20-letter words containing a, h, n
- balanced three-phase — A balanced three-phase voltage or current is one in which the size of each phase is the same, and the phase angles of the three phases differ from each other by 120 degrees.
- barking and dagenham — a borough of E Greater London. Pop: 165 900 (2003 est). Area: 34 sq km (13 sq miles)
- be in the market for — to wish to buy or acquire
- beat around the bush — to talk around a subject without getting to the point
- beaverhead mountains — a mountain range on the border of E Idaho and SW Montana, in the Bitterroot Range. 10,961 feet (3343 meters).
- been-there done-that — an exclamation expressing familiarity and boredom with a situation, experience, etc
- beggar-your-neighbor — a children's card game for two, played with 52 cards, that is won when a player captures all of the cards.
- belgian shepherd dog — a medium-sized well-proportioned dog of a breed that resembles an Alsatian in appearance and is often used as a sheepdog or a guard dog
- benzene hexachloride — a compound, C6H6Cl6, used as an insecticide
- benzyl isoamyl ether — a colorless liquid, C 12 H 18 O, used in soap perfumes.
- blending inheritance — the blending of characteristics of the parents in the offspring, as in a pink flower that results from the mating of a red flower with a white one
- blood on one's hands — If you say that someone has a person's blood on their hands, you mean that they are responsible for that person's death.
- blue screen of death — (humour) (BSOD) The infamous white-on-blue text screen which appears when Microsoft Windows crashes. BSOD is mostly seen on the 16-bit systems such as Windows 3.1, but also on Windows 95 and apparently even under Windows NT 4. It is most likely to be caused by a GPF, although Windows 95 can do it if you've removed a required CD-ROM from the drive. It is often impossible to recover cleanly from a BSOD. The acronym BSOD is sometimes used as a verb, e.g. "Windoze just keeps BSODing on me today".
- born-again christian — person: evangelical
- brachiocephalic vein — either of two major veins, formed by the merger of the subclavian and internal jugular veins, that drain blood from the head and arms.
- branch target buffer — (processor) (BTB) A register used to store the predicted destination of a branch in a processor using branch prediction?
- break the glass plan — a plan that is put into operation in an emergency when all other options have been exhausted
- bring home the bacon — If you bring home the bacon, you achieve what you needed to achieve.
- british thermal unit — a unit of heat in the fps system equal to the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water by 1°F. 1 British thermal unit is equivalent to 1055.06 joules or 251.997 calories
- broaden o's/the mind — If an experience broadens your mind, it makes you more willing to accept other people's beliefs and customs.
- buck's horn plantain — a Eurasian plant, Plantago coronopus, having leaves resembling a buck's horn: family Plantaginaceae
- bull in a china shop — If you say that someone rushes into a situation like a bull in a china shop, you are critical of them because they do not stop to think, and are insensitive to other people's feelings.
- bureau of the census — the division of the Department of Commerce that gathers, tabulates, and correlates census statistics.
- by their own account — If you say that something concerning a particular person is true by his or her own account, you mean that you believe it because that person has said it is true.
- can do sth blindfold — If you say that you can do something blindfold, you are emphasizing that you can do it easily, for example because you have done it many times before.
- carbohydrate loading — the practice of eating high amounts of carbohydrates, sometimes after a period of low carbohydrate intake, for several days immediately before competing in an athletic event, especially a marathon, in order to store glycogen in the body, thereby providing greater reserves of energy.
- carbon tetrachloride — a colourless volatile nonflammable sparingly soluble liquid made from chlorine and carbon disulphide; tetrachloromethane. It is used as a solvent, cleaning fluid, and insecticide. Formula: CCl4
- carpathian mountains — a mountain system of central and E Europe, extending from Slovakia to central Romania: mainly forested, with rich iron ore resources. Highest peak: Gerlachovka, 2663 m (8788 ft)
- casing head pressure — The casing head pressure is the pressure on the casing, which is measured at the wellhead.
- cast the first stone — the hard substance, formed of mineral matter, of which rocks consist.
- catastrophic illness — A catastrophic illness is a major health event that takes place during a particular period of time, such as a heart attack, stroke, or cancer.
- catherine de medicis — (Caterina de' Medici) 1518–89, queen of Henry II of France (mother of Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III).
- catherine de' medici — 1519–89, queen of Henry II of France; mother of Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III of France; regent of France (1560–74). She was largely responsible for the massacre of Protestants on Saint Bartholomew's Day (1572)
- cavendish experiment — the experiment, conducted by Henry Cavendish, that determined the constant of gravitation by using a torsion balance and measuring the torsion produced by two masses placed at given distances from the masses on the balance.
- central bedfordshire — a unitary authority of S central England. Pop: 252 100 (2007 est). Area: 712 sq km (275 sq miles)
- centre three-quarter — either of two middle players on the three-quarter line
- châlons-en-champagne — a town in NE France, on the River Marne: scene of Attila's defeat by the Romans (451 ad). Pop: 47 339 (1999)
- change a reservation — If you change a reservation, you move a booking to a different date because someone who has booked a room has informed you that they wish to stay there on a different date.
- change-speed gearbox — A change-speed gearbox is a set of movable or constant gears which allows the speed ratio between input and output shafts to be changed either manually or automatically.
- channel service unit — (communications) (CSU) A type of interface used to connect a terminal or computer to a digital medium in the same way that a modem is used for connection to an analogue medium. A CSU is provided by the communication carrier to customers who wish to use their own equipment to retime and regenerate the incoming signals. The customer must supply all of the transmit logic, receive logic and timing recovery in order to use the CSU, whereas a digital service unit DSU performs these functions.
- chapter of accidents — a series of misfortunes
- charismatic movement — any of various groups, within existing denominations, that emphasize communal prayer and the charismatic gifts of speaking in tongues, healing, etc
- chartered accountant — (in Britain) an accountant who has passed the professional examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland
- chauffeur-driven car — a car driven by a chauffeur
- chebyshev polynomial — a polynomial solution of the Tchebycheff equation, of the form T n (x) = cos(n cos −1 x), where n is an integer.
- checkbook journalism — the practice of paying for a news story or an interview, or for exclusive broadcasting or publishing rights.
- checkerboard pattern — checked pattern that looks like a draughtboard
- chemical engineering — Chemical engineering is the designing and constructing of machines that are needed for industrial chemical processes.
- chemical fingerprint — a distinctive characteristic or pattern indicating the presence of a certain molecule, used to identify a chemical.
- chemical sensitivity — an allergic sensitivity to particular chemicals in air, food, clothing, water, etc.