kiwi

/ˈkiːwi/

kiwi noun: a flightless bird of the order Apterygiformes native to New Zealand. Also the alternative letter-case form of Kiwi.

Image: Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

kiwi (countable and uncountable, plural kiwi or kiwis)

A flightless bird of the order Apterygiformes native to New Zealand.

Synonyms:

apteryx, kiwikiwi
(informal) A New Zealand dollar.
A kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa).
(uncountable) A green-yellow colour, like that of kiwifruit flesh (also called kiwi green).
(slang) A member of the air force who does not fly.
- And as its role grew in importance, ground commanders, or kiwis as they were called, made many mistakes in judgment […]1953, Air Force: Official Service Journal of the U.S. Army Air Forces
(plural-normally, slang) A testicle.
- Now Rex he was a Texan out of New Orleans and he travelled with the carnival shows
  He ran bumper cars, sucked cheap cigars and he candied up his nose
  He got wind of the big brown beaver so he thought he'd take himself a peek
  But the beaver was quick and he grabbed him by the kiwis
  And he ain't...1995, “Wynona's Big Brown Beaver”, performed by Primus

Noun (2)

kiwi (uncountable)

(Singapore, slang) Any kind of black shoe polish.

Verb

kiwi (third-person singular simple present kiwis, present participle kiwiing or kiwi-ing, simple past and past participle kiwied)

(Singapore, slang) To polish (boots) with black shoe polish.
- Johari Salleh: Ya, ya. Better not waste time. Must prepare, tomorrow morning got inspection.
  Teo Ah Beng: Ya lah, must kiwi the boots. Can borrow [lend] me your cloth?
  Krishnamoorthy: Ya, no problem. You better kiwi quickly. 11 pm lights off. […]1987, Michael Chiang, Army Daze, Landmark Books, →ISBN

Noun (3) capitalized: Kiwi

Kiwi (plural Kiwis)

(informal) A New Zealander.
- A blokart (say blow-cart) plays to the penchant that Kiwis and Aussies have for pushing the limits in search of fun. It’s a ground-hugging, tricyclelike combination of aluminum tubing and rubber wheels with a steering wheel and a sail.2014 June 17, Tribune Newspapers, “Cruising Down Under”, in Chicago Tribune
- Sadowski-Synnott scored 92.88 on her final run, landing back-to-back 1080s on a challenging course resembling the Great Wall of China.
  Asked how she felt about making history as the island nation's first Winter Games gold medallist, she said it made her a "proud Kiwi".2022 February 6, Mari Saito, Winni Zhou, “Snowboarding-Proud Kiwi Sadowski-Synnott bags New Zealand's first Winter Games gold”, in Jacqueline Wong, Clare Fallon, editors, Reuters, archived from the...

Adjective capitalized: Kiwi

Kiwi (comparative more Kiwi, superlative most Kiwi)

(informal) Of or from New Zealand.
- The two Kiwi brothers who spent time in a Thailand prison after allegedly wrestling an officer to the ground and taking his gun, have returned to New Zealand.2024 July 13, Poppy Clark, “Kiwi brothers back in country after spending time in Thailand prison”, in stuff.co.nz/

Proper noun capitalized: Kiwi

Kiwi

A rural locality in Tasman district, New Zealand.
- At Kiwi, 40 miles from Nelson, eight women installed themselves in the goods shed, taking with them their knitting, and a supply of food and magazines. The demolition crew was unable to pull the building down without injuring them.1955 December, “Notes and News: Women Delay Railway Demolition”, in Railway Magazine, page 878

Also used as

kiwi is also the alternative letter-case form of Kiwi.

kiwi meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

kiwi in Hindi

bird: कीवी kīvī

kiwi in Tamil

கிவி, கிவிங், கிவியிடம்

kiwi in Marathi

किवी, कीवी, किव्ही

kiwi in Urdu

کیوی, کیوئی

More languagesFewer languages

kiwi in Bengali: কিউই, কিউয়ি
kiwi in Telugu: కివి, కివీ, కీవీ
kiwi in Malayalam: കിവി, കിവിക്ക്
kiwi in Punjabi: ਕੀਵੀ, ਕਿਵੀ
kiwi in Gujarati: કીવી, કિવી, કિવીને
kiwi in Odia: କିୱି, କିୱୀ, କିୱିଂ
kiwi in Nepali: किवी, कीवी, किवीलाई
kiwi in Arabic: كِيوِي kiwī

Examples of kiwi in a sentence

It’s delightfully crisp and refreshing with notes of sea salt, white peach and kiwi fruit.
America has its bald eagle and New Zealand has its kiwi, a flightless brown bird.
Kiwi, our green-checked conure, crawled out of her bedbox and loudly demanded attention.

All 11 example sentences with kiwi

Synonyms of kiwi

Forms of kiwi

Noun
plural	kiwi
plural	kiwis
plural	Kiwis
Adjective
comparative	more kiwi
superlative	most kiwi
comparative	more Kiwi
superlative	most Kiwi
Verb
third-person singular present	kiwis
present participle	kiwiing
present participle	kiwi-ing
past participle	kiwied
past	kiwied

Plural of kiwi: kiwi or kiwis

Origin of kiwi

Borrowed from Māori kiwi.

Genericized trademark from the brand of shoe polish originating in Australia, from Māori kiwi.

From kiwi, a flightless bird native to and a national symbol of New Zealand.

Words formed from kiwi

Phrases with kiwi

Words that rhyme with kiwi

peewee
iwi

Questions about kiwi

What does kiwi mean?: Kiwi means a flightless bird of the order Apterygiformes native to New Zealand.
What is kiwi in Hindi?: Kiwi in Hindi is कीवी (kīvī). See Kiwi meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is kiwi?: Kiwi can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce kiwi?: Kiwi is pronounced /ˈkiːwi/.
What is the plural of kiwi?: The plural of kiwi is kiwi.

Words near kiwi in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pohewatanga-kiwi (New Zealand).wav, En-au-kiwi.ogg, en-us-Kiwi.ogg.

Cite this entry: “kiwi.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kiwi. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.