17-letter words containing a, s, k, o
- parts of kesteven — an area in E England constituting a former administrative division of Lincolnshire
- perth and kinross — a council area of N central Scotland, corresponding mainly to the historical counties of Perthshire and Kinross-shire: part of Tayside Region from 1975 until 1996: chiefly mountainous, with agriculture, tourism, and forestry. Administrative centre: Perth. Pop: 135 990 (2003 est). Area: 5321 sq km (2019 sq miles)
- planck's constant — the fundamental constant of quantum mechanics, expressing the ratio of the energy of one quantum of radiation to the frequency of the radiation and approximately equal to 6.624 × 10− 27 erg-seconds. Symbol: h.
- pocket battleship — a small heavily armed and armored warship serving as a battleship because of limitations imposed by treaty.
- porterhouse steak — large cut of beef loin
- positive feedback — Electronics. the process of returning part of the output of a circuit, system, or device to the input, either to oppose the input (negative feedback) or to aid the input (positive feedback) acoustic feedback.
- rack one's brains — to strain in mental effort, esp to remember something or to find the solution to a problem
- sacrifice paddock — a grassed area allowed to be grazed completely, to be cultivated and resown later
- sanitation worker — a person employed to collect, haul away, and dispose of garbage.
- second balkan war — Balkan War (def 2).
- second-hand smoke — from sb else's cigarette
- self-acknowledged — widely recognized; generally accepted: an acknowledged authority on Chinese art.
- selkirk mountains — a mountain range in SW Canada, in SE British Columbia. Highest peak: Mount Sir Sandford, 3533 m (11 590 ft)
- shake one's booty — to dance
- shoestring tackle — a tackle made around the ankles of the ball carrier.
- single-track road — a road that is only wide enough for one vehicle
- skate on thin ice — to place oneself in a dangerous or delicate situation
- smoke and mirrors — (used with a singular or plural verb) something that distorts or blurs facts, figures, etc., like a magic or conjuring trick; artful deception.
- smokeless tobacco — snuff1 (def 9).
- social networking — the development of social and professional contacts; the sharing of information and services among people with a common interest.
- social notworking — the practice of spending time unproductively on social networking websites, esp when one should be working
- south lanarkshire — a council area of S Scotland, comprising the S part of the historical county of Lanarkshire: included within Strathclyde Region from 1975 to 1996: has uplands in the S and part of the Glasgow conurbation in the N: mainly agricultural. Administrative centre: Hamilton. Pop: 303 010 (2003 est). Area: 1771 sq km (684 sq miles)
- spark photography — photography of fast-moving objects, as bullets, by the light of an electric spark.
- speak one's piece — a separate or limited portion or quantity of something: a piece of land; a piece of chocolate.
- split keyboarding — the act or practice of editing data from one terminal on another terminal
- spring cankerworm — the striped, green caterpillar of any of several geometrid moths: a foliage pest of various fruit and shade trees, as Paleacrita vernata (spring cankerworm) and Alsophila pometaria (fall cankerworm)
- stock certificate — a certificate evidencing ownership of one or more shares of stock in a corporation.
- stonewall jackson — Andrew ("Old Hickory") 1767–1845, U.S. general: 7th president of the U.S. 1829–37.
- sun-2 workstation — (computer) A Unix workstation produced by Sun Microsystems, Inc., based on the Motorola 68000. Followed by the Sun-3 Workstation.
- sun-3 workstation — (computer) A Unix workstation produced by Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the 1980s, based on the Motorola 68020. Successor to the Sun-2 Workstation, followed by the Sun-4 Workstation. The Sun-3 had a custom MMU. A couple of mutant models used an entirely different architecture.
- sun-4 workstation — (computer) A Unix workstation produced by Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the late 1980s[?], based on SPARC processors. The Sun-4 followed the Sun-3 Workstation. Later SPARC-based workstations were called "SPARCstations".
- sweet mock orange — the syringa, Philadelphus coronarius.
- take into custody — to arrest
- take no prisoners — to be uncompromising and resolute in one's actions
- take second place — If one thing takes second place to another, it is considered to be less important and is given less attention than the other thing.
- take some beating — to be difficult to improve upon
- take sth by storm — If someone or something takes a place by storm, they are extremely successful.
- take sth on trust — If you take something on trust after having heard or read it, you believe it completely without checking it.
- take sth to heart — If you take something to heart, for example someone's behaviour, you are deeply affected and upset by it.
- take to one's bed — to remain in bed, esp because of illness
- take upon oneself — to take the responsibility for; accept as a charge
- take years off sb — If you say that something such as an experience or a way of dressing has taken years off someone, you mean that it has made them look or feel much younger.
- take-no-prisoners — wholeheartedly aggressive; zealous; gung-ho: a businessman with a take-no-prisoners attitude toward dealmaking.
- the bag of tricks — every device; everything
- to make ends meet — If you find it difficult to make ends meet, you can only just manage financially because you hardly have enough money for the things you need.
- to make sth clear — If you make something clear, you say something in a way that makes it impossible for there to be any doubt about your meaning, wishes, or intentions.
- to strike a chord — If something strikes a chord with you, it makes you feel sympathy or enthusiasm.
- trackless trolley — trolley bus.
- triskaidekaphobia — fear or a phobia concerning the number 13.
- trucial sheikdoms — an independent federation in E Arabia, formed in 1971, now comprising seven emirates on the S coast (formerly, Pirate Coast or Trucial Coast) of the Persian Gulf, formerly under British protection: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah (joined 1972), and Fujairah. About 32,300 sq. mi. (83,657 sq. km). Capital: Abu Dhabi. Abbreviation: U.A.E.