24-letter words containing b, e, s, h
- stab someone in the back — If you say that someone has stabbed you in the back, you mean that they have done something very harmful to you when you thought that you could trust them. You can refer to an action of this kind as a stab in the back.
- standard housing benefit — a rebate of a proportion of a person's eligible housing costs paid by a local authority and calculated on the basis of level of income and family size
- sth bodes ill/augurs ill — If something bodes ill or augurs ill, it gives you a reason to fear that something harmful might happen soon.
- the birds and (the) bees — Some people refer to the birds and the bees when they are talking about sex, especially to children.
- the realm of possibility — If you say that something is not beyond the realms of possibility, you mean that it is possible.
- the star-spangled banner — Stars and Stripes.
- thompson sub-machine-gun — a .45 calibre sub-machine-gun
- three-spined stickleback — a small teleost fish, Gasterosteus aculeatus, of the family Gasterosteidae, of rivers and coastal regions, having three spines along the back and occurring in cold and temperate northern regions
- throw one's weight about — to act in an authoritarian or aggressive manner
- to blow away the cobwebs — If something blows or clears away the cobwebs, it makes you feel more mentally alert and lively when you had previously been feeling tired.
- to break someone's heart — If someone breaks your heart, they make you very sad and unhappy, usually because they end a love affair or close relationship with you.
- to break the back of sth — If you break the back of a task or problem, you do the most difficult part of what is necessary to complete the task or solve the problem.
- to fight a losing battle — If you are fighting a losing battle, you are trying to achieve something but are not going to be successful.
- to go for the brass ring — to try to succeed in an area where there is a lot of competition
- to have seen better days — If you say that something has seen better days, you mean that it is old and in poor condition.
- to have to hand it to sb — You say things such as 'You have to hand it to her' or 'You've got to hand it to them' when you admire someone for their skills or achievements and you think they deserve a lot of praise.
- to keep something at bay — If you keep something or someone at bay, or hold them at bay, you prevent them from reaching, attacking, or affecting you.
- to make boundary changes — to change the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies, because of population shifts
- to strike a blow for sth — If you strike a blow for a particular cause or principle, you do something that supports it or makes it more likely to succeed.
- under the sway of sb/sth — If you are under the sway of someone or something, they have great influence over you.
- webster-ashburton treaty — U.S. History. an agreement between the U.S. and England (1842) defining the boundary between British and American territory from Maine to present-day Minnesota.
- when the balloon goes up — when the trouble or action begins
- which way the wind blows — air in natural motion, as that moving horizontally at any velocity along the earth's surface: A gentle wind blew through the valley. High winds were forecast.