12-letter words containing k, n, p
- heckelphones — Plural form of heckelphone.
- hemiplankton — plankton that spend part of their life cycle in a vegetative state on the sea bottom, riverbed, etc. (opposed to holoplankton).
- hickory pine — bristlecone pine.
- holoplankton — plankton that spend their entire life cycle as free-swimming organisms (opposed to hemiplankton).
- hopkinsville — a city in S Kentucky.
- housekeeping — the maintenance of a house or domestic establishment.
- hunting pink — scarlet
- hupokeimenon — (philosophy) That which underlies, or lies beneath; substratum.
- 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.
- joking apart — seriously: said to recall a discussion to seriousness after there has been joking
- jumping jack — a toy consisting of a jointed figure that is made to jump, move, or dance by pulling a string or stick attached to it.
- jury-packing — the practice of contriving that the majority of those chosen for a jury will be persons likely to have partialities affecting a particular case.
- 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
- kangaroo paw — any plant of the Australian genus Anigozanthos, resembling a kangaroo's paw, esp the red-and-green flowered A. manglesii, which is the floral emblem of Western Australia: family Haemodoraceae
- karnaugh map — A Karnaugh map is a pictorial method used to minimize Boolean expressions without having to use Boolean algebra theorems.
- karyomapping — a technique for determining whether an embryo has inherited a genetic defect by analysing DNA taken from it and its close relatives
- keep company — a number of individuals assembled or associated together; group of people.
- keep in mind — (in a human or other conscious being) the element, part, substance, or process that reasons, thinks, feels, wills, perceives, judges, etc.: the processes of the human mind.
- 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.
- keep tabs on — a small flap, strap, loop, or similar appendage, as on a garment, used for pulling, hanging, or decoration.
- keeping room — hall (def 11).
- 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.
- keraunograph — an instrument for recording thunderstorms by detecting the radio waves generated
- ketone group — the characteristic group occurring in ketones that consists of the carbonyl group attached to two alkyl groups.
- keystone kop — Usually, Keystone Kops. (in early silent movies) a team of comic policemen noted for their slapstick routines.
- kidney punch — an illegal punch in the lower back.
- kindred-ship — a person's relatives collectively; kinfolk; kin.
- kinesipathic — of or relating to kinesipathy
- kinesophobia — Fear of movement.
- kinetography — a camera for taking pictures for a kinetoscope.
- kinetoplasts — Plural form of kinetoplast.
- king penguin — a large penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus, found on islands bordering the Antarctic Circle.
- king's peace — (in early medieval England) the protection secured by the king for particular people or places
- kitchen soap — heavy-duty soap intended for use in the kitchen
- kleptomaniac — a person who has kleptomania.
- klipspringer — a small, agile African antelope, Oreotragus oreotragus, of mountainous regions from the Cape of Good Hope to Ethiopia.
- knee-capping — Knee-capping is the act of shooting someone in the knee and is carried out by some terrorist organizations as a form of punishment.
- knee-slapper — a joke evoking boisterous hilarity.
- kupfernickel — (archaic) cupronickel.
- lake nipigon — a lake in central Canada, in NW Ontario, draining into Lake Superior via the Nipigon River. Area: 4843 sq km (1870 sq miles)
- lepenski vir — the site of an advanced Mesolithic fishing culture on the banks of the Danube in Serbia, characterized by trapezoidal buildings and large stone sculptures of human heads and torsos.
- lincoln park — a city in SE Michigan.
- lip-smacking — tasty, mouth-watering
- locker plant — an establishment for storing food under refrigeration, containing lockers for renting to individual users.
- margin plank — a plank forming a border for wooden decking.
- marksmanship — a person who is skilled in shooting at a mark; a person who shoots well.