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14-letter words containing k, o, t, s

  • schottky noise — shot effect.
  • scratch monkey — (humour)   As in "Before testing or reconfiguring, always mount a scratch monkey", a proverb used to advise caution when dealing with irreplaceable data or devices. Used to refer to any scratch volume hooked to a computer during any risky operation as a replacement for some precious resource or data that might otherwise get trashed. This term preserves the memory of Mabel, the Swimming Wonder Monkey, star of a biological research program at the University of Toronto. Mabel was not (so the legend goes) your ordinary monkey; the university had spent years teaching her how to swim, breathing through a regulator, in order to study the effects of different gas mixtures on her physiology. Mabel suffered an untimely demise one day when a DEC engineer troubleshooting a crash on the program's VAX inadvertently interfered with some custom hardware that was wired to Mabel. It is reported that, after calming down an understandably irate customer sufficiently to ascertain the facts of the matter, a DEC troubleshooter called up the field circus manager responsible and asked him sweetly, "Can you swim?" Not all the consequences to humans were so amusing; the sysop of the machine in question was nearly thrown in jail at the behest of certain clueless droids at the local "humane" society. The moral is clear: When in doubt, always mount a scratch monkey. A corespondent adds: The details you give are somewhat consistent with the version I recall from the Digital "War Stories" notesfile, but the name "Mabel" and the swimming bit were not mentioned, IIRC. Also, there's a very detailed account that claims that three monkies died in the incident, not just one. I believe Eric Postpischil wrote the original story at DEC, so his coming back with a different version leads me to wonder whether there ever was a real Scratch Monkey incident.
  • sea of okhotsk — part of the NW Pacific, surrounded by the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kurile Islands, Sakhalin Island, and the E coast of Siberia. Area: 1 589 840 sq km (613 838 sq miles)
  • sensor network — a network of tiny autonomous devices embedded in everyday objects or sprinkled on the ground, able to communicate using wireless links
  • shifty-looking — having the appearance of being dishonest
  • shooting brake — station wagon.
  • shooting stick — a device resembling a cane or walking stick, with a spike on one end and a small, folding seat on the other, often used by spectators at outdoor sporting events.
  • skeleton draft — a basic or minimum draft or outline
  • skeleton staff — the minimum staff needed by a company during a time where most staff do not normally work, such as a holiday, weekend, etc
  • ski instructor — sb who teaches skiing
  • skip-tooth saw — a saw with alternate teeth absent
  • skirting board — fabric for making skirts.
  • smoke detector — an electronic fire alarm that is activated by the presence of smoke.
  • smoking jacket — a loose-fitting jacket for men, often of a heavy fabric and trimmed with braid, worn indoors, especially as a lounging jacket.
  • smooth-talking — A smooth-talking man talks very confidently in a way that is likely to persuade people, but may not be sincere or honest.
  • social network — a network of friends, colleagues, and other personal contacts: Strong social networks can encourage healthy behaviors.
  • something like — of the same form, appearance, kind, character, amount, etc.: I cannot remember a like instance.
  • sorting tracks — the part of a railroad yard used for the final sorting of cars from a classification yard.
  • speckled trout — brook trout (def 1).
  • squeak through — to succeed, get through, survive, etc. by a narrow margin or with difficulty
  • st. louis park — a city in E Minnesota, near Minneapolis.
  • stalking horse — If you describe a person or thing as a stalking horse, you mean that it is being used to obtain a temporary advantage so that someone can get what they really want.
  • stalking-horse — a horse, or a figure of a horse, behind which a hunter hides in stalking game.
  • starch blocker — a substance ingested in the belief that it inhibits the body's ability to metabolize starch and thereby promotes weight loss: declared illegal in the U.S. by the FDA.
  • starting block — a device used by runners, especially sprinters, for increasing their speed off the mark, consisting of a metal or wooden frame, usually secured to the ground at both ends, with adjustable, triangular-shaped blocks on each side for bracing the feet.
  • stick together — be united
  • sticking point — a point, detail, or circumstance causing or likely to cause a stalemate or impasse: The bill would have gone through the Senate quickly but for one sticking point.
  • stinking roger — any of various plants having an unpleasant odor.
  • stock dividend — a form of dividend collected by a stockholder in extra shares of the corporation's stock rather than in cash.
  • stock exchange — a building or place where stocks and other securities are bought and sold.
  • stock in trade — the requisites for carrying on a business, especially goods kept on hand for sale in a store.
  • stock solution — a concentrated chemical solution, diluted before using.
  • stock transfer — Stock transfer is the act of moving goods from one part of the distribution chain to another.
  • stock turnover — the rate at which stock is sold and replenished
  • stock watering — the creation of more new shares in a company than is justified by its assets
  • stock-in-trade — items used in performing a job
  • stockade fence — a fence of closely fitted vertical boards with pointed tops.
  • stockbrokerage — a stockbroker's work or business
  • stocking frame — a type of knitting machine
  • stoke-on-trent — a city in N Staffordshire, in central England, on the Trent River: pottery and china.
  • stony tunguska — one of three rivers in Russia, in central Siberia, that is a tributary of the Yenisei and is 1550 km (960 miles) long
  • stop the clock — an instrument for measuring and recording time, especially by mechanical means, usually with hands or changing numbers to indicate the hour and minute: not designed to be worn or carried about.
  • stop-and-frisk — a policy that permits a police officer to momentarily detain and pat down or search a person suspected of criminal activity, especially when suspected of concealing a weapon.
  • straight poker — one of the original forms of poker in which players are dealt five cards face down, upon which they bet and then have the showdown without drawing any cards.
  • strike through — cross out
  • sunburst clock — a clock with the pattern or design of a sun
  • surgeon's knot — a knot resembling a reef knot, used by surgeons for tying ligatures and the like.
  • tailor's chalk — hardened chalk or soapstone used to make temporary guide marks on a garment that is being altered.
  • take a shot at — a discharge of a firearm, bow, etc.
  • take one's way — to go on a journey; travel
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