12-letter words containing h, o, n, s
- hypophonesis — a sound of less than usual intensity in percussion or auscultation.
- hypoplastron — the third lateral plate in the plastron of turtles
- hysterogenic — inducing hysteria.
- hysteromania — unusually increased sexual desire in a woman
- ichnospecies — (paleontology) Any species known only from trace fossils, such as footprints, coprolites or nests.
- iconomachist — a person who campaigns against the use of icons in religious worship
- iconophilism — a taste for pictures and symbols
- iconophilist — a person with a taste for pictures and symbols
- icosahedrons — Plural form of icosahedron.
- in mothballs — a small ball of naphthalene or sometimes of camphor for placing in closets or other storage areas to repel moths from clothing, blankets, etc.
- in search of — looking for, seeking
- in the gross — in bulk; as a whole
- in the works — exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.
- in-bond shop — a duty-free shop
- inchoateness — The quality of being inchoate.
- incoherences — Plural form of incoherence.
- inescutcheon — A small shield placed within a larger one.
- infographics — Plural form of infographic.
- inharmonious — not harmonious; discordant; unmelodious.
- inhospitable — not inclined to, or characterized by, hospitality, as persons or actions; unfriendly.
- inhospitably — not inclined to, or characterized by, hospitality, as persons or actions; unfriendly.
- intergrowths — Plural form of intergrowth.
- introvertish — Introverted.
- ionophoresis — electrophoresis, esp of small ions
- ionospherist — Someone who studies the ionosphere.
- isosthenuria — the inability of the kidneys to dilute or concentrate urine
- it's nothing — it is not important
- jackson hole — a valley in NW Wyoming, near the Teton Range: wildlife preserve.
- james hutton — James, 1726–97, Scottish geologist: formulated uniformitarianism.
- jodo shinshu — the largest sect of Jodo, stressing simple trust rather than ritual as the means to salvation.
- jogging shoe — an athletic shoe designed to be worn while jogging.
- johannesburg — a city in S Transvaal, in the NE Republic of South Africa.
- johnny house — Johnny (def 3).
- johnson city — a city in NE Tennessee.
- johnsongrass — a tall perennial sorghum widely used as forage
- joseph brant — Joseph (Thayendanegea) 1742–1807, Mohawk Indian chief who fought on the side of the British in the American Revolution.
- ken thompson — (person) The principal inventor of the Unix operating system and author of the B language, the predecessor of C. In the early days Ken used to hand-cut Unix distribution tapes, often with a note that read "Love, ken". Old-timers still use his first name (sometimes uncapitalised, because it's a login name and mail address) in third-person reference; it is widely understood (on Usenet in particular) that without a last name "Ken" refers only to Ken Thompson. Similarly, Dennis without last name means Dennis Ritchie (and he is often known as dmr). Ken was first hired to work on the Multics project, which was a huge production with many people working on it. Multics was supposed to support hundreds of on-line logins but could barely handle three. In 1969, when Bell Labs withdrew from the project, Ken got fed up with Multics and went off to write his own operating system. People said "well, if zillions of people wrote Multics, then an OS written by one guy must be Unix!". There was some joking about eunichs as well. Ken's wife Bonnie and son Corey (then 18 months old) went to visit family in San Diego. Ken spent one week each on the kernel, file system, etc., and finished UNIX in one month along with developing SPACEWAR (or was it "Space Travel"?). See also back door, brute force, demigod, wumpus.
- khornerstone — A multipurpose benchmark from Workstation Labs used in various periodicals. The source is not free. Results are published in "UNIX Review".
- kinesophobia — Fear of movement.
- kitchen soap — heavy-duty soap intended for use in the kitchen
- landholdings — Plural form of landholding.
- last honours — observances of respect at a funeral
- latin school — a secondary school emphasizing instruction in Latin and Greek.
- lay hands on — the terminal, prehensile part of the upper limb in humans and other primates, consisting of the wrist, metacarpal area, fingers, and thumb.
- lemon cheese — a soft paste made from lemons, sugar, eggs, and butter, used as a spread or filling
- lemon squash — lemon soda; a soft drink of lemon juice and soda water.
- limnophilous — (of animals) living in lakes or freshwater marshes
- lincolnshire — a county in E England. 2272 sq. mi. (5885 sq. km).
- lion's share — the largest part or share, especially a disproportionate portion: The eldest son received the lion's share of the estate.
- lithogenesis — (geology) The formation of sedimentary rock.