16-letter words containing c, h, i, t, e
- place in the sun — (often initial capital letter) the star that is the central body of the solar system, around which the planets revolve and from which they receive light and heat: its mean distance from the earth is about 93 million miles (150 million km), its diameter about 864,000 miles (1.4 million km), and its mass about 330,000 times that of the earth; its period of surface rotation is about 26 days at its equator but longer at higher latitudes.
- plainclothes man — a detective or police officer who wears civilian clothes while on duty
- plutarch's lives — (Parallel Lives) a collection (a.d. 105–15) by Plutarch of short biographies of the leading political figures of ancient Greece and Rome.
- pneumatic trough — a trough filled with liquid, especially water, for collecting gases in bell jars or the like by displacement.
- poitou-charentes — a region of W central France, on the Bay of Biscay: mainly low-lying
- postencephalitic — inflammation of the substance of the brain.
- practice teacher — student teacher
- pragmatic theory — the theory of truth that the truth of a statement consists in its practical consequences, especially in its agreement with subsequent experience.
- primitive church — the early Christian church, especially in reference to its earliest form and organization.
- prince's feather — a tall, showy plant, Amaranthus hybridus erythrostachys, of the amaranth family, having reddish foliage and thick spikes of small, red flowers.
- prince's-feather — a tall, showy plant, Amaranthus hybridus erythrostachys, of the amaranth family, having reddish foliage and thick spikes of small, red flowers.
- projection booth — a soundproof compartment in a theater where a motion-picture projector is housed and from which the picture is projected on the screen.
- prospect heights — a town in N Illinois.
- prosthetic group — the nonprotein acid constituent of a conjugate protein, as the heme group of hemoglobin.
- protestant ethic — work ethic.
- pseudohistorical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- psychic distance — the degree of emotional detachment maintained toward a person, group of people, event, etc.
- psychogeriatrics — the psychology of old age.
- purchasing agent — a person who buys materials, supplies, equipment, etc., for a company.
- re-entry vehicle — the section of a spacecraft or ballistic missile designed to return to earth.
- reaction chamber — the chamber in a rocket engine in which the reaction or combustion of fuel occurs
- recursion theory — (theory) The study of problems that, in principle, cannot be solved by either computers or humans.
- rich tea biscuit — any of various semisweet biscuits
- rich text format — (RTF) An interchange format from Microsoft for exchange of documents between Word and other document preparation systems.
- richmond heights — a city in E Missouri, near St. Louis.
- right about face — Military. a command, given to a soldier or soldiers at attention, to turn the body about toward the right so as to face in the opposite direction. the act of so turning in a prescribed military manner.
- ring the changes — to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone: to change one's name; to change one's opinion; to change the course of history.
- saddle stitching — to sew, bind, or decorate with a saddle stitch.
- safety mechanism — a psychological or physiological response in an individual that protects the individual from harm
- saint catharines — a city in SE Ontario, in SE Canada.
- scheme of things — Someone's scheme of things is the way in which they think that things in their life should be organized.
- schiff's reagent — a solution of rosaniline and sulfurous acid in water, used to test for the presence of aldehydes.
- schlieren method — a method for detecting regions of differing densities in a clear fluid by photographing a beam of light passed obliquely through it.
- schmaltz herring — herring caught just before spawning, when it has much fat
- schneider trophy — a trophy for air racing between seaplanes of any nation, first presented by Jacques Schneider (1879–1928) in 1913; won outright by Britain in 1931
- school committee — (in New Zealand) a parent group selected to support a primary school
- school inspector — an official whose job is to inspect schools and to report on their quality and conditions
- schoolteacherish — showing characteristics thought to be typical of a schoolteacher, as strictness and primness.
- schouten islands — a group of islands belonging to Papua New Guinea, in the Pacific Oceans, off the N coast of New Guinea.
- schweizerdeutsch — Schwyzertütsch.
- scottish borders — a council area in SE Scotland, on the English border: created in 1996, it has the same boundaries as the former Borders Region: it is mainly hilly, with agriculture (esp sheep farming) the chief economic activity. Administrative centre: Newtown St Boswells. Pop: 108 280 (2003 est). Area: 4734 sq km (1827 sq miles)
- scottish terrier — one of a Scottish breed of small terriers having short legs and a wiry, steel-gray, brindled, black, sandy, or wheaten coat.
- seleucia trachea — an ancient city in SE Asia Minor, on the River Calycadnus (modern Goksu Nehri): captured by the Turks in the 13th century; site of present-day Silifke (Turkey)
- shag pile carpet — a large piece of thick material with a nap of long rough strands that you put on a floor
- sheepskin jacket — a short jacket made of the skin of a sheep with the wool still attached to it
- shirring elastic — elastic used for shirring
- shoestring catch — a catch of a ball on the fly, made close to the ground while running.
- silky flycatcher — any of several passerine birds of the family Ptilogonatidae, of the southwestern U.S. to Panama, related to the waxwings.
- sit on the fence — to be unable or unwilling to commit oneself
- situation ethics — a view of ethics that deprecates general moral principles while emphasizing the source of moral judgments in the distinctive characters of specific situations.