22-letter words containing b, e, s, h
- methyl isobutyl ketone — a colorless, slightly water-soluble, flammable liquid, C 6 H 1 2 O, having a pleasant odor: used as a solvent for nitrocellulose, gums, resins, fats, waxes, and oils.
- on a shoestring budget — with very little money to spend
- once bitten, twice shy — You say 'once bitten, twice shy' when you want to indicate that someone will not do something a second time because they had a bad experience the first time they did it.
- peanut-butter sandwich — a sandwich with a filling of peanut-butter
- prawn-sandwich brigade — sports fans who are perceived to lack passion and commitment, and who it is supposed attend matches in order to eat food and buy merchandise rather than cheer on their team
- preestablished harmony — (in the philosophy of Leibnitz) synchronous operation of all monads, since their simultaneous creation, in accordance with the preexisting plan of God.
- public housing project — a group of homes for poorer families which is funded and controlled by the local government
- public service vehicle — a bus or coach
- queen's bench division — (in England when the sovereign is female) one of the divisions of the High Court of Justice
- read between the lines — a mark or stroke long in proportion to its breadth, made with a pen, pencil, tool, etc., on a surface: a line down the middle of the page.
- research establishment — an establishment or institution where research or investigation into a subject, topic, etc, can be conducted
- sb can whistle for sth — If you say that someone can whistle for a particular thing, you mean that you are not willing or able to give it to them.
- search the fucking web — (web, jargon) (Always abbreviated STFW) A response implying that an inquirer could have easily found an answer to his question using Google or some other web search engine. It is now often quicker and more productive to search the World-Wide Web than to RTFM.
- second-hand bookseller — a person who has a second-hand bookshop
- secretary to the board — the secretary to the board of directors; company secretary
- sell sb down the river — If someone sells you down the river, they betray you for some personal profit or advantage.
- shaken but not stirred — If you say that someone has been shaken but not stirred by an experience, you mean that they have been slightly disturbed or emotionally affected by it, but not deeply enough to change their behaviour or way of thinking.
- softening of the brain — a softening of the cerebrum, caused by impairment of the blood supply; encephalomalacia.
- south african republic — former name of Transvaal.
- southern redbelly dace — any of the small, brightly colored North American freshwater cyprinids, especially Phoxinus oreas (northern redbelly dace) and P. erythrogaster (southern redbelly dace)
- start the ball rolling — to open or initiate (an action, discussion, movement, etc)
- take a fancy to sb/sth — If you take a fancy to someone or something, you start liking them, usually for no understandable reason.
- take one's breath away — the air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.
- the brothers karamazov — a novel (1880) by Dostoevsky.
- the edinburgh festival — an arts festival held in Edinburgh in August
- the muslim brotherhood — a transnational Islamic religious and political organization dedicated to the establishment of a nation based on Islamic principles, founded in Egypt in 1928
- the opposition benches — the area of a parliament where members of the party opposed to the ruling party or government sit
- the sb/sth before last — You use expressions such as the night before last, the election before last and the leader before last to refer to the period of time, event, or person that came immediately before the most recent one in a series.
- threespine stickleback — a widely distributed stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, occurring in marine, brackish, or fresh waters throughout the northern hemisphere.
- tip the scales/balance — If something tips the scales or tips the balance, it gives someone a slight advantage.
- to be mixed up with sb — if you are mixed up with someone, usually someone that other people disapprove of, you are emotionally or sexually involved with them
- to be on the safe side — If you say you are doing something to be on the safe side, you mean that you are doing it in case something undesirable happens, even though this may be unnecessary.
- to be sb's second home — to be a place where somebody feels at home and spends a lot of time
- to beat about the bush — If you tell someone not to beat about the bush, you mean that you want them to tell you something immediately and quickly, rather than in a complicated, indirect way.
- to fall by the wayside — If a person or plan falls by the wayside, they fail or stop before they complete what they set out to do.
- to twiddle your thumbs — If you say that someone is twiddling their thumbs, you mean that they do not have anything to do and are waiting for something to happen.
- unreasonable behaviour — conduct by a spouse sufficient to cause the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage
- war between the states — the American Civil War: used especially in the South.
- what sb/sth looks like — If you ask what someone or something looks like, you are asking for a description of them.
- william's bon chrétien — a variety of pear that has large yellow juicy sweet fruit
- within-subjects design — (of an experiment) concerned with measuring the value of the dependent variable for the same subjects under the various experimental conditions
- wolfram von eschenbach — c1170–c1220, German poet.
- ysbaddaden chief-giant — the father of Olwen.