| jocund | adj. | merry, cheerful, blithe | ||
| jodhpurs | n. | riding pants cut very loosely over the hips and thighs with a tight fit from the calf to the ankle | ||
| jorum | n. | large drinking-bowl | ||
| joss | n. | Chinese cult image or idol | ||
| journal box | n. | metal box on side frame of railroad truck containing bearings and one end of an axle | ||
| judder | v. | to violently shake | ||
| juggins | n. | fool, simpleton | British | |
| junket | n. | cream cheese, or food made from sweet curds; pleasure trip, usu. one ostensibly for business purposes | ||
| jupon | n. | short, sleeveless tunic worn over armor | ||
| justle | v. | variant of jostle | ||
| kaddish | n. | prayer sequence in the Jewish faith; prayers for the dead | ||
| kakistocracy | n. | government by the worst citizens | ||
| kalpak | n. | high-crowned hat of Turkic peoples | ||
| kalsomine | n. | calcimine, whitewash | ||
| katagelasticism | n. | joy at laughing at others without compunction | ||
| kedge | v. | to warp a ship or boat by hauling on a cable attached to an anchor dropped at some distance from the vessel | ||
| kedgeree | n. | Indian dish of rice, onion, lentils, and spices; European dish of rice, fish, eggs | ||
| Keeley Cure | n. | supposed cure for alcoholism of the Keeley Institute at the cusp of the 20th Century, primarily consisting of injections of auric chloride | ||
| keep chup | v. | to keep quiet, to stay silent | ||
| kegling | n. | bowling | ||
| keimelia | n. | stored up or hidden treasure | ||
| kelson | n. | timber lined alongside the keel on floor-timbers of a ship, attaching the one to the other (also keelson) | ||
| kempt | adj. | neat, well maintained; combed | ||
| keratolysis | n. | shedding of the epidermis, esp. its horny layers | ||
| keratometer | n. | device used for measuring curvature of cornea, principally to assess astigmatism | ||
| kerf | n. | cut made by a saw | ||
| kermis | n. | fair or festival | ||
| kettle | v. | to confine to a small area as means of crowd control | British | |
| keystone | v. | to project an image improperly so that the projecting plane is not aligned with the receiving surface and thus causing distortion | ||
| kindle | n. | litter of kittens, rabbits, etc. | ||
| kipple | n. | useless detritus that seems to reproduce when nobody is present (coined by Philip K. Dick) | ||
| kirmess | n. | street fair in Dutch or German lands; indoor fair, often for charitable purpose | ||
| kirtle | n. | long women’s garment worn from medieval times to the Baroque Era over smock or chemise | ||
| kittle | adj. | ticklish, difficult to deal with | ||
| kittle cattle | n. | people difficult to deal with; things difficult to manage | ||
| Klaberjass | n. | two-handed trick-taking card game using a piquet deck with the Jack and nine of trumps as highest cards | ||
| kleptocracy | n. | rule by thieves | ||
| Kletterschuh | n. | light boot with cloth or felt sole made especially for climbing | ||
| knacker | v. | 1 | to tire out; to damage | British |
| knacker | n. | 2 | one who buys carcasses or slaughters useless livestock for a rendering works | British |
| knacker’s yard | n. | abattoir, slaughterhouse | ||
| knackers | n. | testicles | slang | |
| knap | v. | to chip; to break off | ||
| knife-boy | n. | boy employed to clean knives | ||
| knobkerrie | n. | short wooden club with heavy knob at its head used by South African tribes (also knobkerry) | ||
| knop | n. | ornamental knob | ||
| koine | n. | lingua franca; amalgam of Greek dialects that replaced Classical Greek in the Hellenistic Age | ||
| Kondratiev wave | n. | long cycles in technological advancement that greatly affect the world economy | ||
| Krishnacore | n. | musical subgenre mixing hardcore punk with Krishna Consciousness | ||
| kudu | n. | large striped African antelope |
