kung fu

noun \ ˌkəŋ-ˈfü , ˌku̇ŋ- \

|Updated on: 7 Jul 2018

Definition of kung fu

: any of various Chinese martial arts and related disciplines that are practiced especially for self-defense, exercise, and spiritual growth

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Recent Examples of kung fu from the Web

Through Wu-Tang’s influence, Chang herself became a student of kung fu films, watching them with girlfriends and falling in love with the John Wu films and Chow Yun Fat in particular.

— anne branigin, The Root, "Sophia Chang Ain’t Nothing to Fuck Wit’," 25 June 2018
The film industry is perhaps best known for 1970s-era kung fu movies starring Bruce Lee and acclaimed ’90s-era dramas by the director Wong Kar-wai.

— New York Times, "A Crackdown on Film Props Angers Hong Kong’s Cinephiles," 1 June 2018
Probably the most important thing to realize here is that this is a little bit kung fu.

— paul sisson, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Medical know-how for the family caregiver," 24 Apr. 2018
The ball took a rather awkward bounce and flew up above his head and, rather than wait to bring it down with his chest, executed an ridiculous kung fu-style kick to play in his teammate.

— SI.com, "PHOTO: LA Galaxy's Zlatan Ibrahimovic Wows As He Audaciously Controls Ball Above His Head," 24 Apr. 2018
The elderly man shared his knowledge of shamanism, yoga, kung fu, and peyote, which Castaneda wrote about in several books.

— Los Angeles Magazine, "A Brief History of L.A.’s Most Notorious Cults," 23 Apr. 2018
With kung fu performances and ukulele-carrying preschoolers singing in multiple languages, a colorful scene celebrated the project’s launch.

— evan bush, The Seattle Times, "Seattle’s Refugee Women’s Alliance building gets $5.5M expansion … and a party to celebrate," 29 Mar. 2018
And the jerky, slicing style of Vogue arm movements were reportedly inspired by Bruce Lee’s kung fu films.

— thomas adamson, BostonGlobe.com, "Voguing revives as Paris minorities strike a political pose," 25 Mar. 2018
There’s only one thing dumber than believing in kung fu lessons from the guy from Happy Days who wasn’t even tough enough to tell the Fonz to stop banging on the jukebox for free songs: Rocks.

— stephen a. crockett jr., The Root, "An Incomplete List of the Dumbest Ways to Stop a School Shooting," 26 Mar. 2018

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