*ku*

n. 1. anything kept in reserve to serve as a substitute in case of failure or unavailability of the normal or primary object; -- used for devices, plans, people, etc. Also used attributively; as, there was no backup for the electrical supply; a backup motor; a backup generator. [ PJC ]

2. (Music) a musician or group of musicians accompanying a soloist, whether vocalists or instrumentalists.
Syn. -- accompaniment. [ PJC ]

3. a person or group of persons serving as reinforcement for another or others; as, the policeman called for backup when he was fired on. [ PJC ]

4. an accumulation, overflow, or reverse flow (in traffic or a liquid flow system) caused by a stoppage or other malfunction. [ PJC ]

5. (Computers) A copy of a program or data from a computer onto a data-storage medium, usually one that may be removed to safe storage at a distance from the computer; it is used to preserve data for use in the contingency that the original data on the computer may be lost or become unusable. A backup that is removed from the building housing the computer system (to provide protection against loss of data in a disastrous event such as a fire) is called off-site backup. Also used attributively; as, backup copy. [ PJC ]

6. (Computers) The act or process of creating a backup{ 5 }; as, they performed a full system backup every weekend. [ PJC ]

prop. n. (Geography) The capital city of Azerbaijan. Population (2000) = 1, 713, 300. [ PJC ]

n. [ F. branc-ursine, branch-ursine, fr. LL. branca claw + L. ursinus belonging to a bear (fr. ursus bear), i. e., bear's claw, because its leaves resemble the claws of a bear. Cf. Branch. ] (Bot.) Bear's-breech, or Acanthus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Disruption; coming apart; a separation and dispersion of the parts or members; as, a break-up of a meeting, assembly, or dinner party; the break-up of a spacecraft on re-entry into the atmosphere.
Syn. -- separation, detachment. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. the termination of a relationship; a break-up of the government; the break-up of a marriage; the break-up of a business partnership; the break-up of a comedy team.
Syn. -- dissolution. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

{ } n. [ Buncombe a county of North Carolina. ] Speech-making for the gratification of constituents, or to gain public applause; flattering talk for a selfish purpose; anything said for mere show. [ Cant or Slang, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

All that flourish about right of search was bunkum -- all that brag about hanging your Canada sheriff was bunkum . . . slavery speeches are all bunkum. Haliburton. [ 1913 Webster ]

To speak for Buncombe, to speak for mere show, or popularly. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ “The phrase originated near the close of the debate on the famous ‘Missouri Question, ' in the 16th Congress. It was then used by Felix Walker -- a naïve old mountaineer, who resided at Waynesville, in Haywood, the most western country of North Carolina, near the border of the adjacent county of Buncombe, which formed part of his district. The old man rose to speak, while the house was impatiently calling for the ‘Question, ' and several members gathered round him, begging him to desist. He persevered, however, for a while, declaring that the people of his district expected it, and that he was bound to ‘make a speech for Buncombe.'” W. Darlington. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Buncombe. [ 1913 Webster ]

A human skull reported, by Prof. J. D. Whitney, as found in 1886 in a Tertiary auriferous gravel deposit, lying below a bed of black lava, in Calaveras County, California. It is regarded as very doubtful whether the skull really belonged to the deposit in which it was found. If it did, it indicates an unprecedented antiquity for human beings of an advanced type. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Zool.) A large, highly esteemed, edible fish of India (Lates calcarifer); -- also called begti. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. (Zool.) A small, nocturnal, South American monkey of the genus Aotus (formerly Nyctipthecus trivirgatus). The owl monkey. See douroucouli. [ Written also douroucouli. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. A small fishing vessel met with in the Persian Gulf. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A small bamboo of Southeastern China (Phyllostachys aurea) having slender culms flexuous when young.
Syn. -- fishpole bamboo, hotei-chiku, Phyllostachys aurea. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. (Zool.) A large and valuable food fish (Polyprion prognathus) of New Zealand. It sometimes weighs one hundred pounds or more. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & v. i. See Hiccough.

n. A small bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea) of Southeast China having slender culms flexuous when young.
Syn. -- fishpole bamboo, gosan-chiku, Phyllostachys aurea. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. [ An imitative word; cf. Sw. skorra to rattle, snarl, E. scurry. ] Confusedly; in a bustle. [ Obs. ] Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖prop. n. [ Russ. karakul' curly fleece of Bokhara and Khiva sheep. ] 1. A type of Astrakhan, esp. in fine grades, obtained from the Karakul sheep. See sense 2 and cf. Caracul. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A hardy coarse-haired sheep of central Asia, bearing a soft curly fleece that is black in the young lambs, but which grows brown or gray when adult; the lambs are valued for their soft curly black fur. [ wns=1 ]
Syn. -- broadtail, caracul. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. A large lake in the Pamirs of Central Asia, lying 13, 200 feet above sea level. [ PJC ]

n. (Zool.) The water thrush or accentor. [ Local, West Indies ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. (Zool.) The East Indian tapir. See Tapir. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. ky^dos glory. ] Glory; fame; renown; praise. W. H. Russel. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To praise; to extol; to glorify. “Kudos'd egregiously.” [ R. ] Southey. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. (Zool.) See Koodoo. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Cufic. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. (Zool.) [ Native name. ] The slow lemur. See Lemur. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The name adopted in the southern part of the United States by a secret political organization, active for several years after the close of the Civil War, and having for its aim the repression of the political power of the freed negroes; -- called also Kuklux Klan and the Klan. It exerienced a revival in the 1920's, in the north as well as the south, and persists as a weak organization into the 1990's. Its goals were primarily anti-negro and anti-Catholic, and its tactics included terrorist attacks on negroes for the purpose of intimidation with the goal of continuing segregation. The signature activity of the Klan was the burning of a cross, either at rallies of Klansmen, or on the property of African-Americans which they hoped to intimidate. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. (Zool.) See Koulan.

