Emily Dickinson Lexicon

key (-s), n². [OFr kay.]

Ledge; reef; bank; geographical formation; [fig.] index; explanation; answer for anything difficult to understand; [word play] kind of music; musical register.

keyless, adj. [see key, n¹.] (webplay: played).

Having no way to open; without means to unlock; [fig.] inexplicable; incomprehensible; transcending description; surpassing explanation; unspeakably beautiful; [word play] without a specific musical register.

kid, adj. [ON kið, young goat.]

Leather; [nominal modifier] made from soft goatskin.

Kidd (William Kidd), proper n. [ME < ON.]

William Kidd (1645-1701); seventeenth-century English explorer; man on a quest for gold in the Americas; pirate who was hung for his crimes.

Kidderminster, proper n. [OE Cydda's, one who carries provisions, and mynster, monastery, church]

Town in Worcestershire, England; place famous for its carpet industry started in 1735; [metonymy] kidder cloth; reversible double-sided woven goods.

kill (-ed, -s), v. [origin obscure.] (webplay: lay, life, stab, vital).

1. Quell; suppress; repress a desire for; put an end to feelings for.
2. Slay; cause to die; put to death; destroy the vitality of an organism.
3. Slaughter; sacrifice by bloodshed.

kind (-er), adj. [see kind, n.] (webplay: child, father, happy, man, married, nature, see, small, thing).

1. Merciful; loving; charitable; benevolent.
2. Acceptable; agreeable; pleasant; charming.

kind, n¹. [OE gecynde < OE cyn, to produce, engender, beget.]

Gentle people; individuals who are benevolent.

kind (-s), n². [OE gecynde < OE cyn, to produce, engender, beget.] (webplay: Disposed, ear, heart, love, others, see, state, sort, tenderness, voice, way).

1. Sort; class; genus; type.
2. Way; mode; path; direction; means; method.

kindle, v. [ON < ON kyndill, a candle, torch.] (webplay: flame).

Shine; radiate; burn; become inflamed; be on fire; [fig.] glow with color (see Isaiah 9:18).