14-letter words containing k, n, e, c
- kentucky derby — a horse race for three-year-olds, run annually since 1875, on the first Saturday in May, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.: the first race in the Triple Crown.
- kentucky fried — Southern-fried (def 1).
- kentucky rifle — a long-barreled muzzleloading flintlock rifle developed near Lancaster, Pa., in the early 18th century and widely used on the frontier.
- keratinophilic — (of a plant such as a fungus) growing on keratinous substances such as hair, hooves, nails, etc
- keynote speech — opening address at a conference
- khaki election — a general election held during or immediately after a war, esp one in which the war has an effect on how people vote
- kidney machine — artificial kidney.
- kinematic pair — pair1 (def 10).
- kinetic energy — the energy of a body or a system with respect to the motion of the body or of the particles in the system.
- kinetic theory — the theory that the minute particles of all matter are in constant motion and that the temperature of a substance is dependent on the velocity of this motion, increased motion being accompanied by increased temperature: according to the kinetic theory of gases, the elasticity, diffusion, pressure, and other physical properties of a gas are due to the rapid motion in straight lines of its molecules, to their impacts against each other and the walls of the container, to weak cohesive forces between molecules, etc.
- king's counsel — a body of barristers of a higher status who are specially appointed to be the crown's counsel, and who are permitted to plead inside the bar in the court.
- kiss principle — /kis' prin'si-pl/ Keep It Simple, Stupid. A maxim often invoked when discussing design to fend off creeping featurism and control complexity of development. Possibly related to the marketroid maxim on sales presentations, "Keep It Short and Simple". See also Occam's Razor.
- kit inspection — inspection of soldiers' kit by a superior officer, to make sure it is all clean, working, and in a good state
- kitchen garden — a garden where vegetables, herbs, and fruit are grown for one's own use.
- kitchen midden — a mound consisting of shells of edible mollusks and other refuse, marking the site of a prehistoric human habitation.
- kitchen police — soldiers detailed by roster or as punishment to assist in kitchen duties.
- kitchen scales — a set of scales used in cooking
- kitty-cornered — cater-cornered
- kleene closure — Kleene star
- kleptomaniacal — Having a compulsion to steal, as a kleptomaniac does.
- knacker's yard — a slaughterhouse for horses
- knickerbockers — Also, knickerbockers [nik-er-bok-erz] /ˈnɪk ərˌbɒk ərz/ (Show IPA). loose-fitting short trousers gathered in at the knees.
- knock together — to strike a sounding blow with the fist, knuckles, or anything hard, especially on a door, window, or the like, as in seeking admittance, calling attention, or giving a signal: to knock on the door before entering.
- knotted clover — a British wildflower, Trifolium striatum, an annual clover with pale pink flowers
- know the score — understand the situation
- knuckle-duster — brass knuckles.
- knuckledusters — Plural form of knuckleduster.
- kochel listing — the chronological number of a composition of Mozart as assigned in the catalog of the composer's works compiled in the 19th century by the Austrian musicologist Ludwig von Köchel (1800–1877) and since revised several times. Abbreviation: K.
- lake champlain — a lake in the northeastern US, between the Green Mountains and the Adirondack Mountains: linked by the Champlain Canal to the Hudson River and by the Richelieu River to the St Lawrence; a major communications route in colonial times
- lake constance — a lake in W Europe, bounded by S Germany, W Austria, and N Switzerland, through which the Rhine flows. Area: 536 sq km. (207 sq miles)
- lake neuchâtel — a lake in W Switzerland: the largest lake wholly in Switzerland. Area: 216 sq km (83 sq miles)
- lake nicaragua — a lake in SW Nicaragua, separated from the Pacific by an isthmus 19 km (12 miles) wide: the largest lake in Central America. Area: 8264 sq km (3191 sq miles)
- leukocytopenia — a decrease in the number of white blood cells in the blood.
- line of attack — a line of attack to a problem or situation is how you approach it
- linoleum block — a piece of thick, soft, cork linoleum often mounted on a block of wood, incised or carved in relief with a design, pattern, or pictorial motif, and used in making prints.
- locker-lampson — Frederick (Frederick Locker) 1821–95, English poet.
- locking pliers — pliers whose jaws are connected at a sliding pivot, permitting them to be temporarily locked in a fixed position for ease in grasping and turning nuts.
- long-neck clam — soft-shell clam.
- longcase clock — tall freestanding timepiece
- macromarketing — marketing concerning all marketing as a whole, marketing systems, and the mutual effect that society and marketing systems have on each other
- make allowance — to take circumstances, limitations, etc. into consideration
- make no secret — If you make no secret of something, you tell others about it openly and clearly.
- make the scene — the place where some action or event occurs: He returned to the scene of the murder.
- market economy — a capitalistic economic system in which there is free competition and prices are determined by the interaction of supply and demand.
- marking scheme — a plan or guidelines used in the marking of school children's or students' written work by teaching staff
- mashie niblick — a club with an iron head whose face has more slope than a mashie but less slope than a pitcher.
- mesh stockings — stockings with a netted pattern or made out of a netted material such as lace or netted nylon
- micromarketing — the marketing of products or services designed to meet the needs of a very small section of the market
- mockumentaries — Plural form of mockumentary.
- model checking — (theory, algorithm, testing) To algorithmically check whether a program (the model) satisfies a specification. The model is usually expressed as a directed graph consisting of nodes (or vertices) and edges. A set of atomic propositions is associated with each node. The nodes represents states of a program, the edges represent possible executions which alters the state, while the atomic propositions represent the basic properties that hold at a point of execution. A specification language, usually some kind of temporal logic, is used to express properties. The problem can be expressed mathematically as: given a temporal logic formula p and a model M with initial state s, decide if M,s \models p.