18-letter words containing a, s, k
- fall-back position — an alternative plan
- family-size packet — a packet large enough to be suitable for a family
- fantasy basketball — imagination, especially when extravagant and unrestrained.
- faraday dark space — the dark region between the negative glow and the positive column in a vacuum tube occurring when the pressure is low.
- feldenkrais method — a system of gentle movements that promote flexibility, coordination, and self-awareness
- flat on one's back — lying supine
- for heaven's sake! — a mild exclamation of surprise, annoyance, etc.
- frederick douglass — Frederick, 1817–95, U.S. ex-slave, abolitionist, and orator.
- get one's own back — of, relating to, or belonging to oneself or itself (usually used after a possessive to emphasize the idea of ownership, interest, or relation conveyed by the possessive): He spent only his own money.
- gooseneck barnacle — goose barnacle
- grosse pointe park — a city in SE Michigan, near Detroit.
- have on one's back — to be burdened with
- have what it takes — be able or qualified for sth
- hawksbill (turtle) — a medium-sized marine turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata, family Cheloniidae) having a hawklike beak and a horny shell from which tortoise shell is obtained
- head disk assembly — (hardware, storage) (HDA) A sealed, high capacity mainframe hard disk with integral heads, as opposed to a removable disk.
- heteroskedasticity — Alternative spelling of heteroscedasticity.
- honeysuckle family — the plant family Caprifoliaceae, typified by shrubs and woody vines having opposite leaves, clusters of usually flaring, narrow, tubular flowers, and various types of fruit, and including the elder, honeysuckle, snowberry, twinflower, and viburnum.
- jack of all trades — a person who is adept at many different kinds of work.
- jack-of-all-trades — a person who is adept at many different kinds of work.
- jacksonville beach — a city in NE Florida.
- japanese artichoke — Chinese artichoke.
- just (plain) folks — simple and unassuming; not snobbish
- kansas gay-feather — prairie button snakeroot.
- kawasaki's disease — a disease of children that causes a rash, fever, and swelling of the lymph nodes and often damages the heart muscle
- keep at a distance — to be reserved or cool toward; treat aloofly
- keep one's hand in — the terminal, prehensile part of the upper limb in humans and other primates, consisting of the wrist, metacarpal area, fingers, and thumb.
- kentucky bluegrass — a grass, Poa pratensis, of the Mississippi valley, used for pasturage and lawns.
- king james version — Authorized Version.
- king of the castle — most powerful figure
- king william's war — the war (1689–97) in which England and its American colonies and Indian allies opposed France and its Indian allies and which constituted the American phase of the War of the Grand Alliance.
- king's regulations — (in Britain and the Commonwealth when the sovereign is male) the code of conduct for members of the armed forces that deals with discipline, aspects of military law, etc
- king-of-the-salmon — a ribbonfish, Trachypterus altivelis, of northern parts of the Pacific Ocean.
- kirtland's warbler — a wood warbler, Dendroica kirtlandii, breeding only in north-central Michigan and wintering in the Bahamas, bluish gray above, striped with black and pale yellow below: an endangered species.
- kitchen-sink drama — a type of drama of the 1950s depicting the sordid aspects of domestic reality
- knights of pythias — a fraternal order founded in Washington, D.C., in 1864.
- knotted cranesbill — a British wildflower, Geranium nodosum, an meadow geranium with bright pink or purple flowers
- known lazy bastard — (abuse) (KLB) A term, used among technical support staff, for a user who repeatedly asks for help with problems whose solutions are clearly explained in the documentation, and persists in doing so after having been told to RTFM. KLBs are singled out for special treatment (i.e. ridicule), especially if they have been heard to say "It's so boring to read the manual! Why don't you just tell me?". The deepest pit in Hell is reserved for KLBs whose questions reveal total ignorance of the basic concepts (e.g., "How do I make a font in Excel?", "Where do I turn on my RAM?"), and who refuse to accept that their questions are neither simple nor well-formed.
- komsomolsk-on-amur — city in SE Russia, on the Amur River: pop. 309,000
- krause's corpuscle — any of numerous encapsulated nerve endings occurring in the skin and mucous membranes, functioning as sensory cold receptors.
- like a house afire — a building in which people live; residence for human beings.
- long-stay car park — a car park (eg at an airport) where cars can be left for a long time
- looking-glass self — the self-image an individual forms by imagining what others think of his or her behavior and appearance.
- make (one's) peace — If you make peace with someone or make your peace with them, you put an end to your quarrel with them, often by apologizing.
- make a meal of sth — If you think someone is taking more time and energy to do something than is necessary, you can say that they are making a meal of it.
- make an impression — have impact
- make matters worse — If you say that something makes matters worse, you mean that it makes a difficult situation even more difficult.
- make one's excuses — to express one's regret over not being able to attend a social gathering, etc.
- make short work of — exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.
- make someone tired — to annoy or vex someone
- make sth one's own — If you make something your own, you become involved in it in such a way that people think of it as being related only to you or belonging only to you, rather than to anyone else.