kidney-cotton 
seeded cotton, whose seeds cohere in kidney- 
shaped masses of eight or ten. It is referred to the 
Gossi/pium reliffiosum of Linnajus (0. Peruvianum), which 
is the tallest of the cotton-shrubs. 
kidney-form (kid'ni-form), a. Same as kidney- 
xhiijied. 
kidney-link (kid'ni-lingk), . In a harness, a 
coupling below the collar. 
A kidney link belonging to harness hames. 
Gilders Manual, p. 103. 
kidney-liptt (kid'ni-lipt), . Hare-lipped. 
.First, Jollie's wife is lame ; the next, loose-hipt, 
Squint-ey'd, hook-nos'd, and lastly kidnet/-lipt. 
Herrick, Upon Jollie's Wife. 
kidney-ore (kid'ni-6r), w. A variety of com- 
3284 
thick branches, corky bark, elliptical leaves, and flowers 
resembling camellias, to which, indeed, they are closely 
related botanically. 
kier, n. See keir. 
kieselguhr (ke'zl-gor), n. [G., < kiesel, flint, 
pebble (= E. chesil), + guhr: see guhr.] A si- 
licious infusorial earth, used as an absorbent 
for nitroglycerin in the manufacture of dyna- 
mite : same as infusorial silica. 
kieserite (ke'zer-it), n. [Named after Mr. Kie- 
ser, once president of the academy at Jena.] 
A hydrated sulphate of magnesium, occurring 
in considerable beds with rock-salt at Stass- 
furt, Prussia, and elsewhere, it is used in making 
Epsom salts, and also indirectly in the manufacture of 
Kidney-shaped Leaf of Asa- 
rum liurofaHtn. 
kidney-potato (kid'ni-po-ta/to), H. One of vari- 
ous kidney-shaped varieties of the common po- 
tato. 
kidney-root (kid'ni-rot), n. The joepye-weed, 
Eitpatoriumpurptireitm: in allusion to supposed 
medicinal properties. 
kidney-shaped (kid'ni- 
shapt), a. Having the 
shape or form of a kid- 
ney; reniform Kidney- 
shaped leaf , in bot. , a leaf hav- 
ing the breadth greater than 
the length, and a wide sinus at 
the base. The margin should 
be entire, but may be crenate, 
as in that of ground-ivy. 
kidney-stone (kid ' ni - 
ston), n. A nodule of 
brown ironstone, trav- 
ersed by small veins of 
calcite. Such nodules are common in the Oxford clay, 
a division of the Middle Oolite, especially near Weymouth 
in England. 
kidney-vetch (kid'ni-vech), . A leguminous 
herbaceous plant, Anthyllis vulneraria, found 
chiefly in dry hilly ground throughout Europe 
and in western Asia and northern Africa: so 
called from its supposed medicinal properties. 
It is a foot or less high, often tufted, clothed with silky 
hairs, and has pinnate leaves and yellow or variably color- 
ed flowers with a permanent inflated calyx, which are borne 
in close heads, subtended by large bracts, and paired at 
the ends of the branches. It is of some economic value 
as sheep-fodder. Its specific name (from Latin rulim*. a 
wound) suggests a healing property, which, however, it 
possesses only as do other hairy plants. Also called 
lady's fingers. 
kidneywort (kid'ni-wert), n. 1. The plant 
so called from some resemblance of the leaves 
to a kidney, whence probably it had some re- 
pute as a remedy in diseases of the kidneys. 
It has fleshy, orbicular, more or less peltate leaves the 
lower on long stalks. It is common on rocks, walls, etc., 
in western Europe and the Mediterranean regions. Also 
called pennywort and naoelworl. 
2. A book-name of Saxifraga stellaris, the star- 
saxifrage. 
kidnippers (kid'nip'erz), n. pi. In gun-molding, 
nippers used to make the hoops taut about the 
mold. 
kidsman (kidz'man), n. ; pi. kidsmen (-men). 
