noun
ko
KOH
noun
1
In the board game Go, a repeating capture situation where a single stone could be taken back and forth forever, so special rules stop it.
"She avoided starting a ko fight because she was already ahead on the board."
"The two players spent several minutes just fighting over the ko."
verb
1
To knock someone unconscious (often written as "KO" in sports and fighting contexts).
"The champion managed to ko his opponent in the second round."
"One clean punch was enough to ko him."
How to Use Ko
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishIn Go, a repeated-capture rule; in boxing slang, to knock someone out cold.
Common pairings
ko fight
ko someone out
Word Forms
KOed past tense, KO'd past tense, KO'ed past tense, ko plural, Kos plural, KOs singular, KO's singular
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She avoided starting a _____ fight because she was already ahead on the board.
Etymology
The Go sense is borrowed from the Japanese word 劫 (kō); the "knock out" verb comes from the abbreviation K.O.