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Possible definitions for kazak

kayak
Type of canoe covered by a deck except for a cockpit in which the paddler sits. It has a pointed bow and stern and no keel; the paddler faces forward, grasping a double-bladed paddle and dipping the blades alternately on either side. Usually built for one occupant, it can be designed for two or three. Kayaks were traditionally used for fishing and hunting by Eskimos, who stretched seal or other animal skins over a driftwood or whalebone frame and rubbed the skins with animal fat for waterproofing. The paddler wore an overlapping shield to allow the kayak to be righted without taking on water if it rolled over. Now often made of molded plastic or fiberglass, kayaks are widely used for recreation.


Kazan
City (pop., 1996 est.: 1,100,000), capital of the Tatarstan republic, W Russia. Located at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka rivers, it was founded in the 13th cent. by Mongols of the Golden Horde, and became the capital of an independent khanate in the 15th cent. In 1552 Ivan IV captured Kazan and subjugated the khanate. The city was burned in a revolt (1773-74), but after its reconstruction it grew in importance as a trading center, and by 1900 it was one of the chief manufacturing cities of Russia.

U.S. (Greek-born) stage and film director. At age 4 he emigrated to the U.S. with his family. An actor with the Group Theatre in 1932-39, he became a noted Broadway director with such plays as The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), All My Sons (1947), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947; film, 1951), Death of a Salesman (1949), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1952), J.B. (1958, Tony award), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). In 1947 he cofounded the Actors Studio. He was praised for his naturalistic style in such movies as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Gentleman's Agreement (1947, Academy Award), On the Waterfront (1954, Academy Award), and East of Eden (1955). Though bitterly attacked for his cooperation with the House Un-American Activities Committee in the early 1950s, he received an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 1999.


Batak
Several closely related ethnic groups of central Sumatra, Indonesia. The Batak are descendants of a powerful Proto-Malayan people who until 1825 lived in relative isolation in the highlands surrounding Lake Toba in Sumatra. They have their own written language. In their traditional religion, ancestors, plants, animals, and inanimate objects are considered to possess souls or spirits; today about a third of the 3.1 million Batak adhere to traditional beliefs, while the rest profess Christianity or Islam.


Dayaks
In Borneo, a non-Muslim indigenous people of the S and W interior (modern Kalimantan). Dayak is a generic term that has no precise ethnic or tribal significance but distinguishes the indigenous people from the largely Malay population of the coastal areas. Most Dayaks are riverine people who live in small longhouse communities. Children ...

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