Search Result for "ku_klux_klan":
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. a secret society of white Southerners in the United States; was formed in the 19th century to resist the emancipation of slaves; used terrorist tactics to suppress Black people;
[syn: Ku Klux Klan, Klan, KKK]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Kuklux \Ku`klux"\, Ku Klux \Ku` Klux"\, Ku Klux Klan \Ku` Klux" Klan\, n. The name adopted in the southern part of the United States by a secret political organization, active for several years after the close of the Civil War, and having for its aim the repression of the political power of the freed negroes; -- called also Kuklux Klan and the Klan. It exerienced a revival in the 1920's, in the north as well as the south, and persists as a weak organization into the 1990's. Its goals were primarily anti-negro and anti-Catholic, and its tactics included terrorist attacks on negroes for the purpose of intimidation with the goal of continuing segregation. The signature activity of the Klan was the burning of a cross, either at rallies of Klansmen, or on the property of African-Americans which they hoped to intimidate. [1913 Webster +PJC]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

Ku Klux Klan n 1: a secret society of white Southerners in the United States; was formed in the 19th century to resist the emancipation of slaves; used terrorist tactics to suppress Black people [syn: Ku Klux Klan, Klan, KKK]