17-letter words containing k, t, r, u
- round-trip ticket — a ticket entitling a passenger to travel to his or her destination and back again
- run out the clock — to maintain control of the ball in the closing minutes of a game
- russian turkestan — a vast region in W and central Asia, E of the Caspian Sea: includes territory in the S central part of Xinjiang province in China (Eastern Turkestan or Chinese Turkestan) a strip of N Afghanistan, and the area (Russian Turkestan) comprising the republics of Kazakhstan, Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan), Tadzhikistan (Tajikistan), Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
- securities market — the market in stocks, shares, bonds and other securities
- selkirk mountains — a mountain range in SW Canada, in SE British Columbia. Highest peak: Mount Sir Sandford, 3533 m (11 590 ft)
- silk manufacturer — a person or business that is involved in the manufacture of silk thread and fabric
- skin of our teeth — a play (1942) by Thornton Wilder.
- south lanarkshire — a council area of S Scotland, comprising the S part of the historical county of Lanarkshire: included within Strathclyde Region from 1975 to 1996: has uplands in the S and part of the Glasgow conurbation in the N: mainly agricultural. Administrative centre: Hamilton. Pop: 303 010 (2003 est). Area: 1771 sq km (684 sq miles)
- stockbroker tudor — a modern style of architecture popular in affluent suburban areas that is imitative of Tudor architecture
- strike-slip fault — a geological fault on which the movement is along the strike of the fault
- sun-2 workstation — (computer) A Unix workstation produced by Sun Microsystems, Inc., based on the Motorola 68000. Followed by the Sun-3 Workstation.
- sun-3 workstation — (computer) A Unix workstation produced by Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the 1980s, based on the Motorola 68020. Successor to the Sun-2 Workstation, followed by the Sun-4 Workstation. The Sun-3 had a custom MMU. A couple of mutant models used an entirely different architecture.
- sun-4 workstation — (computer) A Unix workstation produced by Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the late 1980s[?], based on SPARC processors. The Sun-4 followed the Sun-3 Workstation. Later SPARC-based workstations were called "SPARCstations".
- take sth on trust — If you take something on trust after having heard or read it, you believe it completely without checking it.
- the black country — the formerly heavily industrialized region of central England, northwest of Birmingham
- the rann of kutch — an extensive salt waste in W central India, and S Pakistan: consists of the Great Rann in the north and the Little Rann in the southeast; seasonal alternation between marsh and desert; some saltworks. In 1968 an international tribunal awarded about 10 per cent of the border area to Pakistan. Area: 23 000 sq km (9000 sq miles)
- thought-provoking — If something such as a book or a film is thought-provoking, it contains interesting ideas that make people think seriously.
- to keep your head — If you keep your head, you remain calm in a difficult situation. If you lose your head, you panic or do not remain calm in a difficult situation.
- to knit your brow — If you knit your brows or knit your eyebrows, you frown because you are angry or worried.
- to lick your lips — If you lick your lips, you move your tongue across your lips as you think about or taste something pleasant.
- to push your luck — If you say that someone is pushing their luck, you think they are taking a bigger risk than is sensible, and may get into trouble.
- to risk your neck — If you say that someone is risking their neck, you mean they are doing something very dangerous, often in order to achieve something.
- to take your time — If you take your time doing something, you do it quite slowly and do not hurry.
- trouble came back — (jargon) (TCB) An IBM term for an intermittent or difficult-to-reproduce problem that has failed to respond to neglect or shotgun debugging. Compare heisenbug.
- trucial sheikdoms — an independent federation in E Arabia, formed in 1971, now comprising seven emirates on the S coast (formerly, Pirate Coast or Trucial Coast) of the Persian Gulf, formerly under British protection: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah (joined 1972), and Fujairah. About 32,300 sq. mi. (83,657 sq. km). Capital: Abu Dhabi. Abbreviation: U.A.E.
- turkish towelling — woven cloth which is used to make towels, wash cloths, etc
- unofficial strike — a strike that is not approved by the strikers' trade union
- working substance — a substance, usually a fluid, that undergoes changes in pressure, temperature, volume, or form as part of a process for accomplishing work.