Definition of "karate" []

• A Japanese art of self-defense in which sharp blows and kicks are administered to pressure-sensitive points on the body of an opponent. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "But I was in what I call my karate state—a heightened level of consciousness typified by perceptual vigilance."
• "He holds a second-degree black belt in karate, a yellow belt in jiu jitsu, and works for the Canadian Federal Public Service."
• "In his 2004 case before the Federal Court, the government made submissions that his interest in karate could infer his involvement in terrorism,"