ko
ko Lexical Profile
ko Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A knockout in boxing or other combat sports, or any decisive defeat or overwhelming success.
"The champion secured a dramatic KO in the third round of the title match."
In the board game Go, a tactical situation in which two players could repeat the same capture and recapture indefinitely, prevented by a rule forbidding immediate recapture.
"The challenger played a clever ko threat on the right side of the board before recapturing the stone."
New Zealand A traditional Māori wooden digging stick equipped with a footrest, used for cultivating soil and planting crops.
"Workers used a traditional ko to loosen the soil before planting the kumara."
• verb
To knock out an opponent in a combat sport, or to render someone unconscious or decisively defeated.
"The heavyweight contender managed to KO his rival just before the bell rang."
Word Nuance & Usage
When referring to a knockout in sports or informal contexts, it is typically capitalized as 'KO' or 'K.O.'; in the board game Go, the tactical situation 'ko' is written in lowercase.
• Rhymes for ko
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
As a sports term, it is an early 20th-century initialism of 'knockout'. In the board game Go, the term derives from the Japanese word 'kō' (meaning 'kalpa' or 'eternity'), reflecting a potentially endless loop of captures.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.