KAWAU is valid in Collins, not in North America — 12 points
It depends on the list you play by. KAWAU is in Collins, used in the UK and most of the world, but it is not in the North American lists — so in a US or Canadian game an opponent can challenge it off the board. Worth 12 points. Words with Friends does not accept it either.
Which word lists accept KAWAU?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Not listed |
Word power: 37 / 100
Our own measure of how useful KAWAU is to know. It scores 12 from 5 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 5.0% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for KAWAU
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
kawausChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How KAWAU scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in KAWAU, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| k | 1 | 1 |
| a | 2 | 9 |
| w | 1 | 2 |
| u | 1 | 4 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 261,415.
What does KAWAU mean in Scrabble?
noun
New Zealand
A cormorant, especially the black shag, common on New Zealand's coasts, rivers and lakes.
Kawau comes from Maori and works as the everyday name for several diving seabirds, though the black shag is the species most often meant. A well-known Maori saying about a kawau stretching its neck before flight was once used to describe warriors preparing for battle. The word also survives in place names, most famously Kawau Island.
How KAWAU is used
New Zealand English, used both in ordinary speech and in Maori-derived place names.
- A kawau dried its wings on the rock by the jetty.
- The lake held a small colony of kawau all winter.
- Local guides pointed out a kawau diving for fish.
- The word kawau names more than one species of shag.
- Children learn kawau as the Maori name for the black shag.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of KAWAU and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Words starting with KAWAU
1 longer words begin with KAWAU.
Shorter words from the letters in KAWAU
Common questions about KAWAU
- Is KAWAU valid in Words with Friends?
- No. Words with Friends keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries, and KAWAU is not in it.
- How many points is KAWAU worth?
- KAWAU is worth 12 points in Scrabble and 13 points in Words with Friends.
- What does KAWAU mean?
- A cormorant, especially the black shag, common on New Zealand's coasts, rivers and lakes.
- What letters can be added to KAWAU?
- KAWAU takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of KAWAU:
Open KAWAU in the Word Finder