KLAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Klan mean? 

• KLAN (noun)
  The noun KLAN has 1 sense:

1. a secret society of white Southerners in the United States; was formed in the 19th century to resist the emancipation of slaves; used terrorist tactics to suppress Black people

  Familiarity information: KLAN used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• KLAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A secret society of white Southerners in the United States; was formed in the 19th century to resist the emancipation of slaves; used terrorist tactics to suppress Black people

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

KKK; Klan; Ku Klux Klan

Instance hypernyms:

secret society (a society that conceals its activities from nonmembers)

foreign terrorist organization; FTO; terrorist group; terrorist organization (a political movement that uses terror as a weapon to achieve its goals)

Meronyms (members of "Klan"):

klavern (a local unit of the Ku Klux Klan)

grand dragon (a high ranking person in the Ku Klux Klan)

Klansman; Kluxer; Ku Kluxer (a member of the Ku Klux Klan)

Domain category:

act of terrorism; terrorism; terrorist act (the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear)

Domain region:

South (the region of the United States lying to the south of the Mason-Dixon line)

 Context examples 

“Here it is,” said he presently: Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to the sound produced by cocking a rifle.

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

“Have you never—” said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and sinking his voice—“have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?”

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