Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several flightless birds of the genus Apteryx native to New Zealand, having vestigial wings and a long slender bill.
  • noun Informal A New Zealander.
  • noun A kiwifruit.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The apteryx.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A flightless bird of the genus Apteryx native to New Zealand.
  • noun A person from New Zealand - (preferably Kiwi).
  • noun A New Zealand dollar.
  • noun A kiwi fruit - not used in New Zealand where the full name is used.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a native or inhabitant of New Zealand
  • noun nocturnal flightless bird of New Zealand having a long neck and stout legs; only surviving representative of the order Apterygiformes
  • noun climbing vine native to China; cultivated in New Zealand for its fuzzy edible fruit with green meat
  • noun fuzzy brown egg-shaped fruit with slightly tart green flesh

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Maori, imitative of the call of male kiwis. Sense 3, short for kiwifruit.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Maori kiwi.

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Examples

  • The meat was much like white watermelon while the seeds were exactly like the ones in kiwi fruit.

    April 14th, 2007 ceciliatan 2007

  • The latest quake is another blow for New Zealand's economy and sent the currency, known as the kiwi, sharply lower.

    Massive Quake Hits New Zealand Rebecca Howard 2011

  • Dependent on agricultural exports, the country's currency, known as the kiwi, is hostage to global economic sentiment, which at the moment points to slowing demand.

    Key Holds Lead as New Zealand Vote Nears Rebecca Howard 2011

  • The latest quake is a blow for New Zealand's economy, and it sent the New Zealand dollar, known as the kiwi, sharply lower.

    New Zealand Starts Christchurch Curfew Lucy Craymer 2011

  • The New Zealand dollar, also known as the kiwi, is hovering near its yearlong high against the U.S. dollar, making the cost of agricultural exports to key markets such as China more expensive.

    New Zealand Kiwi Industry Threatened By Disease Lucy Craymer 2010

  • In other words, a kiwi is a dwarfed version of a giant flightless bird.

    The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004

  • In other words, a kiwi is a dwarfed version of a giant flightless bird.

    The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004

  • Their remains are found in abundance, but the kiwi is the last species now living.

    Wealth of the World's Waste Places and Oceania Jewett Castello Gilson

  • New Zealand's dollar, known as the kiwi, was close to a five- week high before data next week that may show U.S. manufacturing grew at the fastest pace in seven months.

    BusinessWeek.com -- Top News 2011

  • The latest quake is a blow for New Zealand's economy, and it sent the New Zealand dollar, known as the kiwi, sharply lower.

    WSJ.com: What's News US 2011

Comments

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  • Kiwi's are NZERSSS!!!!!!

    July 28, 2008

  • In NZ English, Kiwi for a NZer would be capitalised but kiwi for the bird would not be. Also, the plural of Kiwi (NZer) would be Kiwis, but the plural of kiwi (apteryx) is often kiwi, preserbing the M?ori usage.

    June 20, 2009