17-letter words containing i, c, e
- jus primae noctis — droit du seigneur.
- kaleidoscopically — of, relating to, or created by a kaleidoscope.
- 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.
- karelian republic — a constituent republic of NW Russia between the White Sea and Lakes Onega and Ladoga. Capital: Petrozavodsk. Pop: 716 700 (2002). Area: 172 400 sq km (66 560 sq miles)
- 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
- key man insurance — Key man insurance is an insurance policy taken out by a small company on the life of a senior executive whose death would create a serious loss.
- kick in the pants — a reprimand or scolding designed to produce greater effort, enthusiasm, etc, in the person receiving it
- kick in the teeth — If you describe an event as a kick in the teeth, you are emphasizing that it is very disappointing and upsetting.
- kiloelectron volt — 1000 electron-volts. Abbreviation: keV, kev.
- 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
- knocking-off time — the time when you finish work
- laccadive islands — group of islands in the Arabian Sea, off the SW coast of India: part of Lakshadweep territory
- lackadaisicalness — without interest, vigor, or determination; listless; lethargic: a lackadaisical attempt.
- ladder-back chair — a chair with a back of two upright posts connected by horizontal slats
- lago de nicaragua — Spanish name of Lake Nicaragua.
- 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.
- lancashire heeler — a small sturdy dog of a breed with a short thick black or liver-coloured coat with tan markings, often used for herding cattle
- landscape painter — artist who depicts natural scenery
- larmor precession — the precession of charged particles, as electrons, placed in a magnetic field, the frequency of the precession (Larmor frequency) being equal to the electronic charge times the strength of the magnetic field divided by 4π times the mass.
- lautenclavicymbal — a harpsichord with strings of gut rather than metal.
- law of reflection — the principle that when a ray of light, radar pulse, or the like, is reflected from a smooth surface the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence, and the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
- law of refraction — the principle that for a ray, radar pulse, or the like, that is incident on the interface of two media, the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is equal to the ratio of the velocity of the ray in the first medium to the velocity in the second medium and the incident ray, refracted ray, and normal to the surface at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
- lead acid battery — A lead acid battery is a 12-volt battery for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles consisting of lead-acid cells in series.
- leading indicator — A leading indicator is an economic indicator that changes before a change in the economy, and that can be used to predict future economic or financial activity.
- learner's license — a provisional driving licence
- leg before wicket — a manner of dismissal on the grounds that a batsman has been struck on the leg by a bowled ball that otherwise would have hit the wicket
- legal aid society — an organization providing free legal guidance and service to persons who cannot afford a lawyer.
- legal proceedings — court case
- leonardo da vinci — Leonardo [lee-uh-nahr-doh,, ley-;; Italian le-aw-nahr-daw] /ˌli əˈnɑr doʊ,, ˌleɪ-;; Italian ˌlɛ ɔˈnɑr dɔ/ (Show IPA), Leonardo da Vinci.
- lexical insertion — the process in which actual morphemes of a language are substituted either for semantic material or for place-fillers in the course of a derivation of a sentence
- lexicographically — the writing, editing, or compiling of dictionaries.
- liberal democracy — a democracy based on the recognition of individual rights and freedoms, in which decisions from direct or representative processes prevail in many policy areas
- liberal democrats — (in Britain) a political party with centrist policies; established in 1988 as the Social and Liberal Democrats when the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party; renamed Liberal Democrats in 1989
- liberal education — an education based primarily on the liberal arts, emphasizing the development of intellectual abilities as opposed to the acquisition of professional skills.
- liberty of speech — freedom of speech.
- lick one's wounds — an injury, usually involving division of tissue or rupture of the integument or mucous membrane, due to external violence or some mechanical agency rather than disease.
- lick the boots of — to be servile, obsequious, or flattering towards
- light machine gun — any air-cooled machine gun having a caliber not greater than 0.30 inches (7.6 mm).
- ligurian republic — the republic in NW Italy set up by Napoleon in 1797, incorporated into France in 1805, and united with the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1814.
- limestone lettuce — a variety of lettuce derived from Bibb lettuce.
- line conditioning — (communications) The adjustment of electrical characteristics of, e.g., twisted pair telephone lines by insertion of components such as resistors, capacitors, transformers or (commonly) inductors. Lines intended for analogue voice signals usually have inductors inserted every few miles; such a line is said to be "loaded". The special purpose lines which have neither inductors nor the DC voltage which powers ordinary telephones are said to be "dry," and are much better for data transmission.
- line of induction — (formerly) a line of force in a magnetic field.
- line of scrimmage — an imaginary line parallel to the goal lines that passes from one sideline to the other through the point of the football closest to the goal line of each team.
- linear dependence — (in linear algebra) the property of a set of elements in a vector space in which at least one of the vectors in the set can be written as a linear combination of the others.
- lipopolysaccaride — a molecule, consisting of lipid and polysaccharide components, that is the main constituent of the cell walls of Gram-negative bacteria
- lisp machine lisp — (language) An extension of Maclisp, now called Zetalisp.
- literacy campaign — a campaign designed to reduce illiteracy and promote literacy in a country, area, etc
- literary executor — a person entrusted with the publishable works and other papers of a deceased author.