Link Centre Dictionary

kite

UK/kaɪt/ US/ˈkiːtɛ/ fairly common slang uk us
noun (4) verb (4)

noun

1.

a bank check that has been fraudulently altered to increase its face value

2.

a bank check drawn on insufficient funds at another bank in order to take advantage of the float

3.

plaything consisting of a light frame covered with tissue paper; flown in wind at end of a string

4.

any of several small graceful hawks of the family Accipitridae having long pointed wings and feeding on insects and small animals

verb

1.

increase the amount (of a check) fraudulently

  • “He kited many checks”
2.

get credit or money by using a bad check

  • “The businessman kited millions of dollars”
3.

soar or fly like a kite

  • “The pilot kited for a long time over the mountains”
4.

fly a kite

  • “Kids were kiting in the park”
  • “They kited the Red Dragon model”

Origin

Uncertain; possibly: * from Middle English kit, kitte (“wooden bucket or tub; (figuratively) belly”), possibly from Middle Dutch kitte (“wooden vessel of hooped staves”) (modern Dutch kit (“metal can used mainly for coal”)), further etymology unknown; or * from Old Norse kýta (“bag, stomach (of a fish)”), from Proto-Germanic *kūtiz. * from Middle English *kid (attested only in compounds such as kide-nẹ̄re (“kidney; region of the kidneys, loins”)), possibly from Old English *cyde, *cydde (“belly”), cwiþ (“belly; womb”), from Proto-Germanic *kweþuz (“belly, stomach”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷet- or *gwet- (“rounding, swelling; entrails, stomach”), doubtfully from *gʷu-, *gū- (“to bend, bow, curve, distend, vault”). The English word is cognate with Icelandic kviði (“womb”), kviður (“stomach”), kýta (“stomach of a fish; roe”), Middle Low German kūt (“entrails”), West Flemish kijte, kiete (“fleshy part of the body”).

Phrases

  • black kite
  • black-winged kite
  • Brahminy kite
  • elanid kite
  • honey kite
  • kite around
  • Mississippi kite
  • pariah kite
  • Species of birds

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.