Kings

[ kingz ]

/ kɪŋz /

noun (used with a singular verb)

either of two books of the Bible, I Kings or II Kings, which contain the history of the kings of Israel and Judah. Abbreviation: Ki.

Definition for kings (2 of 2)

king

[ king ]

/ kɪŋ /

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

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.

verb (used without object)

to reign as king.

adjective

Informal. king-size.

Verb Phrases

king it, to play the king; behave in an imperious or pretentious manner: He kinged it over all the other kids on the block.

Origin of king

before 900; Middle English; Old English cyng, cyni(n)g; cognate with German König, Dutch koning, Old Norse konungr, Swedish konung, Danish konge. See kin, -ing³

Related forms

king·less, adjectiveking·less·ness, nounking·like, adjectiveout·king, verb (used with object)

sub·king, nounun·der·king, nounun·kinged, adjectiveun·king·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for kings

The Three Kings invented many important Christmas traditions.
Keep Christmas Commercialized!|P. J. O’Rourke|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Same with the Three Kings and their gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Keep Christmas Commercialized!|P. J. O’Rourke|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Kings are sending the message that this is not always the case.
The Good Wife’s Religion Politics: Voters Have No Faith in Alicia's Atheism|Regina Lizik|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Anything beyond that is a question to talk to the Kings about, not really a question for me.
The Good Wife’s Secret Weapon: Matt Czuchry on Cary Agos’s Terrible, Horrible Year|Kevin Fallon|October 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The Kings are very, very savvy about building the long arc for their lead characters.
How Carrie Preston Became The Good Wife’s Favorite Scene Stealer|Kevin Fallon|October 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One of the kings counsellors expressed dissent from the Bishops doctrine.
Stanley in Africa|James P. Boyd
He was implicated in a plot against the Kings life, and was one of the seven prisoners set free on the 14th of July.
Legends of the Bastille|Frantz Funck-Brentano
The blood of an hundred kings is thrilling all along my veins, and must I be silent?
The White Lady of Hazelwood|Emily Sarah Holt
Men pay it for a tender phrase Set in a cadenced rhyme: I keep it as a crown of praise To crown the kings of time.
Legends and Lyrics: First Series|Adelaide Anne Procter
He had no connection with this list of kings, but is, like Noah in Genesis 5, attached to it on account of the flood.
Archology and the Bible|George A. Barton

British Dictionary definitions for kings (1 of 3)

Kings

/ (kɪŋz) /

noun

(functioning as singular) Old Testament (in versions based on the Hebrew, including the Authorized Version) either of the two books called I and II Kings recounting the histories of the kings of Judah and Israel

British Dictionary definitions for kings (2 of 3)

king

/ (kɪŋ) /

noun

a male sovereign prince who is the official ruler of an independent state; monarchRelated adjectives: royal, regal, monarchical

a ruler or chiefking 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 directionSee also check (def. 30), 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

king of kings

God
a title of any of various oriental monarchs

verb (tr)

to make (someone) a king

king it to act in a superior fashion

Derived Formskinghood, nounkingless, adjectivekinglike, adjective

Word Origin for king

Old English cyning; related to Old High German kunig king, Danish konge

British Dictionary definitions for kings (3 of 3)

King

/ (kɪŋ) /

noun

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)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for kings (1 of 2)

Kings

biblical book, late 14c., so called because it tells the history of the kings of Judah and Israel.

Word Origin and History for kings (1 of 2)

king

Old English cyning "king, ruler," from Proto-Germanic *kuninggaz (cf. Dutch koning, Old Norse konungr, Danish konge, Old Saxon and Old High German kuning, Middle High German künic, German König). Possibly related to Old English cynn "family, race" (see kin), making a king originally a "leader of the people;" or from a related root suggesting "noble birth," making a king originally "one who descended from noble birth." The sociological and ideological implications render this a topic of much debate.

Finnish kuningas "king," Old Church Slavonic kunegu "prince" (Russian knyaz, Bohemian knez), Lithuanian kunigas "clergyman" are loans from Germanic.

As leon is the king of bestes. [John Gower, "Confessio Amantis," 1390]

In Old English, used for names of chiefs of Anglian and Saxon tribes or clans, then of the states they founded. Also extended to British and Danish chiefs they fought. The chess piece so called from early 15c.; the playing card from 1560s; use in checkers/draughts first recorded 1820. Applied in nature to species deemed remarkably big or dominant (e.g. king crab, 1690s). In marketing, king-size is from 1939, originally of cigarettes.

[I]t was [Eugene] Field who haunted the declining years of Creston Clarke with his review of that actor's Lear. ... Said he, "Mr. Clarke played the King all the evening as though under constant fear that someone else was about to play the Ace." ["Theatre Magazine," January 1922]

Idioms and Phrases with kings

king

In addition to the idiom beginning with king

, also see

live like a king

Kings

noun (used with a singular verb)

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Definition for kings (2 of 2)

king

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

adjective

Verb Phrases

Origin of king

Examples from the Web for kings

British Dictionary definitions for kings (1 of 3)

Kings

noun

British Dictionary definitions for kings (2 of 3)

king

noun

verb (tr)

Word Origin for king

British Dictionary definitions for kings (3 of 3)

King

noun

Word Origin and History for kings (1 of 2)

Kings

Word Origin and History for kings (1 of 2)

king

Idioms and Phrases with kings

king