17-letter words containing c, o, k, a, n
- 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.
- keep your balance — If you keep your balance, for example when standing in a moving vehicle, you remain steady and do not fall over. If you lose your balance, you become unsteady and fall over.
- 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
- keyboard commando — (messaging) A bulletin board user who posts authoritatively on military or combat topics, but who has never served in uniform or heard a shot fired in anger. A poseur.
- kinetic potential — the kinetic energy minus the potential energy in a system obeying the principle of conservation of energy. Symbol: L.
- knock on the head — to daze or kill (a person) by striking on the head
- lame-duck session — (formerly) the December to March session of those members of the U.S. Congress who were defeated for reelection the previous November.
- landlocked salmon — a variety of the Atlantic Ocean salmon, Salmo salar, confined to the freshwater lakes of New England and adjacent areas of Canada.
- lay it on (thick) — to exaggerate
- linking consonant — a consonant inserted between two vowels in speech
- locked and loaded — [Military slang for an M-16 rifle with magazine inserted and prepared for firing] Said of a removable disk volume properly prepared for use - that is, locked into the drive and with the heads loaded. Ironically, because their heads are "loaded" whenever the power is up, this description is never used of Winchester drives (which are named after a rifle).
- make conversation — If you make conversation, you talk to someone in order to be polite and not because you really want to.
- make mincemeat of — a mixture composed of minced apples, suet, and sometimes meat, together with raisins, currants, candied citron, etc., for filling a pie.
- make reference to — mention, allude to
- michigan bankroll — a large roll of paper money in small denominations.
- monkeygland sauce — a piquant sauce, made from tomatoes, ketchup, fruit chutney, garlic, spices, etc
- mount kirkpatrick — a mountain in Antarctica, in S Victoria Land in the Queen Alexandra Range. Height: 4528 m (14 856 ft)
- mountain sickness — illness caused by being at high altitude
- nakhon ratchasima — a city in central Thailand.
- never looked back — If you say that someone did something and then never looked back, you mean that they were very successful from that time on.
- nicholas bourbaki — the pseudonym of a group of mainly French mathematicians that, since 1939, has been producing a monumental work on advanced mathematics, Eléments de Mathématique
- nikolaus von cusa — Nicholas (def 1).
- on someone's back — criticizing or pestering someone
- on the pig's back — successful; established
- on the wrong tack — a short, sharp-pointed nail, usually with a flat, broad head.
- otto von bismarck — Otto von [ot-oh von;; German aw-toh fuh n] /ˈɒt oʊ vɒn;; German ˈɔ toʊ fən/ (Show IPA), 1815–98, German statesman: first chancellor of modern German Empire 1871–90.
- packaging company — a company that packages goods on behalf of the producer
- 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 dictionary — a small portable dictionary
- protection racket — a criminal activity in which money gangsters extort money from victims in exchange for freedom from molestation
- quick on the draw — having fast reflexes
- rack one's brains — to strain in mental effort, esp to remember something or to find the solution to a problem
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- speak one's piece — a separate or limited portion or quantity of something: a piece of land; a piece of chocolate.
- 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)
- stonewall jackson — Andrew ("Old Hickory") 1767–1845, U.S. general: 7th president of the U.S. 1829–37.
- sweet mock orange — the syringa, Philadelphus coronarius.
- take exception to — object to sth
- take into account — an oral or written description of particular events or situations; narrative: an account of the meetings; an account of the trip.
- take into custody — to arrest