king
/ˈkɪŋ/ noun A1- A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy; in an absolute monarchy, the supreme ruler of his nation. · Henry VIII was the king of England from 1509 to 1547.· Charles the third became the new king of England from 2022.
- The monarch with the most power and authority in a monarchy, regardless of sex.
- A powerful or majorly influential person; someone who holds the preeminent position. · Howard Stern styled himself as the "king of all media".
- Something that has a preeminent position. · In times of financial panic, cash is king.
- A man worthy of respect. · I'm sure you got the job, king.
- The principal chess piece, that players seek to threaten with unavoidable capture to result in a victory by checkmate. It is often the tallest piece, with a symbolic crown with a cross at the top.
- A playing card with the letter "K" and the image of a king on it, the thirteenth card in a given suit.
- A checker (a piece of checkers/draughts) that reached the farthest row forward, thus becoming crowned (either by turning it upside-down, or by stacking another checker on it) and gaining more freedom of movement.
Plural kings
From the library
The emperor, now king of the petty Island of Elba, after having held sovereign sway over one-half of the world, counting as his subjects a small population of five or six thousand souls,—after having been accustomed to hear the “Vive Napoléons” of a hundred and twenty millions of human beings, uttered in ten different languages,—was looked upon here as a ruined man, separated forever from any fresh connection with France or claim to her throne.
An old man, decorated with the cross of Saint Louis, now rose and proposed the health of King Louis XVIII.
This toast, recalling at once the patient exile of Hartwell and the peace-loving King of France, excited universal enthusiasm; glasses were elevated in the air à l’Anglaise, and the ladies, snatching their bouquets from their fair bosoms, strewed the table with their floral treasures.
“Ah,” said the Marquise de Saint-Méran, a woman with a stern, forbidding eye, though still noble and distinguished in appearance, despite her fifty years—“ah, these revolutionists, who have driven us from those very possessions they afterwards purchased for a mere trifle during the Reign of Terror, would be compelled to own, were they here, that all true devotion was on our side, since we were content to follow the fortunes of a falling monarch, while they, on the contrary, made their fortune by worshipping the rising sun; yes, yes, they could not help admitting that the king, for whom we sacrificed rank, wealth, and station was truly our ‘Louis the well-beloved,’ while their wretched usurper has been, and ever will be, to them their evil genius, their ‘Napoleon the accursed.’ Am I not right, Villefort?”
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