A-Z Database
These gates are commonplace throughout the British countryside. The short swing of the gate and its design are such that pedestrians can pass through,...
The full expression is the whole kit and caboodle, which means the whole lot and it is first attested from America during the mid-19th century. The eu...
see Everything but (or including) the kitchen sink
Kite as in a flying paper or fabric kite attached to a string and flown from the ground gets its name from the bird of prey of the same name and dates...
Means friends and relations but the phrase is often used wrongly these days to refer to blood relatives only. Kith and kin are very old words of Norse...
Originally US military term for kilometer, not cited before the mid-1960s. Now also used by NATO forces. The etymology is obscure. Most likely a pseu...
North American slang for a stupid, clumsy person dates from the early 1960s and derives from the Yiddish klots meaning a wooden beam, hence blockhead,...
A place where horses were slaughtered, dates from the early 19th century and now refers to any place of dereliction. See also Knackered and Knackers.
British colloquial expression for tired and exhausted since the 19th century and derives from knacker, which meant to slaughter a horse, hence knacker...
British slang for testicles since the 19th century or perhaps a little earlier, deriving from the Middle English word knack, now obsolete, meaning to...
An American expression first recorded in 1851 that means very small and is usually used in the context of children e.g. the last time I saw you, you w...
An automatic, unthinking response to a situation dates from the late 19th century with allusion to the patellar or knee-jerk reflex, caused by strikin...
British slang for the act of sexual intercourse while in a standing position; dates from the mid-19th century. The expression was popularised again in...
British slang for a party, especially with dancing, dates from the 1940s, connected with the popular song Knees up Mother Brown (1938).
Now means a trifle or a trinket and dates from the late 17th century. Before this, knack on its own meant a clever or ingenious way of doing somethi...