25-letter words containing a, c, n, t, h
- read someone the riot act — If someone in authority reads you the riot act, they tell you that you will be punished unless you start behaving properly.
- saddle block (anesthesia) — a method of spinal anesthesia, often used during obstetric delivery, that produces anesthesia in that area of the body that would be in contact with a saddle during horseback riding
- selective synchronization — a sound-recording process that facilitates overdubs by feeding the recorded track to the performer straight from the recording head
- sequenced packet exchange — (networking, protocol) (SPX) A transport layer protocol built on top of IPX. SPX is used in Novell NetWare systems for communications in client/server application programs, e.g. BTRIEVE (ISAM manager). SPX is not used for connections to the file server itself; this uses NCP. It has been extended as SPX-II. SPX/IPX perform equivalent functions to TCP/IP.
- sequential parlog machine — (SPM) The virtual machine (and its machine code) for the Parlog logic programming language.
- stretch one's imagination — If you say that something stretches your imagination, you mean that it is good because it makes you think about things that you had not thought about before.
- sulphate-resisting cement — a type of Portland cement that resists normal concentrations of sulphates: used in concrete for flues and underwater work
- sympathetic introspection — a study of human conduct in which the investigator imagines himself or herself engaged in that conduct.
- tetragonal trisoctahedron — Geometry. a trisoctahedron the faces of which are quadrilaterals; trapezohedron.
- thank one's (lucky) stars — to be thankful for what appears to be good luck
- the ball is in sb's court — If you say that the ball is in someone's court, you mean that it is his or her responsibility to take the next action or decision in a situation.
- the ball is in your court — you are obliged to make the next move
- the politically incorrect — politically incorrect people considered collectively
- the protestant work ethic — a belief in the moral value of work, associated with Protestant Christianity
- the scholastic profession — the profession of teaching
- thermodynamic equilibrium — the condition of an isolated system in which the quantities that specify its properties, such as pressure, temperature, etc, all remain unchanged
- thermodynamic temperature — temperature defined in terms of the laws of thermodynamics and not in terms of the properties of any real material. It is usually expressed on the Kelvin scale
- thermoluminescence dating — a method of dating archaeological specimens, chiefly pottery, by measuring the radiation given off by ceramic materials as they are heated.
- thin-layer chromatography — chromatography in which glass plates coated with thin layers of alumina, silica gel, or cellulose are used as an adsorbent.
- to be in the catbird seat — to be in a very good situation
- to call something to mind — If something brings another thing to mind or calls another thing to mind, it makes you think of that other thing, usually because it is similar in some way.
- to catch sight of someone — If you catch sight of someone, you suddenly see them, often briefly.
- to cut a long story short — In British English, you use to cut a long story short to indicate that you are going to state the final result of an event and not give any more details. In American English, you say to make a long story short.
- to keep a watchful eye on — If you keep a watchful eye on someone or something, you watch carefully to make sure there are no problems.
- to lay claim to something — If you lay claim to something you do not have, you say that it belongs to you.
- to sail close to the wind — If you sail close to the wind, you take a risk by doing or saying something that may get you into trouble.
- to teach someone a lesson — If you say that you are going to teach someone a lesson, you mean that you are going to punish them for something that they have done so that they do not do it again.
- to thank your lucky stars — If you say that someone should thank their lucky stars that something is the case, you mean that they should be very grateful that it is the case, because otherwise their situation would be a lot worse.
- track and field athletics — a collection of sporting events that involve running, sprinting, throwing, jumping and walking
- transcendental-philosophy — transcendental character, thought, or language.
- transient ischemic attack — a brief vascular spasm in which a partially blocked artery impedes blood flow to the brain, resulting in symptoms such as impaired vision, dizziness, numbness, or unconsciousness. Abbreviation: TIA.
- under the watchful eye of — If you do something under the watchful eye of someone who has authority over you, they watch you carefully to make sure there are no problems.
- undisputed world champion — a boxer who holds the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, the World Boxing Organization, and the International Boxing Federation world championship titles simultaneously
- vertical redundancy check — (storage, communications) (VRC) An error checking method performed on one 8-bit ASCII character, where the 8th bit is used as the parity bit. The resulting parity bit is constructed by XORing the word. The result is a "1" if there is an odd number of 1s, and a "0" if there is an even number of 1s in the word. This method is unreliable because if an odd number of bits are distorted, the check will not detect the error. The Longitudinal Redundancy Check is an improvement.
- war of the grand alliance — the war (1689–97) in which England, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the Holy Roman Empire in league with Bavaria, Brandenburg, Savoy, and the Palatinate opposed France.