16-letter words containing c, a, s, k
- hard-packed snow — snow which becomes very firmly packed as it becomes refrozen due to cold weather conditions rather than melting
- 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
- 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
- kangaroo closure — a form of closure in which the chair or speaker selects certain amendments for discussion and excludes others
- kaposi's sarcoma — a form of skin cancer found in Africans and more recently in victims of AIDS
- keep one's place — a particular portion of space, whether of definite or indefinite extent.
- 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)
- kirchhoff's laws — the law that the algebraic sum of the currents flowing toward any point in an electric network is zero.
- 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.
- 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
- 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)
- laughing jackass — kookaburra.
- 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.
- lipstick lesbian — a lesbian who is feminine in manner or appearance; a femme.
- lumberjack shirt — a thick checked shirt, as worn by lumberjacks
- mad-dog skullcap — a North American skullcap, Scutellaria lateriflora, having underground stems and one-sided clusters of blue to white flowers.
- 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.
- narcotraffickers — Plural form of narcotrafficker.
- nassella tussock — type of tussock grass
- new jack (swing) — a style of rhythm-and-blues music blending rap, disco, funk, soul, etc. and characterized by aggressive, boastful, romantic lyrics
- not miss a trick — to be very alert
- 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
- packet switching — a method of efficient data transmission whereby the initial message is broken into relatively small units, or packets, that are routed independently and subsequently reassembled.
- packet-switching — a method of efficient data transmission whereby the initial message is broken into relatively small units, or packets, that are routed independently and subsequently reassembled.
- pharmacokinetics — the branch of pharmacology that studies the fate of pharmacological substances in the body, as their absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination.
- 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.
- pork scratchings — small pieces of crisply cooked pork crackling, eaten cold as an appetizer with drinks
- posigrade rocket — an auxiliary rocket used to separate the sections of a multistage rocket, fired in the direction of flight.
- put a sock in it — be quiet!
- quick as a flash — If you say that someone reacts to something quick as a flash, you mean that they react to it extremely quickly.
- rack one's brain — If you rack your brains, you try very hard to think of something.
- river carpsucker — a carpsucker, Carpiodes carpio, found in silty rivers of the central U.S. south to Mexico.
- scotch blackface — one of a Scottish breed of mountain sheep having a black face and growing long, coarse wool.
- secondary market — the market that exists for an issue after large blocks of shares have been publicly distributed.
- secondhand smoke — smoke from a cigarette, cigar, or pipe that is involuntarily inhaled, especially by nonsmokers.
- security blanket — a blanket or other familiar item carried especially by a young child to provide reassurance and a feeling of psychological security.
- sedimentary rock — rock formed from compacted minerals
- seneca snakeroot — any of various plants whose roots have been regarded as a remedy for snakebites, as the herb Aristolochia serpentaria (Virginia snakeroot) having a medicinal rhizome and rootlets, and the white-flowered Polygala senega (Seneca snakeroot) having a medicinal root.