KEEP IN,

is a caution either given to, or resolved on, by the compositor, when there may be doubt of driving out his matter beyond his counting off: wherefore he sets close, to Keep in.—M.

KEEP OUT,

is a caution either given to, or resolved on, by the compositor, when there may be doubt of getting in his matter too fast for his counting off: wherefore he sets wide, to drive or keep out.—M. This term is not now used; we say Drive out, which see.

KERN.

Kerned letters are such as have part of their face hanging over one side or both sides of their shanks.—M.

KEY.

A flat square hook, with a handle to put the fingers through in a transverse direction to the hook. Its use is to lift the forms out of the lye trough, after having brushed off the ink from the types, the furniture, and the chase.

KNOCK UP.

In the warehouse, is to place the sheets of each signature of a work uniformly even at the edges upon each other, after they are taken down from the poles, and previously to their being piled away.

The person who has this to do, takes a quantity of about two quires, (if it be a stout hard paper he may take a little more,) and holding it loosely at the edges with both hands, he bends the ends a little towards him, so that the paper shall form a curve; he then lifts it up a little from the table, and lets it drop upon its edge through his hands,—the curve giving the edge a little firmness, many of the sheets drop down into their places; he repeats this two or three times, and will then, in letting it drop upon the table, bring the lower part nearer to him, so that the outside of the curve may strike first, and throw the sheets gradually up higher at the back; this he will also do two or three times; he then lets the further side rest upon the table, and shuffles the upper sheets gradually away from him, lifting the whole up, and letting the edges drop upon the table, three or four times; repeating these operations soon brings all the edges even, both at the ends and sides; he then lays this taking on one side, and repeats the operation with other takings, laying them on each other, till he has completed the whole.

A soft flimsy paper takes more time in knocking up than a hard paper, as the sheets have not strength enough separately to be driven into their places by striking on the edges.

KNOCK UP BALLS.

To knock up balls is the term used for making balls: it is to cut the pelts to a proper size; to fill them with a proper quantity of wool; to nail them to the ball stocks; to trim them; and to put them into a working condition. See Balls.

KNOCK UP A LETTER.

It sometimes happens with old letter, that a letter may be worn so low that it will not print well in a page; the workman then takes that letter out of the form, and holds the shank of it upon the side of the chase, and with the head of the shooting stick beats lightly upon the foot of the shank, till he have battered metal enough out of the shank, to raise it higher against paper; if it prove too high against paper, he rubs the bottom of the shank upon the side of the chase, to rub it down. This operation seldom happens, unless another of the same sort of letter is wanting, and hard to come by: for else the compositor will bow the letter, and pop it into a waste box in his case, where he puts all naughty letters, that he may not be troubled with them another time.—M. See Bow the Letter.

KOOFEE,

Kufic, Cufic, Cuphic, or Oriental. Ancient Arabic; it was called Cuphic, from the town of Couphah, built on the Euphrates. See Arabic.