Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. vt., To pound, punch, strike, box, hit, hammer; to beat out, as metals; to churn, as butter; to boom or clap, as thunder; to smite, injure; to jar; to prod, as ʻopihi shells from rocks with a knife, formerly with sharp stones; to clash (as sound).

• Examples:
  • Piha kuʻi ka hale, the house is jammed full.
  • Kuʻi palu, to pound, as bait [to give a threshing].
• Related:
  • With a fronted n-word, for emphasis, kuʻi is used as a stative: ʻA ʻole naʻu ʻoe ā kuʻi, na kēlā wahi keiki …, nāna ʻoe e kuʻi (Laie 387), I won't fight you, that little boy … will fight you.
  • hoʻokuʻi Caus/sim.; To hit, pound, collide, crash, bump. Figuratively, to hurt the feelings.
    • Hālāwai hoʻokuʻi, collision; to collide.
    • Hoʻokuʻi i ka manamana, stub the toe.
• References:
  • See hula kuʻi Molokaʻi.
  • PPN tuki .

2. nvt., To join, stitch, sew, splice, unite; joined; seam.

• Examples:
  • Nā lā kuʻi o ke kapu akua, days of godly taboo; literally, days, joined.
  • Aliʻi kuʻi, the power behind the throne, the one who really holds the reins [often used in a derogatory way].
  • E kuʻi ka māmā ā loaʻa ʻo Kaʻohele, combines speeds and get Kaʻohele [a famous runner, Kaʻohele, could be caught only by relay runners; said of any cooperation].
• Related:
  • Hula kuʻi, any interpretive hula, so called since the days of Kalākaua; literally, joined hula, i.e., old and new steps were joined together.
  • hoʻokuʻi Caus/sim.
    • a. To join, connect, annex, weld, unite; to connect, as letters in forming a word; to spell; to dovetail, fit, splice; to add up, as numbers.
    • Examples:
      • Hoʻokuʻi nei kou alelo i ka hoʻopunipuni (Hal. 50.19), thy tongue frameth deceit.
    • Related:
      • ʻAmi hoʻokuʻi, joint.
    • b. Zenith.
    • Examples:
      • Mai ka hoʻokuʻi ā ka hālāwai, from zenith to horizon.
• References:
  • See niho kuʻi.

3. vs., Artificial.

• Examples:
  • Lauoho kuʻi, wig or switch.
  • Niho kuʻi, false teeth.
  • Wāwae kuʻi, artificial leg.

4. n., Back tooth, molar, tusk.

5. vi., To disseminate news; to spread, as news.

• Examples:
  • Kuʻi ka lono i Pelekane, the news spread to England.
• References:
  • PCP tuki .

6. n., Elbow of pipe.

7. vs., Sheer, steep, tall.

• Examples:
  • Kuʻu kaikuaʻana o ka pali hiʻi, pali kuʻi o Ka-liu-waʻa (chant by Kamapuaʻa), my older brother of the sheer cliff, steep cliffs of Kaliuwaʻa.

8. n., Move in the kōnane game.

• References:
  • See For. 4:57.

1. vt., To string pierced objects, as flowers in a lei, or fish; to thread, as beads.

• References:
  • Cf. kui lima.
  • PPN tui .

2. nvt., Needle, pin, spike, nail, screw, any pointed instrument of wood or metal; to sting.

• Examples:
  • Ē ka make, ai mahea kou kui? O death, where is thy sting?