Words / A1

KEYE-ak/ˈkaɪæk/

A kayak is a narrow boat for one person (sometimes two); you sit inside and use a paddle with a blade at each end. Countable: a kayak, kayaks. A canoe is also narrow but you often kneel and the paddle has one blade; a raft is flat with no pointed ends like this; a boat is a general word. Mix-up: kayak vs kayak as two same halves — it is one word, not kay + ak.

Meaning

A narrow boat for one person, moved with a paddle that has two ends.

Examples

• “She paddled the kayak on the lake.”
• “Wear a life jacket in the kayak.”
• “The kayak turned over in the waves.”

Good to know

a kayak (narrow, two-ended paddle). Contrast: canoe (one blade), raft (flat), boat (general).

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