23-letter words containing e, a, r, t, h

secondary seventh chord — a chord formed by superposition of three thirds upon any degree of the scale except the dominant.
secondary sex character — any of a number of manifestations, as development of breasts or beard, muscularity, distribution of fat tissue, and change of pitch in voice, specific to each sex and incipient at puberty but not essential to reproduction.
securities exchange act — a law passed in 1934 establishing the SEC.
self extracting archive — (file format) (SEA) An archive format used on the Apple Macintosh. Double-clicking a file of this type should extract its contents.
set one's heart at rest — Anatomy. a hollow, pumplike organ of blood circulation, composed mainly of rhythmically contractile smooth muscle, located in the chest between the lungs and slightly to the left and consisting of four chambers: a right atrium that receives blood returning from the body via the superior and inferior vena cavae, a right ventricle that pumps the blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs for oxygenation, a left atrium that receives the oxygenated blood via the pulmonary veins and passes it through the mitral valve, and a left ventricle that pumps the oxygenated blood, via the aorta, throughout the body.
sheltered accommodation — housing specially designed to provide a safe environment for the elderly, handicapped, or disabled, often with some shared facilities and a caretaker
short-billed marsh wren — sedge wren.
short-tailed shearwater — any of several long-winged seabirds, often used as food, especially Puffinus tenuirostris (short-tailed shearwater) of Australia and Puffinus griseus (sooty shearwater) which breeds in the Southern Hemisphere and winters in the Northern Hemisphere.
slip between the cracks — to break without complete separation of parts; become fissured: The plate cracked when I dropped it, but it was still usable.
sodium tripolyphosphate — a white powder, Na 5 P 3 O 1 0 , used as a water softener, sequestering agent, and food additive.
staggered directorships — a defence against unwelcome takeover bids in which a company resolves that its directors should serve staggered terms of office and that no director can be removed from office without just cause, thus preventing a bidder from controlling the board for some years
steal someone's thunder — to strike, drive, inflict, give forth, etc., with loud noise or violent action.
suprasegmental phonemes — phonemes or features of speech, as pitch, stress, and juncture, that may extend over and modify series of segmental phonemes
survival of the fittest — (not in technical use) natural selection.
take sth in your stride — In British English, if you take a problem or difficulty in your stride, you deal with it calmly and easily. The American expression is take something in stride.
tennessee walking horse — an American breed of horse, marked by its stamina and trained to move at a fast running walk
thank one's lucky stars — any of the heavenly bodies, except the moon, appearing as fixed luminous points in the sky at night.
the chamber of deputies — the lower legislative assembly in some parliaments
the data protection act — a United Kingdom act of parliament designed to ensure the proper handling of information stored about individuals on computers and entitling individuals to find out what information is stored about them
the department of state — the United States federal department concerned with foreign policy
the information highway — the internet
the kingdom of lorraine — an early medieval kingdom on the Meuse, Moselle, and Rhine rivers: later a duchy
the library of congress — the official library of the United States in Washington, DC. It houses extensive collections in all subject areas and formats, important historical documents, and is also a depository for copyrighted materials.
the metropolitan police — the police organization that is responsible for Greater London, excluding the City of London
the numbers game/racket — If you refer to the numbers game, the numbers racket, or the numbers, you are referring to an illegal lottery or illegal betting.
the royal naval reserve — the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom
the scottish parliament — the devolved national legislature of Scotland, located in Edinburgh
the taming of the shrew — a comedy (1594?) by Shakespeare.
the teaching profession — the profession of a teacher
the thrill of the chase — If you talk about the thrill of the chase, you are referring to the excitement that people feel when they are trying hard to get something.
the whys and wherefores — The whys and wherefores of something are the reasons for it.
the yachting fraternity — the social circle of well-off people who sail yachts
there'll be hell to pay — If you say there'll be hell to pay, you are emphasizing that there will be serious trouble.
throw down the gauntlet — a medieval glove, as of mail or plate, worn by a knight in armor to protect the hand.
to change for the worse — If a situation changes for the worse, it becomes more unpleasant or more difficult.
to draw the short straw — If you draw the short straw, you are chosen from a number of people to perform a job or duty that you will not enjoy.
to drive a hard bargain — If people drive a hard bargain, they argue with determination in order to achieve a deal which is favourable to themselves.
to force someone's hand — If you force someone's hand, you force them to act sooner than they want to, or to act in public when they would prefer to keep their actions secret.
to have a police record — If you say that somebody has a police record, you mean that they have committed a crime or crimes and the police have a record of this.
to have an axe to grind — If someone has an axe to grind, they are doing something for selfish reasons.
to have feelings for sb — to be emotionally or sexually attracted to
to have your hands full — If you have your hands full with something, you are very busy because of it.
to keep a straight face — If you manage to keep a straight face, you manage to look serious, although you want to laugh.
to keep a tight rein on — If you keep a tight rein on someone, you control them firmly.
to pay through the nose — If you say that you paid through the nose for something, you are emphasizing that you had to pay what you consider too high a price for it.
to play for high stakes — to gamble on something very important
to pluck up the courage — If you pluck up the courage to do something that you feel nervous about, you make an effort to be brave enough to do it.
to rise to the occasion — If you say that someone rose to the occasion, you mean that they did what was necessary to successfully overcome a difficult situation.
to run someone to earth — If you run someone or something to earth, you find them after searching for them for a long time.
to win the popular vote — to get a majority as regards the votes cast by individual voters

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