Quotes: K

273 quotations.

Kaleidoscope

Shifting like the fragments of colored glass in the kaleidoscope.
— G. W. Cable.

Kaross

The wants of a native . . . are confined to a kaross (skin cloak) or some pieces of cotton cloth.
— James Bryce.

Kecksy

Nothing teems But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs.

Keel

While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

Keen

A bow he bare and arwes [arrows] bright and kene.
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes.
To make our wits more keen.
Before the keen inquiry of her thought.
Good father cardinal, cry thou amen To my keen curses.
Breasts the keen air, and carols as he goes.
So keen and greedy to confound a man.
Cold winter keens the brightening flood.

Keep

I kepe not of armes for to yelp [boast].
If we lose the field, We can not keep the town.
That I may know what keeps me here with you.
If we would weigh and keep in our minds what we are considering, that would instruct us.
His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal.
Keep a stiff rein, and move but gently on.
The crown of Stephanus, first king of Hungary, was always kept in the castle of Vicegrade.
Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee.
— Gen. xxviii. 15.
Great are thy virtues . . . though kept from man.
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it.
— Gen. ii. 15.
In her girlish age, she kept sheep on the moor.
Like a pedant that keeps a school.
Every one of them kept house by himself.
— Hayward.
I keep but three men and a boy.
Both day and night did we keep company.
Within this portal as I kept my watch.
I have kept the faith.
— 2 Tim. iv. 7.
Him whom to love is to obey, and keep His great command.
'Tis hallowed ground; Fairies, and fawns, and satyrs do it keep.
— J. Fletcher.
I went with them to the house of God . . . with a multitude that kept holyday.
— Ps. xlii. 4.
If the malt be not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes will not keep.
Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps.
Keep that the lusts choke not the word of God that is in us.
— Tyndale.
Pan, thou god of shepherds all, Which of our tender lambkins takest keep.
Grass equal to the keep of seven cows.
I performed some services to the college in return for my keep.
— T. Hughes.
The prison strong, Within whose keep the captive knights were laid.
The lower chambers of those gloomy keeps.
I think . . . the keep, or principal part of a castle, was so called because the lord and his domestic circle kept, abode, or lived there.
— M. A. Lower.
Often he used of his keep A sacrifice to bring.

Keeper

The Lord is thy keeper.
— Ps. cxxi. 6.
Discreet; chaste; keepers at home.
— Titus ii. 5.

Keeping

His happiness is in his own keeping.
The work of many hands, which earns my keeping.

Kell

I'll have him cut to the kell.

Kelter

If the organs of prayer be out of kelter or out of tune, how can we pray?

Kemb

His longe hair was kembed behind his back.

Ken

'T is he. I ken the manner of his gait.
Above the reach and ken of a mortal apprehension.
It was relief to quit the ken And the inquiring looks of men.

Kendal green

How couldst thou know these men in Kendal green ?

Kennel

A dog sure, if he could speak, had wit enough to describe his kennel.
The dog kenneled in a hollow tree.

Kercher

He became . . . white as a kercher.
— Sir T. North.

Kerchief

He might put on a hat, a muffler, and a kerchief, and so escape.
Her black hair strained away To a scarlet kerchief caught beneath her chin.

Kern

Now for our Irish wars; We must supplant those rough, rug-headed kerns.
It is observed that rain makes the salt kern.
— Dampier.

Kernel

'A were as good crack a fusty nut with no kernel

Ketch

To ketch him at a vantage in his snares.

Kex

Though the rough kex break The starred mosaic.
When the kex, or husk, is broken, he proveth a fair flying butterfly.

Key

Those who are accustomed to reason have got the true key of books.
Who keeps the keys of all the creeds.
Both warbling of one song, both in one key.
You fall at once into a lower key.

Kick

He [Frederick the Great] kicked the shins of his judges.
I should kick, being kicked.
A kick, that scarce would move a horse, May kill a sound divine.

Kickshaws

Art thou good at these kickshawses!
Some pigeons, . . . a joint of mutton, and any pretty little tiny kickshaws.
Cressy was lost by kickshaws and soup-maigre.
— Fenton.

Kid

The . . . leopard shall lie down with the kid.
— Is. xi. 6.

Kidnap

You may reason or expostulate with the parents, but never attempt to kidnap their children, and to make proselytes of them.
— Whately.

