17-letter words containing b, e, k
- negative feedback — Electronics. the process of returning part of the output of a circuit, system, or device to the input, either to oppose the input (negative feedback) or to aid the input (positive feedback) acoustic feedback.
- nervous breakdown — (not in technical use) any disabling mental disorder requiring treatment.
- never looked back — If you say that someone did something and then never looked back, you mean that they were very successful from that time on.
- notebook computer — laptop, portable
- on someone's back — criticizing or pestering someone
- on the pig's back — successful; established
- one for the books — a handwritten or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers.
- peach bark beetle — a bark beetle, Phloeotribus liminaris, that feeds on and nests in peach and other drupaceous trees.
- peacock butterfly — a European nymphalid butterfly, Inachis io, having reddish-brown wings each marked with a purple eyespot
- pocket battleship — a small heavily armed and armored warship serving as a battleship because of limitations imposed by treaty.
- positive feedback — Electronics. the process of returning part of the output of a circuit, system, or device to the input, either to oppose the input (negative feedback) or to aid the input (positive feedback) acoustic feedback.
- publicity-seeking — eager to attract publicity
- purple chokeberry — See under chokeberry (def 1).
- put the kibosh on — nonsense.
- quality paperback — a softbound book that is usually larger and more expensive than a mass market paperback and is sold primarily in bookstores as a trade book.
- quarterback sneak — a play in which the quarterback charges into the middle of the line, usually immediately after receiving the ball from the center.
- rack one's brains — to strain in mental effort, esp to remember something or to find the solution to a problem
- receiving blanket — a small blanket, usually of cotton, for wrapping an infant, especially following a bath.
- red and the black — a novel (1832) by Stendhal.
- red-backed shrike — a common Eurasian shrike, Lanius collurio, the male of which has a grey crown and rump, brown wings and back, and a black-and-white face
- republic of korea — a former country in E Asia, on a peninsula SE of Manchuria and between the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea: a kingdom prior to 1910; under Japanese rule 1910–45; now divided at 38° N into North Korea and South Korea. Compare Korean War.
- rybinsk reservoir — a vast water reservoir in W central Russia on the River Volga and its tributaries Sheksna and Mologa, formed by Rybinsk Hydroelectric Station dam
- second balkan war — Balkan War (def 2).
- shake one's booty — to dance
- smokeless tobacco — snuff1 (def 9).
- split keyboarding — the act or practice of editing data from one terminal on another terminal
- squaw huckleberry — deerberry.
- stick to the ribs — to pierce or puncture with something pointed, as a pin, dagger, or spear; stab: to stick one's finger with a needle.
- stockbroker tudor — a modern style of architecture popular in affluent suburban areas that is imitative of Tudor architecture
- take some beating — to be difficult to improve upon
- take sth by storm — If someone or something takes a place by storm, they are extremely successful.
- take to one's bed — to remain in bed, esp because of illness
- take years off sb — If you say that something such as an experience or a way of dressing has taken years off someone, you mean that it has made them look or feel much younger.
- tax-bracket creep — bracket creep.
- telephone banking — a facility enabling customers to make use of banking services, such as oral payment instructions, account movements, raising loans, etc, over the telephone rather than by personal visit
- the bag of tricks — every device; everything
- the black country — the formerly heavily industrialized region of central England, northwest of Birmingham
- the buckeye state — a nickname for Ohio
- the joke is on sb — If you say that the joke is on a particular person, you mean that they have been made to look very foolish by something.
- throw the book at — a handwritten or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers.
- to be taken aback — If you are taken aback by something, you are surprised or shocked by it and you cannot respond at once.
- to beat the clock — If you beat the clock, you finish doing something or succeed in doing something before the time allowed for doing it has ended.
- to break the bank — If you say that the cost of something will not break the bank, you mean that it will not cost a large sum of money.
- to cook the books — If you say that someone has cooked the books, you mean that they have changed figures or a written record in order to deceive people.
- to get to know sb — If you get to know someone, you find out what they are like by spending time with them.
- to keep the books — to keep written records of the finances of a business or other enterprise
- tone control knob — a round switch on a radio, record player, etc that is turned to alter the tone control
- triskaidekaphobia — fear or a phobia concerning the number 13.
- 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.
- wastepaper basket — a standing basket for wastepaper, small items of trash, etc.