12-letter words containing k, l
- kaleidoscope — an optical instrument in which bits of glass, held loosely at the end of a rotating tube, are shown in continually changing symmetrical forms by reflection in two or more mirrors set at angles to each other.
- kalmar sound — a strait between SE Sweden and Öland Island. 85 miles (137 km) long; 14 miles (23 km) wide.
- karlovy vary — a city in W Czech Republic: mineral springs; Carlsbad Decrees (1819).
- keep it real — avoid affectation
- kelvin scale — William Thomson, 1st Baron, 1824–1907, English physicist and mathematician.
- kendal green — a coarse woolen cloth, green in color.
- kepler's law — any one of three laws governing planetary motion: each planet revolves in an ellipse, with the sun at one focus; the line connecting a planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal periods of time (law of areas) or the square of the period of revolution of each planet is proportional to the cube of the semimajor axis of the planet's orbit (harmonic law)
- 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.
- keratoplasty — plastic surgery performed upon the cornea, especially a corneal transplantation.
- kerb-crawler — a man who drives slowly looking to entice a prostitute into his car for sexual purposes
- kernel style — K&R style
- ketoconazole — a synthetic substance, C 26 H 28 Cl 2 N 4 O 4 , used to treat a variety of fungal infections.
- key lime pie — a custardlike pie made with lime juice, condensed milk, eggs, and flavorings and served in a pastry shell.
- kick oneself — regret sth
- kill oneself — to overexert oneself
- killer micro — [Popularised by Eugene Brooks] A microprocessor-based machine that infringes on mini, mainframe, or supercomputer performance turf. Often heard in "No one will survive the attack of the killer micros!", the battle cry of the downsizers. Used especially of RISC architectures. The popularity of the phrase "attack of the killer micros" is doubtless reinforced by the movie title "Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes" (one of the canonical examples of so-bad-it's-wonderful among hackers). This has even more flavour now that killer micros have gone on the offensive not just individually (in workstations) but in hordes (within massively parallel computers).
- killer whale — any of several predatory dolphins, especially the black-and-white Orcinus orca, found in all seas.
- killickinnic — kinnikinnick.
- kilocalories — Plural form of kilocalorie.
- kindred soul — like-minded person
- kinetoplasts — Plural form of kinetoplast.
- king vulture — a large, black-and-white vulture, Sarcorhamphus papa, of Central and South America, having colorful wattles and wartlike protuberances on its head and neck.
- king's color — a white ceremonial ensign with a royal cipher, flown on special occasions by the British Royal Navy.
- kingdom hall — a meeting place of Jehovah's Witnesses for religious services.
- kiss of life — medicine
- kit-cat club — a club of Whig wits, painters, politicians, and men of letters, including Robert Walpole, John Vanbrugh, William Congreve, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, and Godfrey Kneller, that flourished in London between 1703 and 1720.
- kit-kat club — a club of Whig wits, painters, politicians, and men of letters, including Robert Walpole, John Vanbrugh, William Congreve, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, and Godfrey Kneller, that flourished in London between 1703 and 1720.
- kitchen foil — aluminium foil used in cooking or storing food
- kitchen salt — coarse salt that is used in cooking but not at the table
- kite balloon — a barrage balloon intended for use in information-gathering and observation; it is usually tethered to the ground and has lobes to keep it stable and pointing into the wind
- kitty litter — litter (sense 4)
- klamath weed — the St.-John's-wort, Hypericum perforatum.
- klein bottle — a one-sided figure consisting of a tapered tube the narrow end of which is bent back, run through the side of the tube, and flared to join the wide end, thereby allowing any two points on the figure to be joined by an unbroken line.
- kleptocratic — a government or state in which those in power exploit national resources and steal; rule by a thief or thieves.
- kleptomaniac — a person who has kleptomania.
- kletterschuh — a lightweight climbing boot with a canvas or suede upper and Vibram (originally felt or cord) sole
- klipspringer — a small, agile African antelope, Oreotragus oreotragus, of mountainous regions from the Cape of Good Hope to Ethiopia.
- kluge around — (jargon) To avoid a bug or difficult condition by inserting a kluge. Compare workaround.
- knee-slapper — a joke evoking boisterous hilarity.
- kneeling bus — a bus that can lower its body or entrance door to facilitate boarding by the elderly or people with disabilities.
- knightlihood — Quality of being knightly.
- knightliness — Knightly behaviour; chivalry.
- knowableness — the quality of being knowable
- knowledgable — possessing or exhibiting knowledge, insight, or understanding; intelligent; well-informed; discerning; perceptive.
- knuckle ball — a slow pitch that moves erratically toward home plate, usually delivered by holding the ball between the thumb and the knuckles of the first joints of the first two or three fingers.
- knuckle down — a joint of a finger, especially one of the articulations of a metacarpal with a phalanx.
- knuckleballs — Plural form of knuckleball.
- knucklebones — (in humans) any of the bones forming a knuckle of a finger.
- knuckleheads — Plural form of knucklehead.
- kolyma range — a mountain range in NE Russia, in NE Siberia, extending about 1100 km (700 miles) between the Kolyma River and the Sea of Okhotsk. Highest peak: 1862 m (6109 ft)