koan - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

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- - knuckle
  - knuckle bone
  - knuckle sandwich
  - knuckleball
  - knuckleduster
  - knucklehead
  - knurl
  - KO
  - koa
  - koala
  - koan
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koan

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Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
koan /ˈkəʊɑːn, ˈkəʊan/

▶noun a paradoxical anecdote or riddle, used in Zen Buddhism to show the inadequacy of logical reasoning and provoke enlightenment.

– origin Japanese, lit. ‘matter for public thought’, from Chin. gōngàn ‘official business’.

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