25-letter words containing i, h, e, a

i didn't change anything! — An aggrieved cry often heard as bugs manifest during a regression test. The canonical reply to this assertion is "Then it works just the same as it did before, doesn't it?" See also one-line fix. This is also heard from applications programmers trying to blame an obvious applications problem on an unrelated systems software change, for example a divide-by-0 fault after terminals were added to a network. Usually, their statement is found to be false. Upon close questioning, they will admit some major restructuring of the program that shouldn't have broken anything, in their opinion, but which actually hosed the code completely.
in (or out of) character — consistent with (or inconsistent with) the role or general character
in the foreseeable future — If you say that something will happen in the foreseeable future you mean that you think it will happen fairly soon.
in the heat of the moment — without pausing to think
in the palm of one's hand — If you have someone or something in the palm of your hand, you have control over them.
indirect characterization — the process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed through the character's speech, actions, appearance, etc.
industrial rehabilitation — the treatment of people who have acquired a disability or disease during the course of their work, with the aim of allowing them to return to work or to a new job
infantry fighting vehicle — a heavily armored combat vehicle, as a tank, used to carry infantry into battle and provide support. Abbreviation: IFV.
initial teaching alphabet — a 44 letter phonetic alphabet used mainly in the 1960s for teaching children to read and write
international match point — a unit of scoring in contract bridge tournaments held in Europe. Abbreviation: IMP.
interstate highway system — a network of U.S. highways connecting the 48 contiguous states and most of the cities with populations above 50,000, begun in the 1950s and estimated to carry about a fifth of the nation's traffic.
japanese flowering cherry — any of various ornamental hybrid cherry trees developed in Japan, having white or pink blossoms and inedible fruit.
johnniac open shop system — (language) (JOSS) An early, simple, interactive calculator language developed by Charles L. Baker at Rand in 1964. There were two versions: JOSS I and JOSS II.
joint technical committee — (standard, body) (JTC) A standards body straddling ISO and IEC.
khakass autonomous region — an autonomous region in the Russian Federation, in S Siberia. 19,161 sq. mi. (49,627 sq. km). Capital: Abakan.
land of the little sticks — the part of the north of Canada that lies south of the tree line but contains only stunted evergreens or dwarf deciduous trees.
lie at (or on) the lurch — to lie in wait
local education authority — a body that is responsible for education in a particular area
magnetic character reader — a device that automatically scans and interprets characters printed with magnetic ink. It operates by the process of magnetic character recognition
magnetohydromagnetic wave — Physics. Alfvén wave.
maintenance of membership — an arrangement or agreement between an employer and a labor union by which employees who are members of the union at the time the agreement is made, or who subsequently join, must either remain members until the agreement expires, or be discharged.
make a thing about/out of — If you make a thing of something or make a thing about it, you talk about it or do it in an exaggerated way, so that it seems much more important than it really is.
make bricks without straw — a block of clay hardened by drying in the sun or burning in a kiln, and used for building, paving, etc.: traditionally, in the U.S., a rectangle 2.25 × 3.75 × 8 inches (5.7 × 9.5 × 20.3 cm), red, brown, or yellow in color.
massacre of the innocents — the slaughter of all the young male children of Bethlehem at Herod's command in an attempt to destroy Jesus (Matthew 2:16–18)
medical officer of health — a person appointed by a local or national authority to be in charge of its health policy
melanesian pidgin english — Neo-Melanesian.
metal-free phthalocyanine — phthalocyanine (def 1).
methylrosaniline chloride — gentian violet.
miguel hidalgo y costilla — Miguel [mee-gel] /miˈgɛl/ (Show IPA), 1753–1811, Mexican priest, patriot, and revolutionist.
nail in the coffin of sth — If you say that one thing is a nail in the coffin of another thing, you mean that it will help bring about its end or failure.
net positive suction head — The net positive suction head is a measure of a pump's performance.
neurocirculatory asthenia — cardiac neurosis.
never do things by halves — If you say that someone never does things by halves, you mean that they always do things very thoroughly.
non-algorithmic procedure — heuristic
northern corn-leaf blight — northern leaf blight.
not for the faint-hearted — If you say that something is not for the faint-hearted, you mean that it is an extreme or very unusual example of its kind, and is not suitable for people who like only safe and familiar things.
not know what has hit one — to be completely taken by surprise
nuffield teaching project — (in Britain) a complete school programme in mathematics, science, languages, etc, with suggested complementary theory and practical work
on the big/small etc side — If you say that something is on the small side, you are saying politely that you think it is slightly too small. If you say that someone is on the young side, you are saying politely that you think they are slightly too young.
on the horns of a dilemma — one of the bony, permanent, hollow paired growths, often curved and pointed, that project from the upper part of the head of certain ungulate mammals, as cattle, sheep, goats, or antelopes.
on the side of the angels — If you say that someone is on the side of the angels, you believe very strongly that what they are doing is right.
on the understanding that — with the condition that; providing
oxidative phosphorylation — the aerobic synthesis, coupled to electron transport, of ATP from phosphate and ADP.
peripheral nervous system — the portion of the nervous system lying outside the brain and spinal cord.
petropavlovsk-kamchatskiy — seaport in E Asian Russia, on Kamchatka Peninsula: pop. 210,000
pharmacotherapeutic group — Drugs and agents are categorized into pharmacotherapeutic groups based on which diseases they are designed to treat.
phase contrast microscope — a microscope that utilizes the phase differences of light rays transmitted by different portions of an object to create an image in which the details of the object are distinct despite their near-uniformity of refractive index.
phase-contrast microscope — a microscope that utilizes the phase differences of light rays transmitted by different portions of an object to create an image in which the details of the object are distinct despite their near-uniformity of refractive index.
pick/take up the gauntlet — If you pick up the gauntlet or take up the gauntlet, you accept the challenge that someone has made.
play into someone's hands — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.

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