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Glite Dictionary
KP

KP

2 7.2
A person in the military who helps cook and serve food in the kitchen
  • noun
  • /keɪ pi/
  • Jargon
translation icon : cocinero
  • During the summer, I was on KP duty and helped prepare meals for the entire battalion.

Examples

  • And the only one to oblige him, of course... was a 16-year-old potato peeler on KP duty.

    Tusk (2014)

  • Yeah, you restrict him to barracks and KP.

    Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

  • You will all be on KP!

    Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

  • Well, here we are both doing KP.

    The Human Comedy (1943)

  • I got extra guard duty today, and I'm on KP this morning, so...

    Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

  • Just holler, sweetheart, if you want me for KP.

    Lolita (1962)

  • "That's going to get you six months of KP, sailor.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Now, since nobody else has got the guts... to admit it... the rest of this platoon... will do the next two weekends on KP.

    Stripes (1981)

  • But when they looked around and saw I was on KP, I was pulling guard and everything like they were, well, they figured, "well, he's just like us".

    This Is Elvis (1981)

  • Seeing as how the VP is such a VI P, shouldn't we keep the PC on the q.t., because if it leaks to the VC, he could end up an MIA, and then we'd all be put on KP.

    Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Synonyms

cook
vsKP
356 1.0

A person who prepares food at home or at work

helps with kitchen chores as an assigned enlisted duty, not the main food preparer
kitchen help
vsKP
1 2.5

A person who helps in a restaurant kitchen with preparing food and cleaning

is the enlisted military role rather than a civilian kitchen worker
kitchen police
vsKP
  • Jargon
6.5

A military person who helps cook and clean in the kitchen

focuses on food preparation and serving rather than cleaning

Surface Forms

KP singular
KPs plural

Morphology

KP = K + P

KP is an initialism (letters) and the letters do not transparently convey the meaning 'kitchen duties'; learners cannot derive the sense from the components.

Etymology

KP comes from a military short form of kitchen and police, and sometimes patrol. So a KP is a soldier who helps with the 'kitchen' by cooking, serving, and cleaning, which is why the term means kitchen duty today.