[< kid's, poss. of fciSl, 5, + man.] One who trains 
young thieves. Dickens. [Thieves' slang.] 
kief, kiff (kef, Mf), . [Moorish.] A substi- 
tute for tobacco prepared for smoking, consist- 
ing of the chopped leaves of the common hemp. 
The use of tobacco for smoking appears to be unknown 
in Morocco, while kief prepared from the chopped leaves 
of common hemp is almost universally employed for that 
purpose both by Moors and Berbers. 
i iliv.il OVWU VI 1U i,l! llll.-> JUUllg, ...... . ,. . . 
The Laird of Waristoun (Child's Ballads, III. 320). 
kieve, . and ?>. See keeve. 
Kigelia (ki-je'li-a), n. [NL. (Alphonse de 
Candolle, 1845), < Kigeli-keia, the native name 
on the coast of Mozambique.] A genus of 
large trees of Africa, belonging to the natural 
order Bignoniacea; and to the tribe Crescentiea;, 
having large pinnate alternate leaves, an ample 
leathery calyx with oblique, 2- to 5-cleft limb, 
and the flowers in long, loose, pendent panicles. 
Only three or four species are known, inhabiting the tropi- 
cal and subtropical parts of Africa. The best-known spe- 
cies is K. pinnata, found in Nubia, Abyssinia, Mozambique, 
and as far south as Natal, also on the west coast. It is 
a large tree with whitish bark and spreading branches. 
The fruit is often two feet or more in length, hanging from 
a long stalk. It has a corky rind and is filled with pulp 
and numerous roundish seeds. In Nubia this tree is held 
sacred, and religious festivals are conducted under it by 
moonlight. The fruit, slightly roasted and cut in halves, 
is applied locally in rheumatic and other complaints. 
Kiggelaria (kij-e-la'ri-a), n. [NL. (Linnaeus), 
named after Franz Kiggelaer, a Dutch bota- 
nist.] A genus of polypetalous plants, belong- 
ing to the natural order Bixineai, tribe Pangieas, 
distinguished from other genera of the tribe by 
distinct scarcely imbricated sepals, the apical 
dehiscence of the capsules, and the numerous 
stamens. They are unarmed shrubs with entire or ser- 
rate leaves and few-flowered axillary racemes. Only three 
species are known, natives of the warmer parts of Africa. 
The anomalous character of the genus has led differ- 
ent authors to make it the type of a distinct botanical 
lup. 
lariese (kij-e-la-ri'e-e), n. pi. [NL. (A. 
Candolle, 1824), < Kiggelaria + -ece.~\ A 
ts of the old order Flacourtianew, 
^ ie genera Kiggelaria, Sydrocarpus, 
and Melicytus, the last of which is now refer- 
red to the Violariea;, and the others to the 
Bixineee, tribe Pangiea;. Called Kiggelariaceat 
by Link. 
kikar, n. [E. Ind.] The Acacia Arabica, one 
of the best gum-arabic trees. Its astringent pods, 
as also its bark, are valuable for tanning, and its wood is 
used for implements, gun-carriages, boat-timber, etc. See 
Acacia, bablah, and gum. arabic (under gum%). 
kiket, v. An obsolete form of kick. Chaucer. 
kikuel-oil (ki-ko'el-oil), n. [< E. Ind. kikuel + E. 
oil.] A solid fat of a dull sulphur-yellow color, 
made from the seeds of Salvadora Persica, and 
imported into Bombay from Gujerat for local 
consumption. 
kikumon (kik'ij-mon), n. [Jap., < kiku, the 
Chrysanthemum imperialis, + 
man, crest, badge.] A badge 
or crest borne by the imperial 
kill 
measure of capacity, half a barrel or 2 firkins. 
