17-letter words containing k, n, e, c
- elastic stockings — something made of elastic which you wear on your legs to aid circulation
- fermentation lock — a valve placed on the top of bottles of fermenting wine to allow bubbles to escape
- fishnet stockings — leg coverings for women, made from an open mesh fabric resembling netting
- flat as a pancake — without any curves or bumps
- get one's back up — the rear part of the human body, extending from the neck to the lower end of the spine.
- grandfather clock — a pendulum floor clock having a case as tall as or taller than a person; tall-case clock; long-case clock.
- grandmother clock — a pendulum clock similar to a grandfather's clock but shorter.
- green book cd-rom — A standard CD-ROM format developed by Philips for CD-i. It is ISO 9660 compliant and uses mode 2 form 2 addressing. It can only be played on drives which are XA (Extended Architecture) compatible. Many Green Book discs contain CD-i applications which can only be played on a CD-i player but many others contain films or music videos. Video CDs in Green Book format are normally labelled "Digital Video on CD" Green Book was obsoleted by White book CD-ROM in March 1994.
- hammer and sickle — the emblem of the Soviet Union, adopted in 1923 and consisting of an insignia of a hammer with its handle across the blade of a sickle and a star above.
- have a thick skin — to be insensitive (or acutely sensitive) to blame, criticism, insults, etc.
- histamine blocker — any of various substances that act at a specific receptor site to block certain actions of histamine.
- horatio kitchener — Horatio Herbert (1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and of Broome) 1850–1916, English field marshal and statesman.
- houndstooth check — a pattern of broken checks, used in woven material for jackets, shirts, etc.
- housekeeping cart — A housekeeping cart is a large metal basket on wheels which is used by a cleaner in a hotel to move clean bed linen, towels, and cleaning equipment.
- icing on the cake — a sweet mixture, cooked or uncooked, for coating or filling cakes, cookies, and the like; icing.
- in the background — behind the focus of attention
- indian rope-trick — the supposed Indian feat of climbing an unsupported rope
- intelligence work — spying
- intent to package — (Debian) (ITP) A notice, posted to the Debian developer mailing list, announcing a developer's intent to make a new Debian package, including a brief description of the package and its license.
- internet backbone — (communications, networking) High-speed networks that carry Internet traffic. These communications networks are provided by companies such as AT&T, GTE, IBM, MCI, Netcom, Sprint, UUNET and consist of high-speed links in the T1, T3, OC1 and OC3 ranges. The backbones carry Internet traffic around the world and meet at Network Access Points (NAPs). The topology of the "backbone" and its interconnections may once have resembled a spine with ribs connected along its length but is now almost certainly more like a fishing net wrapped around the world with many circular paths.
- jack-in-the-green — (in England, formerly) a man who wore or supported a leaf-covered wooden framework while dancing in May-Day celebrations
- 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)
- keep your balance — If you keep your balance, for example when standing in a moving vehicle, you remain steady and do not fall over. If you lose your balance, you become unsteady and fall over.
- kendal sneck bent — a fishhook having a wide, squarish bend.
- 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.
- key-man assurance — an assurance policy taken out, esp by a small company, on the life of a senior executive whose death would create a serious loss
- keyboard commando — (messaging) A bulletin board user who posts authoritatively on military or combat topics, but who has never served in uniform or heard a shot fired in anger. A poseur.
- 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
- knock on the head — to daze or kill (a person) by striking on the head
- knock oneself out — to make great efforts; exhaust oneself
- knocking-off time — the time when you finish work
- knowledge economy — an economy in which information services are dominant as an area of growth
- lackadaisicalness — without interest, vigor, or determination; listless; lethargic: a lackadaisical attempt.
- 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.
- landlocked salmon — a variety of the Atlantic Ocean salmon, Salmo salar, confined to the freshwater lakes of New England and adjacent areas of Canada.
- 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.
- locked and loaded — [Military slang for an M-16 rifle with magazine inserted and prepared for firing] Said of a removable disk volume properly prepared for use - that is, locked into the drive and with the heads loaded. Ironically, because their heads are "loaded" whenever the power is up, this description is never used of Winchester drives (which are named after a rifle).
- make a difference — have a significant impact
- make conversation — If you make conversation, you talk to someone in order to be polite and not because you really want to.
- make mincemeat of — a mixture composed of minced apples, suet, and sometimes meat, together with raisins, currants, candied citron, etc., for filling a pie.
- make reference to — mention, allude to
- microsoft network — The Microsoft Network
- monkeygland sauce — a piquant sauce, made from tomatoes, ketchup, fruit chutney, garlic, spices, etc