kite

Definitions

• A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae.
• (figuratively) A rapacious person.
• A lightweight toy or other device, traditionally flat and shaped like a triangle with a segment of a circle attached to its base or like a quadrilateral (see sense 9), carried on the wind and tethered and controlled from the ground by one or more lines.
• A tethered object which deflects its position in a medium by obtaining lift and drag in reaction with its relative motion in the medium.
• (astrology) A planetary configuration wherein one planet of a grand trine is in opposition to an additional fourth planet.
• (banking) A blank cheque; a fraudulent cheque, such as one issued even though there are insufficient funds to honour it, or one that has been altered without authorization.
• (finance) An accommodation bill.
• (cycling) A rider who is good at climbs but less good at descents.
• (geometry) A polygon resembling the shape of a traditional toy kite (sense 3): a quadrilateral having two pairs of edges of equal length, the edges of each pair touching each other at one end.
• (military) An aeroplane or aircraft.
• (sailing) In a square-rigged ship: originally a sail positioned above a topsail; later a lightweight sail set above the topgallants, such as a studding sail or a jib topsail.
• (sailing) A spinnaker.
• (Britain) The brill (), a type of flatfish.
• (US) A (usually concealed) letter or oral message, especially one passed illegally into, within, or out of a prison.