17-letter words containing a, t, c, k
- counterparty risk — the risk that a person who is a party to a contract will default on their obligations under that contract
- cover your tracks — If someone covers their tracks, they hide or destroy evidence of their identity or their actions, because they want to keep them secret.
- cracking severity — Cracking severity is the temperature used in a cracking process to yield a product, higher temperatures being used to produce ethane and benzene, and lower temperatures to produce propene and liquid products.
- crew-neck sweater — a sweater with a crew neck
- critical thinking — disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence: The questions are intended to develop your critical thinking.
- customs brokerage — the work of a customs broker
- dictionary attack — an attempt to hack into a computer or network by submitting every word in a dictionary as a possible password
- dictionary-making — the work or activity of compiling dictionaries
- dirt track racing — motorcycle racing on a dirt track
- double track line — a railway line with double track
- egyptian brackets — (programming, humour) A humourous term for K&R indent style, referring to the "one hand up in front, one down behind" pose which popular culture inexplicably associates with Egypt.
- elastic stockings — something made of elastic which you wear on your legs to aid circulation
- fair market price — the price of something at which both a seller and a buyer are willing to strike a deal.
- fermentation lock — a valve placed on the top of bottles of fermenting wine to allow bubbles to escape
- flat as a pancake — without any curves or bumps
- flickertail state — North Dakota (used as a nickname).
- floating dry dock — a dock that floats and can be lowered in the water for the entrance of a ship, and then raised for use as a dry dock
- get a kick out of — enjoy, take pleasure in
- get one's back up — the rear part of the human body, extending from the neck to the lower end of the spine.
- go back to the pa — to abandon city life in favour of rural life
- go like hot cakes — to be sold very quickly or in large quantities
- grandfather clock — a pendulum floor clock having a case as tall as or taller than a person; tall-case clock; long-case clock.
- grandmother clock — a pendulum clock similar to a grandfather's clock but shorter.
- hard nut to crack — a dry fruit consisting of an edible kernel or meat enclosed in a woody or leathery shell.
- hasbrouck heights — a borough in NE New Jersey.
- have a thick skin — to be insensitive (or acutely sensitive) to blame, criticism, insults, etc.
- histamine blocker — any of various substances that act at a specific receptor site to block certain actions of histamine.
- horatio kitchener — Horatio Herbert (1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and of Broome) 1850–1916, English field marshal and statesman.
- housekeeping cart — A housekeeping cart is a large metal basket on wheels which is used by a cleaner in a hotel to move clean bed linen, towels, and cleaning equipment.
- human trafficking — the illegal practice of procuring or trading in human beings for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, or other forms of exploitation.
- icing on the cake — a sweet mixture, cooked or uncooked, for coating or filling cakes, cookies, and the like; icing.
- in the background — behind the focus of attention
- indian rope-trick — the supposed Indian feat of climbing an unsupported rope
- intent to package — (Debian) (ITP) A notice, posted to the Debian developer mailing list, announcing a developer's intent to make a new Debian package, including a brief description of the package and its license.
- internet backbone — (communications, networking) High-speed networks that carry Internet traffic. These communications networks are provided by companies such as AT&T, GTE, IBM, MCI, Netcom, Sprint, UUNET and consist of high-speed links in the T1, T3, OC1 and OC3 ranges. The backbones carry Internet traffic around the world and meet at Network Access Points (NAPs). The topology of the "backbone" and its interconnections may once have resembled a spine with ribs connected along its length but is now almost certainly more like a fishing net wrapped around the world with many circular paths.
- jack-in-the-green — (in England, formerly) a man who wore or supported a leaf-covered wooden framework while dancing in May-Day celebrations
- jerusalem cricket — a large, nocturnal, wingless, long-horned grasshopper, Stenopelmatus fuscus, occuring chiefly in loose soil and sand along the Pacific coast of the U.S.
- kansas city steak — strip steak.
- kansas city style — a style of jazz developed in Kansas City, Mo., in the early 1930s, marked by a strong blues influence, the use of riffs as a characteristic formal device, and a less pronounced beat than that of the New Orleans or Chicago style of jazz.
- kendal sneck bent — a fishhook having a wide, squarish bend.
- kensington palace — a royal residence in Kensington Gardens, in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea; dating from the 17th century, it was improved and extended by Sir Cristopher Wren
- kick in the pants — a reprimand or scolding designed to produce greater effort, enthusiasm, etc, in the person receiving it
- kinetic potential — the kinetic energy minus the potential energy in a system obeying the principle of conservation of energy. Symbol: L.
- kitchen appliance — a machine intended for use in the kitchen, such as a fridge or a food processor
- knock on the head — to daze or kill (a person) by striking on the head
- kvatro telecom as — (company) The company that maintains Mary. Address: Trondheim, Norway.
- lay it on (thick) — to exaggerate
- linking consonant — a consonant inserted between two vowels in speech
- little black book — an address book, esp. one kept by a man, with the names of women companions considered available for dating
- make conversation — If you make conversation, you talk to someone in order to be polite and not because you really want to.