Kidney

There are in later times other decrees, made by popes of another kidney.
Millions in the world of this man's kidney.
Your poets, spendthrifts, and other fools of that kidney, pretend, forsooth, to crack their jokes on prudence.

Kill

Ah, kill me with thy weapon, not with words !
Her lively color kill'd with deadly cares.
Be comforted, good madam; the great rage, You see, is killed in him.
“There is none like to me!” says the cub in the pride of his earliest kill.
— Kipling.
If ye plunder his kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride.
— Kipling.

Killing

Those eyes are made so killing.
Nothing could be more killingly spoken.

Kimnel

She knew not what a kimnel was

Kin

The father, mother, and the kin beside.
You are of kin, and so a friend to their persons.

Kind

It becometh sweeter than it should be, and loseth the kind taste.
Yet was he kind, or if severe in aught, The love he bore to learning was his fault.
He is kind unto the unthankful and to evil.
— Luke vi 35.
O cruel Death, to those you take more kind Than to the wretched mortals left behind.
A fellow feeling makes one wondrous kind.
— Garrick.
He knew by kind and by no other lore.
Some of you, on pure instinct of nature, Are led by kind t'admire your fellow-creature.
Every kind of beasts, and of birds.
— James iii.7.
She follows the law of her kind.
Here to sow the seed of bread, That man and all the kinds be fed.
How diversely Love doth his pageants play, And snows his power in variable kinds !
There is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
— I Cor. xv. 39.
Diogenes was asked in a kind of scorn: What was the matter that philosophers haunted rich men, and not rich men philosophers?
Tax on tillage was often levied in kind upon corn.

Kind-hearted

To thy self at least kind-hearted prove.

Kindle

The poor beast had but lately kindled.
His breath kindleth coals.
— Job xii. 21.
So is a contentious man to kindle strife.
— Prov. xxvi. 21.
Nothing remains but that I kindle the boy thither.
Kindling her undazzled eyes at the full midday beam.
Could swell the soul to rage, or kindle soft desire.
When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
— Is. xliii. 2.
On all occasions where forbearance might be called for, the Briton kindles, and the Christian gives way.

Kindliness

In kind a father, but not in kindliness.
— Sackville.
Fruits and corn are much advanced by temper of the air and kindliness of seasons.
— Whitlock.

Kindly

The kindly fruits of the earth.
— Book of Com. Prayer.
An herd of bulls whom kindly rage doth sting.
Whatsoever as the Son of God he may do, it is kindly for Him as the Son of Man to save the sons of men.
— L. Andrews.
The shade by which my life was crossed, . . . Has made me kindly with my kind.
In soft silence shed the kindly shower.
Should e'er a kindlier time ensue.
Examine how kindly the Hebrew manners of speech mix and incorporate with the English language
Be kindly affectioned one to another, with brotherly love.
— Rom. xii. 10.

Kindness

I do fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way.
Unremembered acts Of kindness and of love.

Kindred

Like her, of equal kindred to the throne.
I think there's no man is secure But the queen's kindred.
True to the kindred points of heaven and home.

Kine

A herd of beeves, fair oxen and fair kine.

King

Kings will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principle.
There was a State without king or nobles.
— R. Choate.
But yonder comes the powerful King of Day, Rejoicing in the east
Those traitorous captains of Israel who kinged themselves by slaying their masters and reigning in their stead.

Kingdom

Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
— Ps. cxiv. 13.
When Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself.
— 2 Chron. xxi. 4.
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.
You're welcome, Most learned reverend sir, into our kingdom.

Kingdomed

Twixt his mental and his active parts, Kingdom'd Achilles in commotion rages And batters down himself.

Kingly

The kingliest kings are crowned with thorn.
— G. Massey.
Leave kingly backs to cope with kingly cares.
Low bowed the rest; he, kingly, did but nod.
— Pore.

Kinsfolk

They sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
— Luke ii. 44.

Kirsome

I am a true kirsome woman.

Kirtle

Wearing her Norman car, and her kirtle of blue.

Kiss

He . . . kissed her lips with such a clamorous smack, That at the parting all the church echoed.
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees.
Like fire and powder, Which as they kiss consume.
Rose, rose and clematis, Trail and twine and clasp and kiss.
Last with a kiss, she took a long farewell.
Dear as remembered kisses after death.

