Part 545

||Krait (?), n. [Native name.] (Zoöl.) A very venomous snake of India ||(Bungarus cœruleus), allied to the cobra. Its upper parts are bluish ||or brownish black, often with narrow white streaks; the belly is ||whitish. || Kra"ken (?), n. [Prob. from OSw. krake, or ODan. krage the trunk of a tree, the branches of which are not entirely cut off, to which it was likened by the Norwegian mariners.] A fabulous Scandinavian sea monster, often represented as resembling an island, but sometimes as resembling an immense octopus.

To believe all that has been said of the sea serpent or kraken, would be credulity; to reject the possibility of their existence, would be presumption.

Goldsmith.

Like a kraken huge and black.

Longfellow.

Kra*ko"wi*ak (?), n. (Mus.) A lively Polish dance. See Cracovienne.

||Kra*me"ri*a (?), n. [NL. So called after the German botanists, J. G. ||H. & W. H. Kramer.] (Bot.) A genus of spreading shrubs with many ||stems, from one species of which (K. triandra), found in Peru, ||rhatany root, used as a medicine, is obtained. || Kra*mer"ic (?), a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived from, Krameria (rhatany); as, krameric acid, usually called ratanhia-tannic acid.

Krang (?), n. [Cf. D. kreng a carcass.] The carcass of a whale after the blubber has been removed. [Written also crang and kreng.]

Krang"ing hook` (?). (Whaling) A hook for holding the blubber while cutting it away. [Written also cranging hook.]

Kre*at"ic (?), a. See Creatic.

Kre"a*tin (?), n. (Chem.) See Creatin.

Kre*at"i*nin (?), n. (Chem.) See Creatinin.

Kreel (?), n. See Creel.

Krem"lin (?), n. [Russ. kremle.] The citadel of a town or city; especially, the citadel of Moscow, a large inclosure which contains imperial palaces, cathedrals, churches, an arsenal, etc. [Russia]

Krems (?), n. A variety of white lead. See Krems lead, under Lead, n.

Kreng (?), n. See Krang.

Kre"o*sote (?), n. See Creosote.

Kreut"zer (kroit"sr), n. [G. kreuzer.] A small copper coin formerly used in South Germany; also, a small Austrian copper coin. [Written also kreuzer.]

||Kriegs"spiel` (&?;), n. [G., fr. krieg war + spiel play.] A game of ||war, played for practice, on maps. Farrow. || Kris (?), n. A Malay dagger. See Creese.

||Krish"na (&?;), n. [Skr. ksha.] (Hindoo Myth.) The most popular of ||the Hindoo divinities, usually held to be the eighth incarnation of ||the god Vishnu. || <! p. 820 !>

Kri"tarch*y (kr"tärk*), n. [Gr. krith`s judge + 'archh` beginning, government.] The rule of the judges over Israel.

Samson, Jephthah, Gideon, and other heroes of the kritarchy.

Southey.

Kro*kid"o*lite (kr*kd"*lt), n. (Min.) See Crocidolite.

||Kro"ne (kr"n), n. [Dan.] A coin of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, of ||the value of about twenty-eight cents. See Crown, n., 9. || Kroo"man (kr"man), n.; pl. Kroomen (-men). One of a negro tribe of Liberia and the adjacent coast, whose members are much employed on shipboard.

Krul"ler (?), n. See Cruller.

{ Krumm"horn`, Krum"horn` } (krm"hôrn`), n. [G. krummhorn cornet; krumm crooked + horn horn.] (Mus.) (a) A reed instrument of music of the cornet kind, now obsolete (see Cornet, 1, a.). (b) A reed stop in the organ; -- sometimes called cremona.

Krupp" gun" (?). A breech-loading steel cannon manufactured at the works of Friedrich Krupp, at Essen in Prussia. Guns of over eight-inch bore are made up of several concentric cylinders; those of a smaller size are forged solid. Knight.