noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An Okinawan martial art involving primarily punching and kicking, but additionally, advanced throws, arm bars, grappling and all means of fighting. uncountable

   "Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Wall taught karate at a local nursing home."

2. 2
   a traditional Japanese system of unarmed combat; sharp blows and kicks are given to pressure-sensitive points on the body of the opponent wordnet

Verb

1. 1
   To attack (somebody or something) with karate or similar techniques. informal, transitive

Example

More examples

"Karate is an art of unarmed defense."

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 空(から)手(て) (karate), from 唐(から)手(て) (karate), an orthographic borrowing from Okinawan 唐手(とーでぃー) (tōdī, “Chinese hand”).

Related phrases

karate chopmartial art

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.