16-letter words containing c, a, k, e
- hairy woodpecker — a North American woodpecker, Picoides villosus, resembling but larger than the downy woodpecker.
- hard-packed snow — snow which becomes very firmly packed as it becomes refrozen due to cold weather conditions rather than melting
- hardrock geology — (loosely) of or relating to igneous or metamorphic rocks, as in mining (hard-rock mining) and geology (hard-rock geology)
- hen-and-chickens — any of several succulent plants that grow in clusters or colonies formed by runners or offshoots, as those of the genera Echeveria and Sempervivum.
- horseback riding — activity: riding a horse
- imperfect market — a market where buyers or sellers can influence the market, and there is a lack of product information
- in a cleft stick — If you say that a person or organization is in a cleft stick, you mean that they are in a difficult situation which will bring them problems and harm whatever they decide to do.
- insurance broker — person who sells insurance policies
- inter-packet gap — (networking) A time delay between successive data packets mandated by the network standard for protocol reasons. In Ethernet, the medium has to be "silent" (i.e., no data transfer) for a few microseconds before a node can consider the network idle and start to transmit. This is necessary for fairness reasons. The delay time, which approximately equals the signal propagation time on the cable, allows the "silence" to reach the far end so that all nodes consider the net idle.
- j. random hacker — (jargon) /J rand'm hak'r/ MIT jargon for a mythical figure; the archetypal hacker nerd. This may originally have been inspired by "J. Fred Muggs", a show-biz chimpanzee whose name was a household word back in the early days of TMRC, and was probably influenced by J. Presper Eckert (one of the co-inventors of the electronic computer). See random, Suzie COBOL.
- kangaroo closure — a form of closure in which the chair or speaker selects certain amendments for discussion and excludes others
- karyokinetically — In a karyokinetic manner; by means of karyokinesis.
- keep one's place — a particular portion of space, whether of definite or indefinite extent.
- keep pace (with) — to go at the same speed (as)
- kentucky warbler — a wood warbler, Oporornis formosus, of the U.S., olive-green above, yellow below, and marked with black on the face.
- kentucky windage — a method of correcting for windage, gravity, etc., by aiming a weapon to one side of the target instead of by adjusting the sights.
- keratoacanthomas — Plural form of keratoacanthoma.
- keyman insurance — life insurance taken out by a business firm on an essential or very important employee, with the firm as beneficiary.
- khakass republic — a constituent republic of S central Russia, formerly in Krasnoyarsk Territory: formed in 1930. Capital: Abakan. Pop: 546 100 (2002). Area: 61 900 sq km (23 855 sq miles)
- kilogram calorie — kilocalorie.
- kit and caboodle — a set or collection of tools, supplies, instructional matter, etc., for a specific purpose: a first-aid kit; a sales kit.
- knapsack problem — the problem of determining which numbers from a given collection of numbers have been added together to yield a specific sum: used in cryptography to encipher (and sometimes decipher) messages.
- knitting machine — machine that knits yarn into fabric
- know one's place — a particular portion of space, whether of definite or indefinite extent.
- knuckle sandwich — a punch in the mouth with a clenched fist.
- krebs urea cycle — urea cycle.
- kurdaitcha shoes — (in certain Central Australian Aboriginal tribes) the emu-feather shoes worn by the kurdaitcha on his mission so that his footsteps may not be traced
- labtech notebook — (tool, product) Commercial data aquisition software.
- lake havasu city — a city in W central Arizona.
- lake saint clair — a lake between SE Michigan and Ontario: linked with Lake Huron by the St Clair River and with Lake Erie by the Detroit River. Area: 1191 sq km (460 sq miles)
- 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 cat and dog — quarrelling savagely
- lipstick lesbian — a lesbian who is feminine in manner or appearance; a femme.
- little black ant — a widely distributed ant, Monomorium minimum, sometimes a household pest.
- 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
- mackinaw blanket — a thick woolen blanket, often woven with bars of color, formerly used in the northern and western U.S. by Indians, loggers, etc.
- magnetic pick-up — a type of record player pick-up in which the stylus moves an iron core in a coil, causing a changing magnetic field that produces the current
- make a complaint — If a guest makes a complaint, they express their dissatisfaction with something.
- make a photocopy — If you make a photocopy of a document, you make a copy of it using a photocopier.
- make a pitch for — to give verbal support to
- 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.
- megakaryoblastic — (cytology) Of or pertaining to a megakaryoblast.
- mock examination — an examination, esp in a school, taken as practice before an official examination
- monkey-faced owl — barn owl.
- narcotraffickers — Plural form of narcotrafficker.
- nassella tussock — type of tussock grass
- near the knuckle — risqué
- necklace killing — an instance in which someone is killed by a burning tyre that has been placed around his or her neck.
- new jack (swing) — a style of rhythm-and-blues music blending rap, disco, funk, soul, etc. and characterized by aggressive, boastful, romantic lyrics