K

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does K mean? 

• K (noun)
  The noun K has 7 senses:

1. the basic unit of thermodynamic temperature adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites

2. a light soft silver-white metallic element of the alkali metal group; oxidizes rapidly in air and reacts violently with water; is abundant in nature in combined forms occurring in sea water and in carnallite and kainite and sylvite

3. the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100

4. a unit of information equal to 1000 bytes

5. a unit of information equal to 1024 bytes

6. the 11th letter of the Roman alphabet

7. street names for ketamine

  Familiarity information: K used as a noun is common.

• K (adjective)
  The adjective K has 1 sense:

1. denoting a quantity consisting of 1,000 items or units

  Familiarity information: K used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• K (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The basic unit of thermodynamic temperature adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

K; kelvin

Hypernyms ("K" is a kind of...):

temperature unit (a unit of measurement for temperature)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A light soft silver-white metallic element of the alkali metal group; oxidizes rapidly in air and reacts violently with water; is abundant in nature in combined forms occurring in sea water and in carnallite and kainite and sylvite

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

atomic number 19; K; potassium

Hypernyms ("K" is a kind of...):

metal; metallic element (any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc.)

Holonyms ("K" is a substance of...):

carnallite (a white or reddish mineral consisting of hydrous chlorides of potassium and magnesium; used as a fertilizer and as a source of potassium and magnesium)

kainite (a white mineral consisting of magnesium sulphate and potassium chloride; a source of potassium salts; used as a fertilizer)

langbeinite (a mineral consisting of potassium magnesium double sulphate; used as a fertilizer)

brine; saltwater; seawater (water containing salts)

sylvine; sylvite (a mineral consisting of native potassium chloride; an important ore of potassium that is found in sedimentary beds)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

1000; chiliad; G; grand; K; M; one thousand; thou; thousand; yard

Hypernyms ("K" is a kind of...):

large integer (an integer equal to or greater than ten)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "K"):

millenary (a sum or aggregate of one thousand (especially one thousand years))

Sense 4

Meaning:

A unit of information equal to 1000 bytes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

K; kB; kilobyte

Hypernyms ("K" is a kind of...):

computer memory unit (a unit for measuring computer memory)

Holonyms ("K" is a part of...):

M; MB; megabyte (a unit of information equal to 1000 kilobytes or 10^6 (1,000,000) bytes)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A unit of information equal to 1024 bytes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

K; kB; KiB; kibibyte; kilobyte

Hypernyms ("K" is a kind of...):

computer memory unit (a unit for measuring computer memory)

Meronyms (parts of "K"):

word (a string of bits stored in computer memory)

Holonyms ("K" is a part of...):

M; MB; mebibyte; megabyte; MiB (a unit of information equal to 1024 kibibytes or 2^20 (1,048,576) bytes)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The 11th letter of the Roman alphabet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("K" is a kind of...):

alphabetic character; letter; letter of the alphabet (the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech)

Holonyms ("K" is a member of...):

Latin alphabet; Roman alphabet (the alphabet evolved by the ancient Romans which serves for writing most of the languages of western Europe)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Street names for ketamine

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cat valium; green; honey oil; jet; K; special K; super acid; super C

Hypernyms ("K" is a kind of...):

Ketalar; ketamine; ketamine hydrochloride (a general anesthetic and tranquilizer (not a barbiturate) that is administered intravenously or intramuscularly; used mainly by veterinarians or for minor surgery with geriatric or pediatric patients; taken in large doses it causes hallucinations similar to those associated with the use of PCP)

• K (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Denoting a quantity consisting of 1,000 items or units

Synonyms:

1000; k; m; one thousand; thousand

Similar:

cardinal (being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order)

 Context examples 

A carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae strain known as multilocus sequence type 258 (ST258) is one of the antibiotic-resistant organisms labeled an urgent threat by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(Scientists describe potential antibody approach for treating multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, National Institutes of Health)

Scientists participating in workshops in the U.S. and U.K. in the past year acknowledged that the future activity of the glacier is an unknown and a potential major concern.

(West Antarctica's largest glacier may have started retreating as early as the 1940s, NSF)

It takes just over four days to orbit its parent star and its surface temperature is around 1400 K (1127° C).

(Multiple metals – and possible signs of water – found in unique exoplanet, University of Cambridge)

Kindly hand me down the letter K of the American Encyclopædia which stands upon the shelf beside you.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

NGTS-1b, about 600 light years from the Earth, is so extremely close to its star that a revolution around its star takes only about 2.6 Earth days — 2.647298 ± 0.000020 — and its surface temperature is about 800 K.

(Astronomers report dwarf star with unexpectedly giant planet, Wikinews)

Getting enough vitamin A, vitamin K, magnesium, zinc and copper were all associated with a lower risk of dying early, the researchers found — but only when those nutrients came from food.

(Healthy Diet Can't Be Replaced by Vitamins, Supplements, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Odanacatib selectively binds to and inhibits the activity of cathepsin K, which may result in a reduction in bone resorption, improvement of bone mineral density, and a reversal in osteoporotic changes.

(Odanacatib, NCI Thesaurus)

In addition, citicoline is involved in the preservation of sphingomyelin and cardiolipin and the restoration of Na+/K+-ATPase activity.

(Citicoline, NCI Thesaurus)

Cathepsin K (329 aa, ~37 kDa) is encoded by the human CTSK gene.

(Cathepsin K, NCI Thesaurus)

PEP223 is dimerized and contains a D-lysine (k) substitution at position 6 (pyroEHWSYkLRPG) to increase its immunogenicity.

(Anti-GnRH Vaccine PEP223, NCI Thesaurus)