I. kite 1 /kaɪt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: cyta ]
1 . a light frame covered in coloured paper or plastic that you let fly in the air on the end of one or two long strings
2 . a type of ↑ hawk (=bird that eats small animals)
3 . American English informal an illegal cheque
4 . fly a kite to make a suggestion to see what people will think of it
⇨ go fly a kite at ↑ fly 1 (24), ⇨ high as a kite at ↑ high 1 (24)
II. kite 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive and transitive] American English informal
1 . ( also kite up ) to raise the cost of something SYN hike up :
Soaring medical costs keep kiting up insurance premiums.
2 . to obtain money using an illegal cheque