21-letter words containing e, l, h

to fly in the face of — If an action or belief flies in the face of accepted ideas or rules, it seems to completely oppose or contradict them.
to fly off the handle — If you fly off the handle, you suddenly and completely lose your temper.
to lay something bare — If you lay something bare, you uncover it completely so that it can then be seen.
to let your hair down — If you let your hair down, you relax completely and enjoy yourself.
to live hand to mouth — If someone lives hand to mouth or lives from hand to mouth, they have hardly enough food or money to live on.
to look the other way — If you say that someone looks the other way, you are critical of them because they pay no attention to something unpleasant that is happening, when they should be dealing with it properly.
to move the goalposts — If you accuse someone of moving the goalposts, you mean that they have changed the rules in a situation or an activity, in order to gain an advantage for themselves and to make things difficult for other people.
to play the race card — if someone plays the race card they bring up the issue of race in a discussion, perhaps for sympathy or to seek popularity by appealing to racist sentiment
to rear its ugly head — If something unpleasant rears its head or rears its ugly head, it becomes visible or noticeable.
to rub shoulders with — If you rub shoulders with famous people, you meet them and talk to them. You can also say that you rub elbows with someone, especially in American English.
to take the long view — If you take the long view, you consider what is likely to happen in the future over a long period, rather than thinking only about things that are going to happen soon.
to tell you the truth — You say to tell you the truth or truth to tell in order to indicate that you are telling someone something in an open and honest way, without trying to hide anything.
to throw in the towel — If you throw in the towel, you stop trying to do something because you realize that you cannot succeed.
trichloroacetaldehyde — chloral (def 1).
trichloronitromethane — chloropicrin.
triethyl orthoformate — a colorless liquid, C 7 H 16 O 3 , used chiefly in organic synthesis.
triple superphosphate — superphosphate (def 2).
triple-superphosphate — Also called acid phosphate. a mixture of calcium acid phosphate and calcium sulfate prepared by treating phosphate rock with sulfuric acid: used chiefly as a fertilizer.
twelve-tone technique — a modern system of tone relationships in which the 12 tones of an octave are not centered around any one tone, but are unified by a selected order of tones for a given composition.
twist the lion's tail — a large, usually tawny-yellow cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa and southern Asia, having a tufted tail and, in the male, a large mane.
undesirable discharge — a discharge under other than honorable conditions of a person from military service by administrative action.
until the end of time — If you say that something will happen or be true until the end of time or to the end of time, you are emphasizing that it will always happen or always be true.
up hill and down dale — strenuously and persistently
up to the elbows with — busily occupied with; deeply immersed in
vacation bible school — a religious school conducted by some churches during the summer for students on vacation.
vertically challenged — short in stature.
weak head normal form — (reduction, theory) (WHNF) A lambda expression is in weak head normal form (WHNF) if it is a head normal form (HNF) or any lambda abstraction. I.e. the top level is not a redex. The term was coined by Simon Peyton Jones to make explicit the difference between head normal form (HNF) and what graph reduction systems produce in practice. A lambda abstraction with a reducible body, e.g. \ x . ((\ y . y+x) 2) is in WHNF but not HNF. To reduce this expression to HNF would require reduction of the lambda body: (\ y . y+x) 2 --> 2+x Reduction to WHNF avoids the name capture problem with its need for alpha conversion of an inner lambda abstraction and so is preferred in practical graph reduction systems. The same principle is often used in strict languages such as Scheme to provide call-by-name evaluation by wrapping an expression in a lambda abstraction with no arguments: D = delay E = \ () . E The value of the expression is obtained by applying it to the empty argument list:
weinberg-salam theory — electroweak theory.
well-ordering theorem — the theorem of set theory that every set can be made a well-ordered set.
west lothian question — the apparent inconsistency that members of parliament who represent Scottish constituencies are eligible to vote at Westminster on matters that relate only to England, whereas members of parliament from English constituencies are not eligible to vote on Scottish matters
what the future holds — If you wonder what the future holds, you wonder what will happen in the future.
when the dust settles — If you say that something will happen when the dust settles, you mean that a situation will be clearer after it has calmed down. If you let the dust settle before doing something, you let a situation calm down before you try to do anything else.
whistling in the dark — If you say that someone is whistling in the dark, you mean that they are trying to remain brave and convince themselves that the situation is not as bad as it seems.
white-knuckle paddler — an inexpert and timid canoeist.
wholesale price index — an indicator of price changes in the wholesale market
wildlife photographer — someone that specializes in taking photographs of wild animals, especially in their natural habitats, and plants
william the conqueror — ("the Conqueror") 1027–87, duke of Normandy 1035–87; king of England 1066–87 (son of Robert I, duke of Normandy).
with a capital letter — (used to give emphasis to a statement)
with sb's compliments — If you say that you are giving someone something with your compliments, you are saying in a polite and fairly formal way that you are giving it to them, especially as a gift or a favour.
worth someone's while — worth someone's time, consideration, etc.; profitable in some way
yellow-throated vireo — an olive-green vireo, Vireo flavifrons, of eastern North America, having a bright yellow throat and breast.
zero-emission vehicle — a vehicle, as an automobile, that does not directly produce atmospheric pollutants. Abbreviation: ZEV.

Was this page helpful?

Yes No

Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page

Tell us why?