Exceptionally (a) Of soap or ale, 18 United States (old 
wine) gallons, (b) Of butter, 1 hundredweight net. A 
statute of 1662 recites the immemorial custom that a kil- 
derkin of butter should weigh 132 pounds gross namely, 
butter 112 pounds, cask 20 pounds. The kilderkin of honey, 
according to a statute of 1581, is 16 wine gallons. 
Massie siluer and gilt plate, some like and as bigge as 
kilderkins. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 465. 
Two kilderkins of butter, put in by Mr. Peirce for Ser- 
jeant Willes. Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 470. 
A tun of man in thy large bulk is writ ; 
But sure thou'rt but a kilderkin of wit. 
Dryden, MacFlecknoe. 
kilet (kil), . [< ME. kile, kyle, kylle, < Icel. kyli, 
a boil.] An ulcer; a sore. 
Som for envy sail haf in thair lyms, 
Also kyttes and felonns and apostyms. 
Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 1. 2994. 
kilerg (kil'6rg), . [Irreg. < Gr. x' 1 '- 10 '- a thou- 
sand (see kilo-), + ipyov, work (see erg).] In 
physics, a thousand ergs. 
Kilhamite 
kiefekil, keffekil (ke'fe-, kef 'e-kil), n. [< Pers. 
kaf, scum, froth, -I- gil, clay.] A kind of clay; 
meerschaum. 
kie-kie (kl'ki), . [Native name.] A high- 
climbing shrub, Freycinetia Banksii, of the nat- 
ural order Pandanaceai, a native of New Zealand. 
The fruit consists of berries massed on a spadix. When 
young the spadix, with its bracts, is edible, and is made by 
the colonists into a jelly tasting like preserved straw- 
berries. The fiber of the stems may possibly be found use- 
ful for paper-making. 
Kielmeyera (kel-mi 'er-a), n. [NL. (Martius, 
1824), named for Karl Fr.'v. Kielmeyer,ot Stutt- 
gart, a noted chemist and botanist.] A genus 
of polypetalous plants of the natural order 
Ternstrosmiacea!, tribe Bonnetiece, having free 
stamens, small anthers, and the numerous 
broad, flat ovules downwardly imbricated in 
two series in each cell. They are small resinous 
shrubs, with evergreen petioled leaves, and showy flowers 
in terminal racemes or panicles, or rarely solitary. Seven- 
teen species are known, all natives of Brazil, where, from 
sixteen petals conjoined and 
rounded at the outer extremi- 
ties. It is frequently represented 
double that is, sixteen other petals 
show from below in the interstices at the ends of the 
petals shown in the foreground. 
kil-, kill-. [< Gael, eill, ceall = Ir. ceall (dim. 
cillm), a cell, church, churchyard, burying- 
place, < L. cello,, a cell: see cell.] An ele- 
ment in Celtic place-names, signifying 'cell,' 
'church,' 'burying-place,' very frequent in Ire- 
land, and common in Scotland : as, ffiZpatrick : 
lufljenny; -Stride; IcolmJWK. 
kilbrickenite (kil'brik-en-it), n. [< Kilbricken 
(see del) + -i'fe 2 .] A sulphid of antimony and 
' found at Kilbricken, Ireland. 
"deer (kil'der), n. See killdee. 
(kil'der-kin), n. [< ME. kylderkyn 
1); an altered form of ktnderkin, irreg. few- 
derkind; < MD. kindeken, kinneken (D. kinnetje), 
'., the eighth part of a tun 
the resemblance of the flowers to some mallows, is'a tree source), < kind, a child, + dim. suffix -ken (= 
sometimes 15 feet in height, with a twisted trunk, short E. -kin); in mod. D. a diff. suffix (v'e).] A 
(kil'am-it), n. [< Kilham (see def.) 
