18-letter words containing h, e, k, t, o
- porter-house steak — Also called porterhouse steak. a choice cut of beef from between the prime ribs and the sirloin.
- put the clock back — to regress
- put the mockers on — stop, thwart
- quick off the mark — If you are quick off the mark, you are quick to understand or respond to something. If you are slow off the mark, you are slow to understand or respond to something.
- random walk theory — the theory that the future movement of share prices does not reflect past movements and therefore will not follow a discernible pattern
- runge-kutta method — a numerical method, involving successive approximations, used to solve differential equations.
- scottish blackface — a common breed of hardy mountain sheep having horns and a black face, kept chiefly on the mainland of Scotland
- scruff of the neck — If someone takes you by the scruff of the neck, they take hold of the back of your neck or collar suddenly and roughly.
- sheltered workshop — a place of employment for persons with disabilities where their rights are protected and their needs are met.
- shorthand notebook — a notebook used by a shorthand writer
- slow on the uptake — slow to understand or learn
- south saskatchewan — a river in W Canada, flowing E from S Alberta and joining the North Saskatchewan River to form the Saskatchewan River. 865 miles (1392 km) long.
- spike-tooth harrow — a harrow equipped with straight teeth on horizontal bars, usually employed to smooth and level plowed soil or seedbeds for planting or sowing.
- stinking chamomile — mayweed.
- stockholm syndrome — an emotional attachment to a captor formed by a hostage as a result of continuous stress, dependence, and a need to cooperate for survival.
- stokely carmichael — Hoagland Howard [hohg-luh nd] /ˈhoʊg lənd/ (Show IPA), ("Hoagy") 1899–1981, U.S. songwriter and musician.
- take a shine to sb — If you say that someone has taken a shine to another person, you mean that he or she liked them very much at their first meeting.
- take it on the lam — a hasty escape; flight.
- take one's chances — to accept the uncertain outcome as of a course of action
- take the wraps off — to reveal
- talk of the devil! — used when an absent person who has been the subject of conversation appears
- technical knockout — the termination of a bout by the referee when it is the judgment of the attending physician, a boxer's seconds, or the referee that a boxer cannot continue fighting without sustaining severe or disabling injury. Abbreviation: TKO, T.K.O.
- the back of beyond — a very remote place
- the black mountain — a mountain range in S Wales, in E Carmarthenshire and W Powys. Highest peak: Carmarthen Van, 802 m (2632 ft)
- the dark continent — a term for Africa when it was relatively unexplored
- the kinetic theory — a theory of gases postulating that they consist of particles of negligible size moving at random and undergoing elastic collisions
- the northern karoo — a high arid plateau in South Africa, north of the Central Karoo
- the-cocktail-party — a play in verse (1950) by T. S. Eliot.
- the-dark-continent — Africa: so called, especially during the 19th century, because little was known about it.
- think the world of — the earth or globe, considered as a planet.
- thorfinn karlsefni — 980–after 1007, Icelandic navigator, explorer, and leader of early colonizing expedition to Vinland, in North America.
- tick all the boxes — to satisfy all of the apparent requirements for success
- to be on the rocks — if something such as a marriage or a business is on the rocks, it is experiencing very severe difficulties and looks likely to end very soon
- to clear the decks — If you clear the decks, you get ready to start something new by finishing any work that has to be done or getting rid of any problems that are in the way.
- to close the books — to balance accounts in order to prepare a statement or report
- to kick the bucket — If you say that someone has kicked the bucket, you mean that they have died.
- to lick into shape — If you lick, knock, or whip someone or something into shape, you use whatever methods are necessary to change or improve them so that they are in the condition that you want them to be in.
- to pick and choose — If you pick and choose, you carefully choose only things that you really want and reject the others.
- to take the mickey — If you take the mickey out of someone or something, you make fun of them, usually in an unkind way.
- to take the plunge — If you take the plunge, you decide to do something that you consider difficult or risky.
- to twist the knife — If you twist the knife or if you turn the knife in someone's wound, you do or say something to make an unpleasant situation they are in even more unpleasant.
- under the jackboot — If a country or group of people is under the jackboot, they are suffering because the government is cruel and undemocratic.
- westinghouse brake — a railroad air brake operated by compressed air.
- work out the kinks — If someone works out the kinks in a situation, they resolve the problems associated with it.
- working hypothesis — See under hypothesis (def 1).