king crab noun

1. Any of several large decapods valued as a food (also stone crab)
2. Same as horseshoe crab (see under horse)

kingˈcraft noun (obsolete)

The art of governing

kingˈ-crow noun

A kind of drongo

kingˈcup noun

1. The buttercup
2. The marsh-marigold

kingdom come noun (informal)

1. The state after death
2. Some inconceivably far-off time

King Edward noun

A popular English variety of potato

kingˈfish noun

1. The opah
2. Any of various fish notable for their size or value (N American and Aust)

kingˈfisher noun

1. A European fish-eating bird with very brilliant blue-green and chestnut plumage, formerly known as the halcyon
2. Any bird of the same family, most species of which are not fish-eating
3. A brilliant blue colour (also adjective)

kingˈ-hit noun (Aust sl)

A knockout blow (also transitive verb)

King James Bible or King James Version noun

The Authorized Version

kingˈklip noun (S Afr)

Any of several marine food-fishes

King Log noun

A do-nothing king, as opposed to King Stork, one who devours his frog-subjects (from Aesop's fable)

kingˈmaker noun

A person who has the power to create kings or other high officials

king mob noun

The vulgar multitude

king-of-armsˈ (sometimes king-at-armsˈ) noun

A principal herald (those of England having the designations Garter, Clarencieux, and Norroy and Ulster (includes N Ireland), of Scotland, Lyon)

king of beasts noun

The lion

king of birds noun

The eagle

king of kings noun

1. A powerful monarch with other monarchs subject to him
2. (with caps) God, Christ

king of metals noun

Gold

king of terrors noun

Death

king of the castle noun

(orig from a children's game) the most important, powerful person in a group

king of the forest noun

The oak

king of the herrings noun

1. The shad
2. The oarfish
3. Applied also to various other fishes, such as the opah, the rabbitfish or chimera

king pair noun (cricket)

An instance of getting out to one's first ball in both innings of a match

king penguin noun

A large penguin, smaller than the emperor

kingˈpin noun

1. A tall pin, or one prominently placed
2. A pin on which an axle swivels, like that on a motor vehicle's front wheel
3. The most important person of a group engaged in an undertaking
4. The key issue

kingˈpost noun

A perpendicular beam in the frame of a roof rising from the tie-beam to the ridge

king prawn noun

A large prawn, esp of the genus Penaeus, found around Australia

king salmon noun

The largest Pacific salmon, the quinnat

King's Bench see Queen's Bench under queen

king's bounty see under bounty

king'sˈ-chair or king's-cushˈion noun

A seat formed by two people clasping wrists

King's Counsel see Queen's Counsel under queen

king's English or queen's English noun

Correct standard speech

king's evil noun

A scrofulous disease formerly supposed to be healed by the touch of the monarch

King's Guide see Queen's Guide under queen

king's highway noun

The public thoroughfare

king'sˈ-hood noun

The second stomach of a ruminant, sometimes humorously for the human stomach

king'side noun

In chess, the side of the board where the king stands at the beginning of play

kingˈ-size or kingˈ-sized adjective

Of large or larger-than-standard size

king'sˈ-man noun

1. A royalist
2. A custom-house officer

king snake noun

Any non-venomous N American snake of the genus Lampropeltis, which feeds on small animals and other snakes

king's peace (or queen's peace) noun

1. Orig the peace secured by the sovereign for certain people (eg those employed on the king's or queen's business)
2. The peace of the kingdom generally

King's Proctor (or Queen's Proctor) noun

A legal officer chiefly concerned with establishing collusion in divorce cases

King's Regulations see Queen's Regulations under queen

King's Scout see Queen's Scout under queen

king'sˈ-spear noun

An asphodel

King's Speech see Queen's Speech under queen

King Stork see King Log above.

king's-yellˈow noun

Orpiment as a pigment

king-vulˈture noun

A large brilliantly-coloured tropical American vulture

kingˈwood noun

1. A beautiful Brazilian wood also called violet-wood
2. The papilionaceous tree yielding it, a species of Dalbergia

king it

To play king, act as superior to, or in authority over, others

take the king's shilling see under shilling

three kings of Cologne

The three Wise Men of the East, Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar

turn King's evidence see under evident