kite

CEFRA2

/kaɪt/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A light frame covered with paper or cloth that flies on a string.

  2. 02

    verb

    To fly a kite in the air.

Examples

  • There is a kite flying above the tree.

  • Tom attached the string to the kite.

At a glance

Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • [kʰəɪʔ]
  • /ˈkiːtɛ/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae.

  2. Any bird of the subfamily Milvinae, with long wings and weak legs, feeding mostly on carrion and spending long periods soaring; specifically, the red kite (Milvus milvus) and the black kite (Milvus migrans).

  3. A bird of the genus Elanus, having thin pointed wings, that preys on rodents and hunts by hovering; also, any bird of related genera in the subfamily Elaninae.

More examples

In context

  • Flying a kite can be dangerous.

  • A pair of kites built a nest on the cliff.

  • On windy spring days, we would fly kites.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The children ran across the field to fly their blank in the strong wind.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

The noun is from Middle English kyte, kīte, kete (“a kite endemic to Europe, especially the red kite (Milvus milvus)”), from Old English cȳta (“kite; bittern”), from Proto-West Germanic *kūtijō, diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *kūt (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewH-d- (“to cry, screech”). The English word is cognate with Scots kyt, kyte (“kite; bird of prey”), Middle High German kiuzelīn, kützlīn (“owling”) (modern German Kauz (“owl”)). Possibly a doublet of coot. Sense 3 (“lightweight toy”) is from the fact that it hovers in the air like the bird. The verb is derived from the noun.