Kissing strings

One of her ladyship's kissing strings, once pink and fluttering and now faded and soiled.
— Pall Mall Mag.

Kissingcrust

A massy fragment from the rich kissingcrust that hangs like a fretted cornice from the upper half of the loaf.
— W. Howitt.

Kit

Prince Turveydrop then tinkled the strings of his kit with his fingers, and the young ladies stood up to dance.

Kitchen

Cool was his kitchen, though his brains were hot.
A fat kitchen makes a lean will.
— Franklin.

Kite

Detested kite, thou liest.

Kith

And my near kith for that will sore me shend.
— W. Browne.
The sage of his kith and the hamlet.

Knabble

Horses will knabble at walls, and rats gnaw iron.

Knack

A knack, a toy, a trick, a baby's cap.
The fellow . . . has not the knack with his shears.
The dean was famous in his time, And had a kind of knack at rhyme.
For how should equal colors do the knack !

Knap

The highest part and knap of the same island.
He will knap the spears apieces with his teeth.
He breaketh the bow, and knappeth the spear in sunder.
— Ps. xlvi. 9 (Book of Common Prayer.)

Knapsack

And each one fills his knapsack or his scrip With some rare thing that on the field is found.

Knarred

The knarred and crooked cedar knees.

Knave

O murderous slumber, Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy That plays thee music ? Gentle knave, good night.
He's but Fortune's knave, A minister of her will.
In defiance of demonstration, knaves will continue to proselyte fools.
— Ames.

Knavery

This is flat knavery, to take upon you another man's name.

Knavish

Cupid is knavish lad, Thus to make poor females mad.

Knead

The kneading, the making of the cake, the heating of the oven, and the baking.
I will knead him : I'll make him supple.

Knee

Give them title, knee, and approbation.
Fall down, and knee The way into his mercy.

Knee-deep

Grass knee-deep within a month.
Where knee-deep the trees were standing.

Kneel

And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.
— Acts vii. 60.
As soon as you are dressed, kneel and say the Lord's Prayer.

Knell

The dead man's knell Is there scarce asked for who.
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day.
Not worth a blessing nor a bell to knell for thee.
Yet all that poets sing, and grief hath known, Of hopes laid waste, knells in that word, “alone”.
— Ld. Lytton.
Each matin bell, the baron saith, Knells us back to a world of death.

Knife

The coward conquest of a wretch's knife.

Knight

Knights, by their oaths, should right poor ladies' harms.
A soldier, by the honor-giving hand Of Cœur-de-Lion knighted in the field.

Knight-errantry

The rigid guardian [i. e., conscience] of a blameless heart Is weak with rank knight-erratries o'errun.

Knight service

By far the greater part of England [in the 13th century] is held of the king by knight's service. . . . In order to understand this tenure we must form the conception of a unit of military service. That unit seems to be the service of one knight or fully armed horseman (servitium unius militis) to be done to the king in his army for forty days in the year, if it be called for. . . . The limit of forty days seems to have existed rather in theory than practice.
— Pollock & Mait.

Knighthood

If you needs must write, write Caesar's praise; You 'll gain at least a knighthood, or the bays.
The knighthood nowadays are nothing like the knighthood of old time.

Knightly

For knightly jousts and fierce encounters fit.
[Excuses] full knightly without scorn.
And why thou comest thus knightly clad in arms.

Knit

A great sheet knit at the four corners.
— Acts x. 11.
When your head did but ache, I knit my handkercher about your brows.
Nature can not knit the bones while the parts are under a discharge.
— Wiseman.
Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit.
Come, knit hands, and beat the ground, In a light fantastic round.
— Milton (Comus).
A link among the days, toknit The generations each to each.
He knits his brow and shows an angry eye.

Knitch

When they [stems of asphodel] be dried, they ought to be made up into knitchets, or handfuls.

Knobbed

The horns of a roe deer of Greenland are pointed at the top, and knobbed or tuberous at the bottom.
— Grew.

Knobbler

He has hallooed the hounds upon a velvet-headed knobbler.

Knobby

The informers continued in a knobby kind of obstinacy.

