12-letter words containing k, h, n
- hemiplankton — plankton that spend part of their life cycle in a vegetative state on the sea bottom, riverbed, etc. (opposed to holoplankton).
- heterokaryon — a cell containing two or more nuclei of differing genetic constitutions.
- heterokontan — of or relating to a heterokont
- hickory pine — bristlecone pine.
- high-ranking — A high-ranking person has an important position in a particular organization.
- hiking boots — stout, sturdy boots, suitable for hiking in
- hiking trail — a specially designated route for hikers to use
- hill walking — the activity of walking through hilly country for pleasure
- holding tank — a tank for the temporary storage of a substance.
- holoplankton — plankton that spend their entire life cycle as free-swimming organisms (opposed to hemiplankton).
- home banking — a system whereby a person at home or in an office can use a computer with a modem to call up information from a bank or to transfer funds electronically
- home cooking — home-made food
- homesickness — sad or depressed from a longing for home or family while away from them for a long time.
- honey bucket — a container for excrement, as in an outdoor toilet.
- honeysuckles — Plural form of honeysuckle.
- hong kongese — of, relating to, or characteristic of Hong Kong, its people, or their languages
- hook and eye — a two-piece clothes fastener, usually of metal, consisting of a hook that catches onto a loop or bar.
- hookswinging — a ritualistic torture, practiced among the Mandan Indians, in which a voluntary victim was suspended from hooks attached to the flesh of the back.
- hopkinsville — a city in S Kentucky.
- horse's neck — a drink of whiskey and ginger ale, served with ice and garnished with a spiral of lemon peel on the rim of the glass.
- house-broken — (of a pet) trained to avoid excreting inside the house or in improper places.
- housekeeping — the maintenance of a house or domestic establishment.
- hucksterings — Plural form of huckstering.
- hunting pink — scarlet
- hupokeimenon — (philosophy) That which underlies, or lies beneath; substratum.
- hydrokinesis — (science fiction): The psychic ability to manipulate or control water.
- hydrokinetic — pertaining to the motion of liquids.
- hyperkinesia — Pathology. an abnormal amount of uncontrolled muscular action; spasm.
- hyperkinesis — Pathology. an abnormal amount of uncontrolled muscular action; spasm.
- hyperkinetic — Pathology. an abnormal amount of uncontrolled muscular action; spasm.
- hyperlinking — Present participle of hyperlink.
- hypokeimenon — Alternative spelling of hupokeimenon.
- in the black — lacking hue and brightness; absorbing light without reflecting any of the rays composing it.
- in the works — exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.
- inkhorn term — an obscure, affectedly or ostentatiously erudite borrowing from another language, especially Latin or Greek.
- jackson hole — a valley in NW Wyoming, near the Teton Range: wildlife preserve.
- jenghis khan — Genghis Khan.
- jenghiz khan — Genghis Khan
- john hancock — Herbert Jeffrey ("Herbie") born 1940, U.S. jazz pianist and composer.
- kachina doll — a Hopi Indian doll carved from cottonwood root in representation of a kachina and given as a gift to a child or used as a household decoration.
- kaleidophone — an instrument, invented by Professor Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875), consisting of a light on a vibrating rod with a reflecting knob for exhibiting the effect of sound waves
- kanchenjunga — a mountain in S Asia, between NE India and Nepal, in the E Himalayas: third highest in the world. 28,169 feet (8586 meters).
- karnaugh map — A Karnaugh map is a pictorial method used to minimize Boolean expressions without having to use Boolean algebra theorems.
- kath and kim — a personification of the White population of middle Australia
- keep in with — to hold or retain in one's possession; hold as one's own: If you like it, keep it. Keep the change.
- ken thompson — (person) The principal inventor of the Unix operating system and author of the B language, the predecessor of C. In the early days Ken used to hand-cut Unix distribution tapes, often with a note that read "Love, ken". Old-timers still use his first name (sometimes uncapitalised, because it's a login name and mail address) in third-person reference; it is widely understood (on Usenet in particular) that without a last name "Ken" refers only to Ken Thompson. Similarly, Dennis without last name means Dennis Ritchie (and he is often known as dmr). Ken was first hired to work on the Multics project, which was a huge production with many people working on it. Multics was supposed to support hundreds of on-line logins but could barely handle three. In 1969, when Bell Labs withdrew from the project, Ken got fed up with Multics and went off to write his own operating system. People said "well, if zillions of people wrote Multics, then an OS written by one guy must be Unix!". There was some joking about eunichs as well. Ken's wife Bonnie and son Corey (then 18 months old) went to visit family in San Diego. Ken spent one week each on the kernel, file system, etc., and finished UNIX in one month along with developing SPACEWAR (or was it "Space Travel"?). See also back door, brute force, demigod, wumpus.
- kenny method — a method of treating poliomyelitis, in which hot, moist packs are applied to affected muscles to relieve spasms and pain, and a regimen of exercises is prescribed to prevent deformities and to strengthen the muscles.
- kentish fire — prolonged clapping by an audience, especially in unison, indicating impatience or disapproval.
- keratohyalin — (biology) A protein structure found in granules in the stratum granulosum of the epidermis, which may be involved in keratinization, and in Hassall corpuscles in the thymus.
- keraunograph — an instrument for recording thunderstorms by detecting the radio waves generated