a male sovereign or monarch; a man who holds by life tenure, and usually by hereditary right, the chief authority over a country and people.
(initial capital letter) God or Christ.
a person or thing preeminent in its class.
a king of actors.
a playing card bearing a picture of a king.
Chess. the chief piece of each color, whose checkmating is the object of the game; moved one square at a time in any direction.
Checkers. a piece that has been moved entirely across the board and has been crowned, thus allowing it to be moved in any direction.
Entomology. a fertile male termite.
a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter K.
to make a king of; cause to be or become a king; crown.
Informal. to design or make (a product) king-size.
The tobacco company is going to king its cigarettes.
Billie Jean (Moffitt) born 1943, U.S. tennis player.
Clarence, 1842–1901, U.S. geologist and cartographer.
Coretta Scott 1927–2006, U.S. civil rights leader (widow of Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Ernest Joseph, 1878–1956, U.S. naval officer.
Martin Luther, Jr., MLK, 1929–68, U.S. Baptist minister: civil rights leader; Nobel Peace Prize 1964.
Maxine Micki, born 1944, U.S. springboard and platform diver.
Richard, 1825–85, U.S. rancher and steamboat operator.
Riley B. B.B., 1925–2015, U.S. blues singer and guitarist.
Rufus, 1755–1827, U.S. political leader and statesman.
Stephen, born 1947, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.
William Lyon Mackenzie, 1874–1950, Canadian statesman: prime minister 1921–26, 1926–30, 1935–48.
William Rufus DeVane 1786–1853, vice president of the U.S. 1853.
a male sovereign prince who is the official ruler of an independent state; monarch
a ruler or chief
king of the fairies
( in combination )
the pirate king
a person, animal, or thing considered as the best or most important of its kind
( as modifier )
a king bull
any of four playing cards in a pack, one for each suit, bearing the picture of a king
the most important chess piece, although theoretically the weakest, being able to move only one square at a time in any direction See also check checkmate
draughts a piece that has moved entirely across the board and has been crowned, after which it may move backwards as well as forwards
God
a title of any of various oriental monarchs
to make (someone) a king
to act in a superior fashion
B.B., real name Riley B. King. born 1925, US blues singer and guitarist
Billie Jean (née Moffitt ). born 1943, US tennis player: winner of twelve Grand Slam singles titles, including Wimbledon (1966–68, 1972–73, and 1975) and the US Open (1967, 1971–72, and 1974)
Martin Luther. 1929–68, US Baptist minister and civil-rights leader. He advocated nonviolence in his campaigns against the segregation of Black people in the South: assassinated: Nobel Peace Prize 1964
Stephen ( Edwin ). born 1947, US writer esp of horror novels; his books, many of which have been filmed, include Carrie (1974), The Shining (1977), Misery (1988), and Everything's Eventual (2002)
William Lyon Mackenzie. 1874–1950, Canadian Liberal statesman; prime minister (1921–26; 1926–30; 1935–48)
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English cyng, cyni(n)g; cognate with German König, Dutch koning, Old Norse konungr, Swedish konung, Danish konge; equivalent to kin + -ing 3
In a monarchy, the male ruler is called the king. A king or queen rules until death, when the next in line — usually a son or daughter — inherits the throne. You can also use the word king to describe someone who's very powerful or well-known, like the king of Scrabble competitions or the king of the auto industry. In chess, the king is the most important piece, the one protected by every other piece on the board. King shares an Old English root with kin, or "family."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The royal household had also yet to confirm whether the king would attend the celebrations.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
One big change in Bowl priorities has been the rise of pop as king.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
If only he let the scene play a little longer, he’d hear Mufasa’s critical addendum: “There’s more to being king than getting your way all the time.”
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
The king of dinosaurs has reclaimed his throne.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Maybe she told the king about me to spare herself.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
The King unveiled a plaque marking the 75th anniversary of Cambridge being granted city status by his grandfather King George VI, before calling the visit a "pleasure".
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Burnham was asked to form a government by King Charles III after Keir Starmer resigned, lasting only two years in office despite handing the Labour Party a landslide victory in general elections in 2024.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Flight instrumentation is installed in the cockpit of a Beechcraft King Air aircraft.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
In a London-centric nation, he wants to be defined as an outsider, “The King of the North.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
"King Raven is trying to lure the dogs," Oteg said.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
But in his third and rockiest year at the helm of the Trojans, Riley was still compensated like one of the kings of the sport.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
As a child, he knew the names of all the popes and the dates of their papacies, as well as the names and pertinent dates of England’s kings and queens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
The Louvre, the seat of French kings until Louis XIV abandoned it for Versailles in the late 1600s, now receives around nine million visitors a year.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
They piled forward, the late-goal kings of Scotland, the 90th-minute heroes, but nothing was sticking.
From BBC ● May 16, 2026
And somewhere, at the end of a long list of uneven swaps, they imagined the wealth of kings.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
The Ducks kinged the Kings, in essence, by retrenching and building a defense-first focus that offered players a way out of a deep deficit and paved the way for offense to follow.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2016
He took a white piece from the pile beside the board and kinged his man.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
Its lords had borne a glorious name; God kinged them when the season came.
From The Wisdom of Confucius with Critical and Biographical Sketches by Wilson, Epiphanius
He kinged it in the coffee-house, then the fashionable place at which the wits gathered, as Jonson had in the tavern.
From English Literature for Boys and Girls by Marshall, H. E. (Henrietta Elizabeth)
Taka, daughter of chiefs and Fiji's pride, 3Lily of maidens, was betrothed to him; Desirous eyes kinged him with envy's crown.
From The Rose of Dawn A Tale of the South Sea by La Farge, John
As Daemon put it in that meeting — he, too, has obvious flaws but also an early knack for saying what we’re all thinking — the thing the king is worst at is kinging.
From New York Times ● Aug. 28, 2022
“I’m watching girls and performers of all genders who maybe five years ago would have gone into burlesque who now are seeing drag kinging as the ultimate art form,” Mr. Grrrl said.
From New York Times ● Mar. 4, 2021
What about her performance struck you as a good criticism of the male perspective, even though she may not be kinging?
From Slate ● Feb. 27, 2020
What could have made this performance closer to kinging?
From Slate ● Feb. 27, 2020
Both the boys claimed to excel in the art of kinging the ring; but, unfortunately, neither one had a top with him.
From Left Behind or, Ten Days a Newsboy by Otis, James
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.
