Noun

Singular kite

Plural kites

kite (plural kites)

1. A bird of prey in the family Accipitridae with long wings and weak legs, feeding mostly on carrion and spending long periods soaring.

   A pair of kites built a nest on the cliff.

2. A lightweight toy carried on the wind and controlled from the ground by a line.

   On windy spring days, we would fly kites.

3. A tethered object which deflects its position in a medium by obtaining lift and drag in reaction with its relative motion in the medium.
   • 1906 September 12, “Water Kites”, Fairbanks Evening News, page 2:

     The purpose of the water kite is to float beneath or beside the ship at a depth sufficient to insure safety.

4. (geometry) A quadrilateral having two pairs of edges of equal length, the edges of each pair being consecutive.

   Four-sided figures without parallel sides include trapezoids and kites.

5. (banking) A fraudulent draft, such as a check one drawn on insufficient funds or with altered face value.
   • 1991 May 21, Alex Barnum, “Suspect Named in Kiting Case”, San Jose Mercury News, page 8E:

     But she said, "if this was a kite, he didn't realize that you don't have the float time of the old days," which made check-kiting easier.

6. (astrology) A planetary configuration wherein one planet of a grand trine is in opposition to an additional fourth planet.
   • 2002, Erin Sullivan, Retrograde Planets: Traversing the Inner Landscape, ISBN 8120818318, page 144-145:

     Frequently a kite formation is created by one of the planets in the trine by its opposition to another planet, which allows expulsion and redirection of the pent-up energy associated with a closed circuit.

7. (slang) An aircraft, or aeroplane.
   • 2004, Harry Foxley, Marking Time: An Account Of Ordinary Soldiering, ISBN 1412015871, page 133:

     This time, the engine roared and the kite rocked against the brakes then sluggishly rolled down the strip.

8. (sailing, dated) A lightweight sail set above the topgallants, such as a studding-sail.
   • 1863, Ralph Waldo Emerson, English Traits, page 33:

     Our good master keeps his kites up to the last moment, studding-sails alow and aloft, and, by incessant straight steering, never loses a rod of way.

9. (sailing, slang) A spinnaker.
10. (US, slang, prison) A short letter.

Derived terms

• box kite
• go fly a kite
• high as a kite
• kiteboarding
• kite buggy
• kite fishing
• kite surfing
• powerkite
• stunt kite

A kite is a flying tethered aircraft that depends upon the tension of a tethering system. The necessary lift that makes the kite wing fly is generated when air (or in some cases water) flows over and under the kite's wing, producing low pressure above the wing and high pressure below it. This deflection also generates horizontal drag along the direction of the wind. The resultant force vector from the lift and drag force components is opposed by the tension of the one or more lines or tethers. The anchor point of the kite line may be static or moving (e.g., the towing of a kite by a running person, boat, or vehicle).

Kites are usually heavier-than-air, but there is a second category of lighter-than-air kite called a helikite which will fly with or without wind. Helikites work on a different stability principle to normal kites as helikites are helium-stabilised as well as wind stabilised. They are a stable combination of a helium balloon and kite-sail to create a single aerodynamically sound kite. When flown in wind a helikite will lift far more than its helium alone, and it will fly very well if weighted down to be considerably heavier than air.

Kites may be flown for recreation, art or other practical uses. Sport kites can be flown in aerial ballet, sometimes as part of a competition. Power kites are multi-line steerable kites designed to generate large forces which can be used to power activities such as kite surfing, kite landboarding or kite buggying. Kites towed behind boats can lift passengers which has had useful military applications in the past.