19-letter words containing a, c, h, r
- political geography — the branch of human geography that deals with the relationship between political processes and spatial structures (regions, territories, etc)
- polyphosphoric acid — any one of a series of oxyacids of phosphorus with the general formula Hn+2PnO3n+1. The first member is pyrophosphoric acid (n = 2) and the series includes the highly polymeric metaphosphoric acid. The higher acids exist in an equilibrium mixture
- postsynchronization — the process of adding sound, such as dubbing, to a film or video after shooting or videotaping is completed
- preach to the choir — to express an opinion to someone who is already in agreement with it
- prescription charge — a charge, set by the government, to be paid by a patient for medicines
- professional school — a postgraduate school or college which trains students for a particular profession
- programmer's switch — (hardware) A button on the front of some Apple Macintosh computers which, when pressed, causes a command line prompt to appear. This gives access to the built-in mini-debugger, which has commands to dump memory, return to the application that was broken out, and others. A more sophisticated debugger must be installed in order to inspect breakpoints, etc.
- proton-proton chain — a series of thermonuclear reactions, responsible for the energy production in stars like the sun, in which the nuclei of hydrogen atoms are transformed into helium nuclei by sequential addition of single hydrogen nuclei.
- pseudo-biographical — of or relating to a person's life: He's gathering biographical data for his book on Milton.
- psychrometric chart — a chart for calculating values of relative humidity, absolute humidity, and dew point from psychrometer readings.
- puerperal psychosis — a mental disorder sometimes occurring in women after childbirth, characterized by deep depression, delusions of the child's death, and homicidal feelings towards the child
- pugwash conferences — international peace conferences of scientists held regularly to discuss world problems: Nobel peace prize 1995 awarded to Joseph Rotblat (1908–2005) , one of the founders of the conferences, secretary-general (1957–73), and president (1988–97)
- pyrophosphoric acid — a crystalline, water-soluble powder, H 4 P 2 O 7 , formed by the union of one molecule of phosphorus pentoxide with two molecules of water.
- quick-change artist — a person adept at changing from one thing to another, as an entertainer who changes costumes quickly during a performance.
- radiochromatography — chromatography in which radiolabeled substances on the chromatogram are determined quantitatively or qualitatively by measuring their radioactivity.
- radiopharmaceutical — any of a number of radioactive drugs used diagnostically or therapeutically.
- raise one's hackles — one of the long, slender feathers on the neck or saddle of certain birds, as the domestic rooster, much used in making artificial flies for anglers.
- rake over the coals — a black or dark-brown combustible mineral substance consisting of carbonized vegetable matter, used as a fuel. Compare anthracite, bituminous coal, lignite.
- rancho palos verdes — a town in SW California.
- rap on the knuckles — a mild reprimand or light sentence
- rayleigh scattering — the scattering of light by particles that are very small in relation to the wavelength of the light, and in which the intensity of the scattered light varies inversely with the fourth power of the wavelength.
- rec room (or hall) — recreation room (or hall)
- reciprocal exchange — an unincorporated association formed so that its members can participate in reciprocal insurance.
- redress the balance — to make a fair adjustment; see that justice is done
- regular icosahedron — an icosahedron in which each of the faces is an equilateral triangle
- releasing mechanism — a hypothetical control complex in the central nervous system of animals that triggers the appropriate behavioral response to a releaser.
- republique malgache — French name of Malagasy Republic.
- research fellowship — the position or office of someone who conducts academic research into a subject at a university, etc
- research laboratory — place for scientific experimentation
- resorcinolphthalein — fluorescein.
- reticuloendothelial — pertaining to, resembling, or involving cells of the reticuloendothelial system.
- revenue enhancement — a new tax or a tax increase.
- reverse charge call — callee pays fees
- reverse the charges — If you reverse the charges when you make a telephone call, the person who you are phoning pays the cost of the call and not you.
- rhetorical question — a question asked solely to produce an effect or to make an assertion and not to elicit a reply, as “What is so rare as a day in June?”.
- rhodesian ridgeback — a large short-haired breed of dog characterized by a ridge of hair growing along the back in the opposite direction to the rest of the coat. It was originally a hunting dog from South Africa
- rhythmic gymnastics — a form of gymnastics involving movements using hand apparatus such as balls, hoops, and ribbons
- right circular cone — a cone whose surface is generated by lines joining a fixed point to the points of a circle, the fixed point lying on a perpendicular through the center of the circle.
- ring up the curtain — to begin a theatrical performance
- saccharofarinaceous — pertaining to or consisting of sugar and meal.
- saccharolactic acid — mucic acid.
- salvage archaeology — the collection of archaeological data and materials from a site in danger of imminent destruction, as from new construction or flooding.
- sandwich generation — the generation of people still raising their children while having to care for their aging parents.
- scare the pants off — to scare extremely
- scattersite housing — public housing, especially for low-income families, built throughout an urban area rather than being concentrated in a single neighborhood.
- scratch the surface — examine superficially
- seleucia tracheotis — an ancient city in SE Asia Minor, on the River Calycadnus (modern Goksu Nehri): captured by the Turks in the 13th century; site of present-day Silifke (Turkey)
- semidetached binary — a pair of stars that are so close together that mass transfer occurs from one to the other
- sharp-focus realism — photorealism.
- short-stay car park — a car park where a car can be left for a relatively short time