20-letter words containing h, i, b, e
- chromatic aberration — a defect in a lens system in which different wavelengths of light are focused at different distances because they are refracted through different angles. It produces a blurred image with coloured fringes
- clean bill of health — a good report of one's physical condition
- clean-bill-of-health — a certificate, carried by a ship, attesting to the presence or absence of infectious diseases among the ship's crew and at the port from which it has come.
- computability theory — (mathematics) The area of theoretical computer science concerning what problems can be solved by any computer. A function is computable if an algorithm can be implemented which will give the correct output for any valid input. Since computer programs are countable but real numbers are not, it follows that there must exist real numbers that cannot be calculated by any program. Unfortunately, by definition, there isn't an easy way of describing any of them! In fact, there are many tasks (not just calculating real numbers) that computers cannot perform. The most well-known is the halting problem, the busy beaver problem is less famous but just as fascinating.
- deduct from the bill — If you deduct an item or expense from the bill at a restaurant or hotel, you take a charge out of a customer's bill.
- deep vein thrombosis — Deep vein thrombosis is a serious medical condition caused by blood clots in the legs moving up to the lungs. The abbreviation DVT is also used.
- deep-vein thrombosis — a condition in which a blood clot forms in a vein deep beneath the skin, typically in the leg or pelvic area: Immobility and lack of exercise are risk factors for deep-vein thrombosis.
- demographic timebomb — a predicted shortage of school-leavers and consequently of available workers, caused by an earlier drop in the birth rate, resulting in an older workforce
- diabetic retinopathy — a disorder of the blood vessels of the retina occurring as a complication of poorly controlled diabetes mellitus and often leading to blindness.
- diisobutyl phthalate — a clear, colorless liquid, C 14 H 26 O 4 , used chiefly as a plasticizer for nitrocellulose.
- distribution channel — trade: retailer
- drive a hard bargain — be tough negotiator
- eight queens problem — eight queens puzzle
- elizabeth of hungary — Saint. 1207–31, Hungarian princess who devoted herself to charity and asceticism. Feast day: Nov 17 and 19
- fontainebleau school — a group of artists, many of them Italian and Flemish, who worked on the decorations of the palace of Fontainebleau in the 16th century.
- friend with benefits — (used as a euphemism) a friend with whom one has sex without a romantic relationship or commitment.
- get/give so the bird — If an audience gives someone the bird, they shout loudly in order to show their disappointment or disapproval.
- give a wide berth to — to keep clear of; avoid
- give sb/get the push — If you get the push or are given the push, you are told that you are not wanted any more, either in your job or by someone you are having a relationship with.
- good neighbor policy — a diplomatic policy of the U.S., first presented in 1933 by President Franklin Roosevelt, for the encouragement of friendly relations and mutual defense among the nations of the Western Hemisphere.
- grievous bodily harm — law: serious injury
- herringbone bridging — Carpentry. cross bridging.
- highbush huckleberry — black huckleberry.
- hildegard von bingen — Hildegard von (Hildegard of Bingen"Sibyl of the Rhine") 1098–1178, German nun, healer, writer, and composer.
- hindu-arabic numeral — Arabic numeral.
- hit the panic button — an alarm button for use in an emergency, as to summon help.
- how about something? — what is your wish, opinion, or information concerning something (or someone)?
- hungarian bromegrass — a pasture grass, Bromus inermis, native to Europe, having smooth blades.
- hyperbolic cotangent — a hyperbolic function that is the ratio of cosh to sinh, being the reciprocal of tanh; coth
- in the public domain — able to be discussed and examined freely by the general public
- incomprehensibleness — The state of being incomprehensible.
- j robert oppenheimer — J(ulius) Robert, 1904–67, U.S. nuclear physicist.
- justifiable homicide — murder committed under extenuating circumstances
- liberty of the press — freedom of the press.
- live and breathe sth — be passionately interested in sth
- magdeburg hemisphere — one of a pair of hemispherical cups from which air can be evacuated when they are placed together: used to demonstrate the force of air pressure.
- mean something to sb — If a name, word, or phrase means something to you, you have heard it before and you know what it refers to.
- mecklenburg-schwerin — a former state in NE Germany, formed in 1934 from two states (Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz)
- member of the public — a member of the general population
- membranous labyrinth — an intricate combination of paths or passages in which it is difficult to find one's way or to reach the exit. Synonyms: maze, network, web.
- meta-dichlorobenzene — a colorless liquid, C 6 H 4 Cl 2 , soluble in alcohol and ether: used as a fumigant and insecticide.
- mobile phone chicken — a highly dangerous game in which a person is challenged to perform a hazardous stunt which he or she films with a camera phone
- neighbourhood warden — a person employed by a local authority to patrol residential areas and deal with antisocial behaviour
- northern leaf blight — a disease of corn caused by the fungus Exsherohilum turcicum, characterized by elongate tan-gray elliptical spots with subsequent blighting and necrosis of leaves.
- off-the-job training — training which is carried out away from your normal place of work
- on o's best behavior — If someone is on their best behavior, they are trying very hard to behave well.
- on the drawing board — in the planning stage
- outside (of) the box — in a fresh, inventive, unconventional way
- para-dichlorobenzene — a white, crystalline, volatile, water-insoluble solid, C 6 H 4 Cl 2 , of the benzene series, having a penetrating odor: used chiefly as a moth repellent.
- physical double star — two stars that appear as one if not viewed through a telescope with adequate magnification, such as two stars that are separated by a great distance but are nearly in line with each other and an observer (optical double star) or those that are relatively close together and comprise a single physical system (physical double star)