kemp

¹

[ kemp ]

noun

1. British Dialect.
   1. a strong, brave warrior.
   2. an athlete, especially a champion.
   3. a professional fighter.
   4. an impetuous or roguish young man.
2. Scot. and North England. a contest, as between two athletes or two groups of workers, especially a reaping contest between farmworkers.

verb (used without object)

1. Scot. and North England. to contest, fight, or strive, especially to strive in a reaping contest.

kemp

²

[ kemp ]

noun

1. a short, coarse, brittle fiber, used chiefly in the manufacture of carpets.

Kemp

³

[ kemp ]

noun

1. Jack F., 1935–2009, U.S. politician: congressman 1970–89.
2. a male given name.

kemp

/ kɛmp /

noun

1. a coarse hair or strand of hair, esp one in a fleece that resists dyeing

Derived Forms

• ˈkempy, adjective

Other Words From

• kempy adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of kemp¹

before 900; Middle English kempe, Old English cempa; cognate with Old Frisian kempa, kampa, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German kemp ( e ), Old High German chemp ( i ) o; ultimately < West Germanic, perhaps through Latin campiō; champion

Origin of kemp²

1350–1400; Middle English kempe coarse (said of hair); akin to Old English cenep mustache, bristly object, Old Norse kampr mustache, cat's whiskers

Word History and Origins

Origin of kemp¹

C14: from Old Norse kampr beard, moustache

Example Sentences

Two years later, Kemp beat Abrams by about a point and a half.

From Washington Post

The school district had four months to determine how to reopen after Kemp closed schools across the state in early April and classes went remote.

From ProPublica

Having a larger number of staff working part time hasn’t seemed to harm the agency’s ability to win pitches, having converted around 80% of the agency’s new business this year, according to Kemp.

From Digiday

As Kemp reported on each new development, her following grew.

From Washington Post

Kemp, before this election, introduced the “use it or lose it” protocol.

From TruthBeTold.news

The police learned that Kemp worked in a grocery on Decatur Avenue.

From The Daily Beast

The man, Joshua Kemp, told what police describe as “a bogus story that quickly fell apart.”

From The Daily Beast

The investigation is ongoing, but Kemp has yet to make public any evidence of widespread fraud by the group.

From The Daily Beast

The first is former Congressman Jack Kemp, whom Paul worked for in Washington.

From The Daily Beast

But Kemp belongs to a different time, and that time has now been long in passing.

From The Daily Beast

She was built of cedar, and her lines and midship section are given in Dixon Kemp's 'Boat-sailing.'

From Project Gutenberg

There is certainly no lack of either about this idyll of Elizabeth Kemp of the lissome limbs and auburn hair.

From Project Gutenberg

Kemp-Welch was the only member of our party left, the rest proceeding homeward by another route.

From Project Gutenberg

Mrs. Kemp said she always knew 't was a great risk, and that was why she didn't have me bound.

From Project Gutenberg

Until your last note I had not heard that Mr. Kemp's seeds had produced two Polygonums.

From Project Gutenberg