+ -ite 2 .] A member of the "New Connection 
of Wesleyan Methodists": so called from Alex- 
ander Kilham (1762-98), the founder of the 
organization. 
killkinic (kil"i-ki-mk'), n. Same as kinnikiniek. 
kilin (ki-len'), . [Chin.] A fabulous creature 
mentioned in Chinese mythology. It is represented 
as a kind of unicorn, and is said to have appeared at the 
birth of Confucius. In Japan it is called kirin, and takes 
in decorative art different forms, sometimes that of a horse 
with head and jaws modified to approach those of a croco- 
dile and an immense spreading tail. 
kilk (kilk), n. [Contr. of "killock, kellock, ult. < 
AS. cerlic, >E. charlock, q.v.] Charlock, Bras- 
sica Sinapistrum. [Prov. Eng.] 
kill 1 (kil), v, t. [< ME. Mien, kyllen, commonly 
cnllen (later also, as early mod. E., coll, cole), 
strike, cut, < Icel. kolla, hit on the head, harm, 
= Norw. kylla, poll (trees), = D. kollen, knock 
down; from the noun, Icel. kollr, top, head, = 
Norw. koll, top, head, crown : see coin. The 
notion that kill is another form of quell, AS. 
cwellan, kill, is erroneous.] If. To strike, beat, 
cut, or stab ; strike down. 
There-at Thelaphus hade tene, & turnet belyue, 
Caght to a kene spere, cuttyng before, 
Caupit euyn with the knight ; kyld hym to dethe. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.X 1. 12803. 
2. To deprive (a human being or any animal, 
or, in more recent use, a vegetable) of life, by 
any means ; put to death ; slay. 
Enuye and yuel wille was in the lewes ; 
Thei casten and contreueden to kvUe hym whan thei 
mijte. Fieri Plourman (B), xvL 137. 
I will deal in poison with thee, or in bastinado, or in 
steel. ... I will Ml thee a hundred and fifty ways. 
Shak., As you Like it, v. 1, 62. 
3. To destroy ; render wholly inactive, inef- 
ficient, etc. ; deaden; quell; overpower; sub- 
due; suppress; cancel: as, sudden showers kill 
the wind; a thick carpet kills the sound of foot- 
steps. 
This way you kill your merit, kill your cause, 
And him you would raise life to. 
Beau, and Fl., Thierry and Theodoret, iv. 1. 
The hose was cut, fire dumped out, . . . pins removed, 
and engines kitted so that it will take days to bring them 
to life again. 
Philadelphia Evening Telegraph, March 20, 1886. 
It is a singular commentary on the commercial progress 
of Colorado that many promising towns have been hilled 
by the railroads, while others have been made rich and 
happy. Harper's Weekly, Jan. 19, 1889, Supp., p. 60. 
4. To nullify or neutralize the active qualities 
of; deprive (a thing) of its characteristic ac- 
tive or useful qualities ; weaken; dilute: as, to 
kill grain (by overheating it in the process of 
grinding); to kill fire-damp (to mix or dilute it 
with atmospheric air) ; to kill wire (by stretch- 
ing it so as to destroy its ductility). 
The gentleman that always has indefinite quantities of 
black tea to kill any extra glass of claret he may have 
swallowed. O. W. Holmes, Autocrat, p. 122. 
The lye will have lost its causticity, or, in technical lan- 
guage, . . . it is killed. Ure, Diet., III. 846. 
Throw in a good handful of common salt to kill the acid. 
Workshop Receipts, 1st ser., p. 319. 
5. To reject ; discard : as, to kill a paragraph 
in a report; to kill an article in type __ To do a 
thing to Mil, to do it in a killing or irresistible manner: 
as, she was dressed to Mil; he dances to kill. [Low, U. 8.] 
To kill down, to destroy the life of (a plant) as far as 
to the roots or stem. To kill off, to exterminate. To 
kill time, to occupy spare time with employments, recre- 
ations, or amusements of merely passing interest or enter- 
tainment. 
If killing birds be such a crime, . . . 
What think you, Sir, of killing Time? 
Cowper, Beau's Reply. 
To kill upt, to kill by wholesale or summarily. 
