourists have "disappeared", said T-shirt vendor Run Kea.
From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025
More than half a dozen California lawmakers are attending a policy conference at the Fairmont Kea Lani Hotel in Wailea.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2024
Kanaka elders have insisted that no more telescopes be built on Mauna Kea, which Native Hawaiians consider to be ancestral and sacred.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2024
A camera at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii has captured an object as it burned up on re-entering Earth's atmosphere on 8 February.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2024
Where was Kea? and why was she out at this time of night, with all her friends, and in her wedding garments?
From The White Man's Foot by Allen, Grant
Now, a poll by OpinionWay and Kéa Partners for the Les Echos daily and Radio Classique became the latest on Monday to forecast a much narrower 53%-47% margin of victory for Macron.
From Reuters ● Apr. 4, 2022
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
