19-letter words containing i, k, e
- put one's back into — to devote all one's strength to (a task)
- put the skids under — a plank, bar, log, or the like, especially one of a pair, on which something heavy may be slid or rolled along.
- quick on the uptake — You say that someone is quick on the uptake when they understand things quickly. You say that someone is slow on the uptake when they have difficulty understanding simple or obvious things.
- quick-change artist — a person adept at changing from one thing to another, as an entertainer who changes costumes quickly during a performance.
- raise one's hackles — one of the long, slender feathers on the neck or saddle of certain birds, as the domestic rooster, much used in making artificial flies for anglers.
- redbrick university — any new or little-known university, especially one built since World War II to educate students in industrial regions, emphasizing technical subjects rather than the classics, and often partially supported by government funds.
- reef whitetip shark — whitetip shark (def 1).
- removable hard disk — (storage) A type of magnetic disk, or possibly magneto-optical disk which is not permanently attached to the disk drive (not a fixed disk) but which can be taken out and replaced, allowing many disks to be used in the same drive. The term "removable disk" would seem to be applicable to floppy disks but is generally reserved for hard disks in suitable cartridges such as those made by Syquest, Iomega and others. Removable disk packs were common on minicomputers such as the PDP-11 in use in the 1970s except that the drives were the size of washing machines and the disk packs as big as car wheels. Removable disks became popular on microcomputers in the 1990s as a cheap way of expanding disk space, transporting large amounts of data between computers and storing backups. Large, cheap fixed hard disks and USB memory sticks have made removable disks less attractive.
- rhodesian ridgeback — a large short-haired breed of dog characterized by a ridge of hair growing along the back in the opposite direction to the rest of the coat. It was originally a hunting dog from South Africa
- rickettsial disease — any of several acute infectious diseases caused by ticks, mites, or body lice infected with rickettsiae. The main types include typhus, spotted fever, Q fever, trench fever, and tsutsugamushi disease
- risk excess of loss — Risk excess of loss is a type of reinsurance that is given to an insurer to protect against a single loss or risk incurred at a specified amount.
- rock-paper-scissors — a method of selecting, for example, which of two people perform a task: each person simultaneously makes one of three hand gestures representing a rock, a sheet of paper, and a pair of scissors respectively. Each gesture defeats one and is defeated by one of the other two: rock defeats scissors but is defeated by paper; paper defeats rock but is defeated by scissors. The person whose gesture defeats the other is selected
- saddle-billed stork — a large stork, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, of West Africa, having a white and black body and a long, red and black bill.
- saint luke's summer — a period of unusually warm weather in the autumn
- san francisco peaks — a mountain mass in N Arizona: highest point in the state, Humphrey's Peak, 12,611 feet (3845 meters).
- secondary picketing — the picketing by strikers of a place of work that supplies goods to or distributes goods from their employer
- sell like hot cakes — a pancake or griddlecake.
- shield-tailed snake — any of several burrowing snakes of the family Uropeltidae, of the Indian peninsula and Sri Lanka, having a tail that ends in a flat disk.
- sickle-cell anaemia — Sickle-cell anaemia is an inherited illness in which the red blood cells become curved, causing a number of health problems.
- silk-screen process — Also called silkscreen process. a printmaking technique in which a mesh cloth is stretched over a heavy wooden frame and the design, painted on the screen by tusche or affixed by stencil, is printed by having a squeegee force color through the pores of the material in areas not blocked out by a glue sizing.
- smokestack industry — A smokestack industry is a traditional industry such as heavy engineering or manufacturing, rather than a modern industry such as electronics.
- smoking compartment — a compartment of a train where smoking is permitted
- speaking in tongues — a form of glossolalia in which a person experiencing religious ecstasy utters incomprehensible sounds that the speaker believes are a language spoken through him or her by a deity.
- st. kitts and nevis — country in the Leeward Islands of the West Indies, consisting of two islands (St. Kitts & Nevis): formerly a British colony, it became an independent state (1983) & a member of the Commonwealth: c. 101 sq mi (262 sq km); pop. 41,000; cap. Basseterre
- stakeholder pension — In Britain, a stakeholder pension is a flexible pension scheme with low charges. Both employees and the state contribute to the scheme, which is optional, and is in addition to the basic state pension.
- stanislavski method — method (def 5).
- stick in one's craw — the crop of a bird or insect.
- stick it to someone — to pierce or puncture with something pointed, as a pin, dagger, or spear; stab: to stick one's finger with a needle.
- stick to one's guns — a weapon consisting of a metal tube, with mechanical attachments, from which projectiles are shot by the force of an explosive; a piece of ordnance.
- stick to one's last — a wooden or metal form in the shape of the human foot on which boots or shoes are shaped or repaired.
- strike a false note — to behave inappropriately
- strike off the roll — to expel from membership
- swallow-tailed kite — an American kite, Elanoides forficatus, having black upper parts, white head and underparts, and a long, deeply forked tail.
- sweetheart neckline — a neckline on a woman's garment, as a dress, with a high back and a low-cut front with two curved edges resembling the conventionalized shape of a heart.
- switchblade (knife) — a large jackknife that snaps open when a release button on the handle is pressed
- take (the) occasion — to use the opportunity (to do something)
- take a running jump — a contemptuous expression of dismissal
- take evasive action — If you take evasive action, you deliberately move away from someone or something in order to avoid meeting them or being hit by them.
- take five, take ten — If someone tells you to take five or to take ten, they are telling you to have a five- or ten-minute break from what you are doing.
- take it for granted — If you take it for granted that something is the case, you believe that it is true or you accept it as normal without thinking about it.
- take it on the chin — the lower extremity of the face, below the mouth.
- take it or leave it — If you say to someone 'take it or leave it', you are telling them that they can accept something or not accept it, but that you are not prepared to discuss any other alternatives.
- take it to the wire — to compete to the bitter end to win a competition or title
- take my word for it — If you say to someone 'take my word for it', you mean that they should believe you because you are telling the truth.
- take one's medicine — any substance or substances used in treating disease or illness; medicament; remedy.
- take one's mind off — to stop one from thinking about; turn one's attention from
- take sb/sth in hand — If you take something or someone in hand, you take control or responsibility over them, especially in order to improve them.
- take the initiative — If you take the initiative in a situation, you are the first person to act, and are therefore able to control the situation.
- that's more like it — If you say that's more like it, you mean that the thing that you are referring to is more satisfactory than it was on earlier occasions.
- the great awakening — a movement of religious revival in the American Colonies from c. 1720 to the time of the Revolution