KANSAS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Kansas mean? 

• KANSAS (noun)
  The noun KANSAS has 4 senses:

1. a state in midwestern United States

2. a member of the Siouan people of the Kansas river valley in Kansas

3. a river in northeastern Kansas; flows eastward to become a tributary of the Missouri River

4. the Dhegiha dialect spoken by the Kansa

  Familiarity information: KANSAS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• KANSAS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state in midwestern United States

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

Kan.; Kansas; KS; Sunflower State

Instance hypernyms:

American state (one of the 50 states of the United States)

Meronyms (parts of "Kansas"):

Chisholm Trail (a former cattle trail from San Antonio in Texas to Abilene in Kansas; not used after the 1880s)

Republican; Republican River (a tributary of the Kansas River that flows from eastern Colorado eastward through Nebraska and Kansas)

Neosho; Neosho River (a river that rises in eastern Kansas and flows eastward into Oklahoma to become a tributary of the Arkansas River)

Kansas; Kansas River; Kaw River (a river in northeastern Kansas; flows eastward to become a tributary of the Missouri River)

Arkansas; Arkansas River (a river that rises in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and flows southeast through Kansas and Oklahoma and through Arkansas to become a tributary of the Mississippi River)

Wichita (the largest city in Kansas; located in southern Kansas on the Arkansas River)

capital of Kansas; Topeka (the capital of the state of Kansas; located in eastern Kansas on the Kansas river)

Salina (a town in central Kansas)

Lawrence (a town in northeastern Kansas on the Kansas River; scene of raids by John Brown in 1856)

Kansas City (a city of northeast Kansas on the Missouri River adjacent to Kansas City, Missouri)

Hays (a town in central Kansas)

Abilene (a town in central Kansas to the west of Topeka; home of Dwight D. Eisenhower)

Dodge City (a town of southwestern Kansas on the Arkansas River; formerly a rowdy cow town)

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

middle west; Midwest; midwestern United States (the north central region of the United States (sometimes called the heartland or the breadbasket of America))

America; the States; U.S.; U.S.A.; United States; United States of America; US; USA (North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A member of the Siouan people of the Kansas river valley in Kansas

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Kansa; Kansas

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

Dhegiha (any member of a Siouan people speaking one of the Dhegiha languages)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A river in northeastern Kansas; flows eastward to become a tributary of the Missouri River

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

Kansas; Kansas River; Kaw River

Instance hypernyms:

river (a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek))

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

Kan.; Kansas; KS; Sunflower State (a state in midwestern United States)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The Dhegiha dialect spoken by the Kansa

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

Kansa; Kansas

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

Dhegiha (a branch of the Siouan languages)

 Context examples 

Well, Oz can do anything; so I suppose he will find Kansas for you.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The area in the United States comprised of the following states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska.

(Central Midwest States, NCI Thesaurus)

A census region of the United States consisting of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota.

(Midwestern United States Census Region, NCI Thesaurus)

In contrast, weak La Niñas led to April outbreaks throughout the South, particularly in Oklahoma and Kansas, while strong La Niñas led to April outbreaks along the Ohio Valley and in the Southeast and Upper Midwest.

(Ocean temperatures may hold key to predicting tornado outbreaks, NOAA)

"Here, we're able to study in great detail how this ancient island evolved — where organisms came from, how they got there and when they got there," K. Christopher Beard, a paleontologist at the University of Kansas (KU) said.

(Fossil discovery adds to understanding of how geological changes affected evolution of mammalian life, National Science Foundation)

With the help of researchers at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, they modified the compound to make it work better as a potential drug and evaluated the effects of the molecule in different assays, or tests, in the laboratory.

(Scientists develop potential new approach to stop cancer metastasis, National Institutes of Health)

To confirm their suspicions, in May 2016 the team sent a research plane from Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute to fly over the Hiawatha Glacier and map the crater and the overlying ice with a state-of-the-art ice-penetrating radar provided by the University of Kansas.

(Unexpected Discovery Under Greenland Ice, NASA)

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

"And I want him to send me back to Kansas," said Dorothy.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

"Or send me back to Kansas," said Dorothy.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)