25-letter words containing a, n, h, e, d

hoist by one's own petard — an explosive device formerly used in warfare to blow in a door or gate, form a breach in a wall, etc.
i didn't change anything! — An aggrieved cry often heard as bugs manifest during a regression test. The canonical reply to this assertion is "Then it works just the same as it did before, doesn't it?" See also one-line fix. This is also heard from applications programmers trying to blame an obvious applications problem on an unrelated systems software change, for example a divide-by-0 fault after terminals were added to a network. Usually, their statement is found to be false. Upon close questioning, they will admit some major restructuring of the program that shouldn't have broken anything, in their opinion, but which actually hosed the code completely.
in the palm of one's hand — If you have someone or something in the palm of your hand, you have control over them.
indirect characterization — the process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed through the character's speech, actions, appearance, etc.
industrial rehabilitation — the treatment of people who have acquired a disability or disease during the course of their work, with the aim of allowing them to return to work or to a new job
keep an ear to the ground — If you keep or have your ear to the ground, you make sure that you find out about the things that people are doing or saying.
land of the little sticks — the part of the north of Canada that lies south of the tree line but contains only stunted evergreens or dwarf deciduous trees.
lead down the garden path — a plot of ground, usually near a house, where flowers, shrubs, vegetables, fruits, or herbs are cultivated.
local education authority — a body that is responsible for education in a particular area
magnetic character reader — a device that automatically scans and interprets characters printed with magnetic ink. It operates by the process of magnetic character recognition
magnetohydromagnetic wave — Physics. Alfvén wave.
melanesian pidgin english — Neo-Melanesian.
methylrosaniline chloride — gentian violet.
net positive suction head — The net positive suction head is a measure of a pump's performance.
never do things by halves — If you say that someone never does things by halves, you mean that they always do things very thoroughly.
non-algorithmic procedure — heuristic
not for the faint-hearted — If you say that something is not for the faint-hearted, you mean that it is an extreme or very unusual example of its kind, and is not suitable for people who like only safe and familiar things.
nuffield teaching project — (in Britain) a complete school programme in mathematics, science, languages, etc, with suggested complementary theory and practical work
off the top of one's head — the upper part of the body in humans, joined to the trunk by the neck, containing the brain, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
on the big/small etc side — If you say that something is on the small side, you are saying politely that you think it is slightly too small. If you say that someone is on the young side, you are saying politely that you think they are slightly too young.
on the edge of one's seat — If you say that someone is on the edge of their seat or chair, you mean that they are very interested in what is happening or what is going to happen.
on the horns of a dilemma — one of the bony, permanent, hollow paired growths, often curved and pointed, that project from the upper part of the head of certain ungulate mammals, as cattle, sheep, goats, or antelopes.
on the side of the angels — If you say that someone is on the side of the angels, you believe very strongly that what they are doing is right.
on the understanding that — with the condition that; providing
oxidative phosphorylation — the aerobic synthesis, coupled to electron transport, of ATP from phosphate and ADP.
play into someone's hands — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
poacher turned gamekeeper — someone whose occupation or behaviour is the opposite of what it previously was, such as a burglar who now advises on home security
preferred ordinary shares — shares issued by a company that rank between preference shares and ordinary shares in the payment of dividends
put one's head in a noose — to bring about one's own downfall
ram down someone's throat — the passage from the mouth to the stomach or to the lungs, including the pharynx, esophagus, larynx, and trachea.
rate monotonic scheduling — (algorithm) A means of scheduling the time allocated to periodic hard-deadline real-time users of a resource. The users are assigned priorities such that a shorter fixed period between deadlines is associated with a higher priority. Rate monotonic scheduling provides a low-overhead, reasonably resource-efficient means of guaranteeing that all users will meet their deadlines provided that certain analytical equations are satisfied during the system design. It avoids the design complexity of time-line scheduling and the overhead of dynamic approaches such as earliest-deadline scheduling.
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.
rehabilitation department — a government department set up after World War II to assist ex-servicemen
ruby-throated hummingbird — a small hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, the only hummingbird of eastern North America, having metallic-green upper plumage and a bright red throat in the male.
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
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.
stand in a person's light — to stand so as to obscure a person's vision
take sth under advisement — If someone in authority takes a matter under advisement, they decide that the matter needs to be considered more carefully, often by experts.
tetragonal trisoctahedron — Geometry. a trisoctahedron the faces of which are quadrilaterals; trapezohedron.
the department of defense — the United States federal department concerned with national security
the empire state building — a very high skyscraper in New York City
the industrial revolution — the transformation in the 18th and 19th centuries of first Britain and then other W European countries and the US into industrial nations
the length and breadth of — If you say that someone does something or something happens throughout or across the length and breadth of a place, you are emphasizing that it happens everywhere in that place.
the sands are running out — there is not much time left before death or the end
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.
throw one's weight around — the amount or quantity of heaviness or mass; amount a thing weighs.
to be in the catbird seat — to be in a very good situation
to be in the driving seat — If you say that someone is in the driving seat, you mean that they are in control in a situation.

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