n. [ G., fr. kultur, cultur, culture + kampf fight. ] (Ger. Hist.) Lit., culture war; -- a name, originating with Virchow (1821 - 1902), given to a struggle between the Roman Catholic Church and the German government, chiefly over the latter's efforts to control educational and ecclesiastical appointments in the interest of the political policy of centralization. The struggle began with the passage by the Prussian Diet in May, 1873, of the so-called
May laws, or
Falk laws, aiming at the regulation of the clergy. Opposition eventually compelled the government to change its policy, and from 1880 to 1887 laws virtually nullifying the May laws were enacted. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

{ } n. See Koumiss. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ G. kümmel cumin, caraway seed, L. cuminum. Cf. Cumin. ] A Russian and German liqueur, consisting of a sweetened spirit flavored with caraway seeds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Chin. kin keu. ] (Bot.) any of several trees or shrubs of the genus Fortunella (formerly Citrus) of the rue family (Rutaceae) (especially Citrus Japonica) growing in China and Japan bearing small orange-colored edible fruits with thick sweet-flavored skin and sour pulp; also, any of the small acid, orange-colored citrus fruits of such plants, used mostly for preserves. [ Also spelled cumquat. ] [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ G. See Copper, and Nickel. ] (Min.) Copper-nickel; niccolite. See Niccolite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An East Indian cereal grass (Eleusine coracana) whose seed yield a somewhat bitter flour, a staple in the Orient.
Syn. -- finger millet, ragi, ragee, African millet, coracan, corakan, Eleusine coracana. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ From Igor Kurchatov, a Russian scientist who worked on the atomic bomb. ] A transuranic element of atomic number 104, symbol Ku; also called rutherfordium, symbol Rf. It is produced in very small quantities by nuclear reactions. In November 1993 the nomenclature committe of the American Chemical Society approved the name rutherfordium for element 104. Russsian investigators who claim to have first discovered element 104, isotope 260 (half-life 0.3 seconds) in 1964 at Dubna proposed the name kurchatovium. However, investigators at Berkely in 1969 produced several isotopes of element 104 but were unable to produce isotope 260; they reported finding isotope 257, with a half-life of 4-5 seconds, isotope 259 with a half-life of 3-4 seconds, and isotope 258 with a shorter half-life.
Syn. -- rutherfordium, Rf, Ku, unnilquadium, Unq, element 104, atomic number 104. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. A tropical Asian tree (Holarrhena antidysenterica syn. Holarrhena pubescens) with hard white wood and bark formerly used as a remedy for dysentery and diarrhea.
Syn. -- ivory tree, conessi, kurchee, Holarrhena pubescens, Holarrhena antidysenterica. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. A member of a people who inhabit a mountainous region of Western Asia, sometimes referred to as Kurdistan, spread over an area including adjoining parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Syria. The people of this region speak Kurdish and are mostly Moslem. [ Written also Koord. ] [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

prop. a. Of or pertaining to the Kurds, the Kurdish language, or Kurdistan. [ Written also Koordish. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. The language of the Kurds; it is related to Farsi, the modern Iranian language. [ Written also Koordish. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to the Kurile Islands, a chain of islands in the Pacific ocean, extending from the southern extremity of Kamchatka to Yesso. -- n. A native or an inhabitant of the Kurile Islands. [ Written also Koorilian. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Jap. kuroshio; kuro black + shio tide. ] See Japan Current, above. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖n. [ G. ] A public hall or room, for the use of visitors at watering places and health resorts in Germany. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A carnivorous animal (Crossarchus obscurus) of tropical Africa. It its allied to the civets. Called also kusimansel, and mangue. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Per. & Hind. khaskhas. ] (Bot.) See Vetiver. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mus.) A Turkish instrument of music, with a hollow body covered with skin, over which five strings are stretched. [ Written also kussir. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The India civet (Viverra zibetha). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Catechu. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Goldbeating) The packet of vellum leaves in which the gold is first beaten into thin sheets. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. [ Named after a German physician and instrument maker, J. N. Lieberkühn. ] (Optics) A concave metallic mirror attached to the object-glass end of a microscope, to throw down light on opaque objects; a reflector. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. [ See Lieberkuehn. ] (Anat.) The simple tubular glands of the small intestines; -- called also crypts of Lieberkuehn. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. something that serves to join or link.
Syn. -- link, tie, tie-in. [ WordNet 1.5 ]