Knock

For harbor at a thousand doors they knocked.
Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
— Matt. vii. 7.
When heroes knock their knotty heads together.
Master, knock the door hard.
A loud cry or some great knock.

knocker

Shut, shut the door, good John ! fatigued, I said; Tie up the knocker; say I'm sick, I'm dead.

Knocking

The . . . repeated knockings of the head upon the ground by the Chinese worshiper.
— H. Spencer.

Knoll

On knoll or hillock rears his crest, Lonely and huge, the giant oak.
Heavy clocks knolling the drowsy hours.
For a departed being's soul The death hymn peals, and the hollow bells knoll.

Knop

Four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.
— Ex. xxv. 21.

Knot

Ere we knit the knot that can never be loosed.
Knots worthy of solution.
A man shall be perplexed with knots, and problems of business, and contrary affairs.
Flowers worthy of paradise, which, not nice art In beds and curious knots, but nature boon Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain.
His ancient knot of dangerous adversaries.
Palms in cluster, knots of Paradise.
As they sat together in small, separate knots, they discussed doctrinal and metaphysical points of belief.
With lips serenely placid, felt the knot Climb in her throat.
I shoulde to the knotte condescend, And maken of her walking soon an end.
The knot that called was Canutus' bird of old, Of that great king of Danes his name that still doth hold, His appetite to please that far and near was sought.
As tight as I could knot the noose.
Cut hay when it begins to knot.

Knotgrass

We want a boy extremely for this function, Kept under for a year with milk and knotgrass.
— Beau. & Fl.

Knotted

Make . . . thy knotted and combined locks to part.
The west corner of thy curious knotted garden.
They're catched in knotted lawlike nets.
— Hudibras.

Knotty

A knotty point to which we now proceed

Know

O, that a man might know The end of this day's business ere it come!
There is a certainty in the proposition, and we know it.
Know how sublime a thing it is To suffer and be strong.
He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.
— 2 Cor. v. 21.
Not to know me argues yourselves unknown.
Ye shall know them by their fruits.
— Matt. vil. 16.
And their eyes were opened, and they knew him.
— Luke xxiv. 31.
To know Faithful friend from flattering foe.
At nearer view he thought he knew the dead.
— Flatman.
And Adam knew Eve his wife.
— Gen. iv. 1.
And I knew that thou hearest me always.
— John xi. 42.
The monk he instantly knew to be the prior.
In other hands I have known money do good.
Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
— Is. i. 3.
If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
— John vii. 17.
The peasant folklore of Europe still knows of willows that bleed and weep and speak when hewn.
— Tylor.

Knowable

Thus mind and matter, as known or knowable, are only two different series of phenomena or qualities.

Knowing

The knowing and intelligent part of the world.
This sore night Hath trifled former knowings.

Knowleche

We consider and knowleche that we have offended.

Knowledge

Knowledge, which is the highest degree of the speculative faculties, consists in the perception of the truth of affirmative or negative propositions.
There is a great difference in the delivery of the mathematics, which are the most abstracted of knowledges.
Knowledges is a term in frequent use by Bacon, and, though now obsolete, should be revived, as without it we are compelled to borrow “cognitions” to express its import.
To use a word of Bacon's, now unfortunately obsolete, we must determine the relative value of knowledges.
— H. Spencer.
Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
— 1 Cor. viii. 1.
Ignorance is the curse of God; Knowledge, the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.
Shipmen that had knowledge of the sea.
— 1 Kings ix. 27.
Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldst take knowledge of me?
— Ruth ii. 10.

Knuckle

With weary knuckles on thy brim she kneeled sadly down.
— Golding.

Knuff

The country knuffs, Hob, Dick, and Hick, With clubs and clouted shoon.
— Hayward.

Kon

Ye konnen thereon as much as any man.

Kotow

I have salaamed and kowtowed to him.
— H. James.

Koumiss

Koumiss has from time immemorial served the Tartar instead of wine or spirits.

Kraken

To believe all that has been said of the sea serpent or kraken, would be credulity; to reject the possibility of their existence, would be presumption.
Like a kraken huge and black.

Kritarchy

Samson, Jephthah, Gideon, and other heroes of the kritarchy.

Kyke

This Nicholas sat ever gaping upright, As he had kyked on the newe moon.

Kythe

For gentle hearte kytheth gentilesse.
It kythes bright . . . because all is dark around it.