kings

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of king.

   History remembers some kings as cruel and others as kind.

   The painting shows three kings arriving on camels.

   Note

   A regular plural that brings every meaning of the singular with it: crowned rulers, the chess piece, the playing card, and people or things that hold the top position. The same spelling also does other work. In poker it can mean a pair of kings, it names a card drinking game, and it doubles as a present-tense verb form, so context decides which one you are reading.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of king.

   Once a checker reaches the back row, the opponent kings it by stacking another piece on top.

   In this game, a player who kings a piece early usually controls the board.

   Note

   The verb form behind "the rule kings it" takes a singular subject and usually a direct object, because to king is to make something a king. That might be a person crowned or a checker promoted on reaching the far row. On the page it looks exactly like the plural noun, so the object that follows is what shows a verb is at work.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   A drinking game played with playing cards.

   Someone dealt the cards in a ring, and we settled in for a round of kings.

   Kings got out of hand once the last card forced everyone to chug.

   Note

   As the name of a party game it behaves like a mass noun. People play kings, never "a kings," and the verb stays singular, as in "kings gets out of hand." The game also goes by Ring of Fire, a name that suits the circle of cards players sit around. Capitalizing either name is optional, but writing "a game of kings" removes any doubt that you mean cards on a table.

4. 4
   nounslang

   A pair of king cards, especially as a starting hand in poker.

   She raised hard before the flop, holding kings against a single caller.

   He flopped a set after starting the hand with kings.

   Similarcowboys

   Note

   Poker players drop "a pair of" and let the bare plural name the hand: you hold kings, start with kings, run into kings. It is table slang, at home in hand reports and talk about play rather than in formal writing. With an article it turns back into ordinary cards, because "the kings" are simply the cards themselves, not the hand.

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