16-letter words containing a, k, e, r
- laurentides park — a national park in SE Canada, in Quebec province between the St. Lawrence and Lake St. John.
- leap in the dark — to spring through the air from one point or position to another; jump: to leap over a ditch.
- lick observatory — the astronomical observatory of the University of California, situated on Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California, and having a 120-inch (3-meter) reflecting telescope and a 36-inch (91-cm) refracting telescope.
- like gangbusters — a law-enforcement officer who specializes in breaking up organized crime, often by forceful or sensational means.
- luck of the draw — the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities: With my luck I'll probably get pneumonia.
- lumberjack shirt — a thick checked shirt, as worn by lumberjacks
- mahalla el kubra — a city in Egypt, on the Nile delta.
- make a break for — run towards
- make a pitch for — to give verbal support to
- make a virtue of — If you make a virtue of something, you pretend that you did it because you chose to, although in fact you did it because you had to.
- make the fur fly — the fine, soft, thick, hairy coat of the skin of a mammal.
- make the running — If someone is making the running in a situation, they are more active than the other people involved.
- man booker prize — an annual prize for a work of Commonwealth or Irish fiction of £50,000, awarded as the Booker Prize from 1969–2002
- man on horseback — a military leader who presents himself as the savior of the country during a period of crisis and either assumes or threatens to assume dictatorial powers.
- man-eating shark — any shark known to attack humans, especially the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias.
- market gardening — Chiefly British. truck farm.
- measured daywork — a system of wage payment, usually determined by work-study techniques, whereby the wage of an employee is fixed on the understanding that a specific level of work performance will be maintained
- meet one's maker — to die
- megakaryoblastic — (cytology) Of or pertaining to a megakaryoblast.
- mover and shaker — a person who has power and influence, esp., a member of a group having power and influence
- narcotraffickers — Plural form of narcotrafficker.
- near the knuckle — risqué
- network analysis — a mathematical method of analyzing complex problems, as in transportation or project scheduling, by representing the problem as a network of lines and nodes.
- network database — (database) A kind of database management system in which each record type can have multiple owners, e.g. orders are owned by both customers and products. This contrasts with a hierarchical database (one owner) or relational database (no explicit owner).
- network operator — (job) A person who monitors and maintains the operation of a communications network. A network operator troubleshoots hardware (cables, routers, network switches, hubs, network adaptors), software, and transmission problems.
- nubuck (leather) — tanned leather similar to suede, but with the nap on the grain side
- nutcracker suite — a ballet and concert suite (1892) arranged by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky from his orchestral work for a ballet, The Nutcracker.
- oak leaf cluster — a U.S. military decoration in the form of a small bronze twig bearing four oak leaves and three acorns, worn on the ribbon of another decoration for valor, wounds, or distinguished service to signify a second award of the same medal.
- observation deck — an area on a high building that is surrounded with railings or fencing and which provides panoramic views
- ocellated turkey — a wild turkey, Agriocharis ocellata, of Yucatán, Belize, and Guatemala, typically having green, blue, reddish-brown, and yellowish-brown plumage of a metallic luster and eyelike spots on the tail.
- oil storage tank — a very large industrial container where petroleum is stored
- parallel haskell — (language, parallel) (pH) A parallel variant of Haskell incorporating ideas from Id and Sisal. pH is under development. Mailing list: [email protected]
- parallel parking — parking along curb in line with other vehicles
- parkerhouse roll — a yeast roll shaped by folding over a flat, round piece of buttered dough
- pharmacokinetics — the branch of pharmacology that studies the fate of pharmacological substances in the body, as their absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination.
- pleasure-seeking — always looking for pleasure
- pocket billiards — pool2 (def 1).
- pocket secretary — a long, narrow walletlike case, usually of leather and containing pockets for credit and business cards, paper money, etc., and sometimes a notepad and pencil.
- posigrade rocket — an auxiliary rocket used to separate the sections of a multistage rocket, fired in the direction of flight.
- pressure flaking — a method of manufacturing a flint tool by pressing flakes from a stone core with a pointed implement, usually of wood tipped with antler or copper.
- rack one's brain — If you rack your brains, you try very hard to think of something.
- rainbow lorikeet — a small Australasian parrot, Trichoglossus haematodus, with brightly-coloured plumage
- raise the stakes — to increase the amount of money or valuables hazarded in a gambling game
- ranikhet disease — Newcastle disease.
- rape of the lock — a mock-epic poem (1712) by Alexander Pope.
- rattlesnake fern — any of several American grape ferns, especially Botrychium virginianium, having clusters of sporangia resembling the rattles of a rattlesnake.
- rattlesnake flag — any of a number of U.S. flags that bear a picture of a rattlesnake and the motto “Don't Tread on Me,” especially those used during the French and Indian War and the American Revolution.
- rattlesnake root — any of certain composite plants of the genus Prenanthes, whose roots or tubers have been regarded as a remedy for snake bites, as P. serpentaria or P. alba.
- rattlesnake weed — a hawkweed, Hieracium venosum, of eastern North America, whose leaves and root are thought to possess medicinal properties.
- razor-billed auk — a black and white auk, Alca torda, of the American and European coasts of the northern North Atlantic, having a compressed black bill encircled by a white band.