kava

ka·va | \ ˈkä-və

Definition of kava

1 : an Australasian shrubby pepper (Piper methysticum) from whose crushed root an intoxicating beverage is made also : the beverage made from kava

2 : the dried rhizome and roots of the kava used especially as a dietary supplement chiefly to relieve stress and anxiety

Examples of kava in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Gather inside the community house for a kava ceremony with the village elders. — National Geographic, "Fiji Community Service: Community Restoration," 10 Sep. 2019 Gather inside the community house for a kava ceremony with the village elders. — National Geographic, "Fiji Community Service: Community Restoration," 10 Sep. 2019 Also try kava, the traditional drink of Fiji made from the root of a pepper plant mixed with water. — Danielle Pointdujour, Essence, "Black Travel Vibes: Unplug From It All In Fiji," 8 Nov. 2019 That involved going to a ceremony where these guys were pounding kava root with a stone and putting it into a drink. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "UCSD’s ‘Indiana Jones’ stars in new NatGeo series ‘Lost Cities’," 21 Oct. 2019 Gather inside the community house for a kava ceremony with the village elders. — National Geographic, "Fiji Community Service: Community Restoration," 10 Sep. 2019 Gather inside the community house for a kava ceremony with the village elders. — National Geographic, "Fiji Community Service: Community Restoration," 10 Sep. 2019 Gather inside the community house for a kava ceremony with the village elders. — National Geographic, "Fiji Community Service: Community Restoration," 10 Sep. 2019 Gather inside the community house for a kava ceremony with the village elders. — National Geographic, "Fiji Community Service: Community Restoration," 10 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'kava.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

17 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Kava.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kava. Accessed 17 January 2020.

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More Definitions for kava

kava

noun

ka·va | \ ˈkäv-ə

Medical Definition of kava

1 : an Australasian shrubby pepper (Piper methysticum) from whose crushed root an intoxicating beverage is made also : the beverage

2 : a preparation consisting of the ground dried rhizome and roots of the kava plant that is used as a dietary supplement chiefly to relieve stress, anxiety, and sleeplessness and in folk medicine especially as a diuretic and urogenital antiseptic and that has been linked to cases of severe liver injury