king W1 /kɪŋ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: cyning ]
1 . RULER a man who rules a country because he is from a royal family ⇨ queen
king of
Henry VIII, King of England
On 2 December Henry VI was crowned king (=made the king at an official ceremony) .
2 . THE BEST the king of something someone or something that people think is the most important or best of a particular type of person or thing:
the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll
the king of Swiss cheeses
The lion is the king of the jungle.
3 . SUCCESSFUL if you live like a king, feel like a king etc, you are very successful, happy, rich etc:
With her at my side, I felt like a king.
4 . CHESS the most important piece in ↑ chess
5 . CARDS a playing card with a picture of a king on it
6 . IMPORTANT be king if something is king at a particular time, it has a big influence on people:
back in the days when jazz was king
7 . a king’s ransom a very large amount of money
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COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1 )
■ verbs
▪ become king
Prince Charles will become king when his mother, Queen Elizabeth, dies.
▪ be crowned king (=be made king)
He was crowned king upon the death of his father.
▪ depose a king formal (=remove a king from power)
The Spanish king was deposed in 1931.
▪ a king rules/reigns (=is in charge of a country)
How could a Christian king rule if he was banned from the Church?
▪ a king abdicates (=gives up the position of being king)
It shocked the nation when the king abdicated.
■ adjectives
▪ the rightful king (=the person who should be king)
The Duke of Gloucester claimed that he was the rightful king.
▪ the future king (=someone who will later be king)
She married the future king of France, Philip Augustus.
■ phrases
▪ allegience/loyalty to a king (=being faithful to the king)
They were fighting out of loyalty to their king.
▪ a king’s subjects (=the people he rules)
The new laws were very unpopular with the king’s subjects.
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THESAURUS
▪ king the male ruler of a country, who comes from a royal family:
George III was the king of England at that time.
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King Harald V of Norway
▪ queen a woman who rules a country because she is from a royal family, or the wife of a king:
She became queen when she was only 14 years old.
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Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
▪ monarch a king or queen:
The bishops were appointed by the monarch.
▪ monarchy a country that is ruled by a king or queen, or this type of political system:
Britain is a constitutional monarchy.
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Some people want the monarchy to be abolished.
▪ prince the son of a king, queen, or prince, or the male ruler of a small country or state:
Prince Rainier of Monaco
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The prince will inherit the throne when his father dies.
▪ ruler someone such as a king, who has official power over a country and its people:
the ruler of Babylonia
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General Musharraf was the former military ruler of Pakistan.
▪ emperor the ruler of an ↑ empire (=group of countries) :
the Habsburg emperors of the 19th century
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Emperor Hirohito
▪ sovereign formal a king or queen:
It was hoped that a meeting of the two sovereigns would ease tensions between the countries.
▪ regent someone who governs instead of a king or queen, because the king or queen is ill, absent, or still a child:
Edward II left his friend Gaveston as regent.
▪ the crown formal the position of king or queen:
Warwick was a loyal servant of the crown.