15-letter words containing i, r, t, a
- green mountains — a mountain range in E North America, extending from Canada through Vermont into W Massachusetts: part of the Appalachian system. Highest peak: Mount Mansfield, 1338 m (4393 ft)
- gregorian chant — the plain song or cantus firmus used in the ritual of the Roman Catholic Church.
- gregorian water — a mixture of water, salt, ashes, and wine, blessed and sprinkled over the altar in the consecration of a church.
- grind to a halt — If a country's economy or something such as a process grinds to a halt, it gradually becomes slower or less active until it stops.
- griqualand east — a former district in S South Africa, SW of Natal.
- griqualand west — a former district in S South Africa, N of the Orange River and W of the Orange Free State: diamonds found 1867.
- group therapist — a psychotherapist who conducts group therapy
- guru meditation — (operating system) The Amiga equivalent of Unix's panic (sometimes just called a "guru" or "guru event"). When the system crashes, a cryptic message of the form "GURU MEDITATION #XXXXXXXX.YYYYYYYY" may appear, indicating what the problem was. An Amiga guru can figure things out from the numbers. In the earliest days of the Amiga, there was a device called a "Joyboard" which was basically a plastic board built onto a joystick-like device; it was sold with a skiing game cartridge for the Atari game machine. It is said that whenever the prototype OS crashed, the system programmer responsible would concentrate on a solution while sitting cross-legged, balanced on a Joyboard, resembling a meditating guru. Sadly, the joke was removed in AmigaOS 2.04. The Jargon File claimed that a guru event had to be followed by a Vulcan nerve pinch but, according to a correspondent, a mouse click was enough to start a reboot.
- gyrostabilizers — Plural form of gyrostabilizer.
- hair extensions — synthetic or human hair attached to the hair on someone's head to give the appearance of longer hair
- hair hygrometer — a hygrometer actuated by the changes in length of a strand of human hair brought about by changes in the relative humidity.
- hair of the dog — an alcoholic drink taken as an antidote to a hangover
- hair specialist — an expert in the treatment and care of human hair
- hair transplant — the surgical transfer of clumps of skin with hair or of viable hair follicles from one site of the body to another, usually performed to correct baldness.
- halting problem — The problem of determining in advance whether a particular program or algorithm will terminate or run forever. The halting problem is the canonical example of a provably unsolvable problem. Obviously any attempt to answer the question by actually executing the algorithm or simulating each step of its execution will only give an answer if the algorithm under consideration does terminate, otherwise the algorithm attempting to answer the question will itself run forever. Some special cases of the halting problem are partially solvable given sufficient resources. For example, if it is possible to record the complete state of the execution of the algorithm at each step and the current state is ever identical to some previous state then the algorithm is in a loop. This might require an arbitrary amount of storage however. Alternatively, if there are at most N possible different states then the algorithm can run for at most N steps without looping. A program analysis called termination analysis attempts to answer this question for limited kinds of input algorithm.
- hamiltonstovare — a large strong short-haired breed of hound with a black, brown, and white coat
- hang in (there) — to hold steadfast; persevere
- harbour station — the part of a port where boats shelter or station
- hard mint candy — a hardened mint-flavoured sweet
- harlequin table — a writing or dressing table having a central set of compartments that rise when drop leaves are raised.
- harmonic motion — periodic motion consisting of one or more vibratory motions that are symmetric about a region of equilibrium, as the motion of a vibrating string of a musical instrument.
- haute-normandie — a region of NW France, on the English Channel: generally fertile and flat
- have a right to — be entitled to
- have words with — to argue angrily with
- hawaiian guitar — a six-to-eight-string electric guitar, fretted with a piece of metal or bone to produce a whining, glissando sound, played in a horizontal position usually resting on the performer's knees or on a stand, and much used by country music performers.
- hay conditioner — either of two machines, one designed to crush stems of hay, the other to break and bend them, in order to cause more rapid and even drying
- health minister — a government minister who is responsible for health
- heart condition — cardiac disorder
- heart operation — a surgical operation performed on the heart
- heart-searching — a thorough examination of one's feelings and motives; a self-examination of one's conscience.
- heartbreakingly — causing intense anguish or sorrow.
- heather mixture — cloth made from a mixture of different yarns, predominantly grey but with flecks of different colours
- heavy artillery — guns and howitzers of large caliber.
- heavy breathing — stertorous breathing or breathing done with difficulty
- height-to-paper — the standard height of type, measured from the foot to the face, in the U.S. 0.918 of an inch (2.33 cm).
- heliometrically — By means of, or in terms of, heliometry.
- hematoporphyria — porphyria.
- hematoporphyrin — a porphyrin made by treating haemoglobin with acid, used to treat cancer in photodynamic therapy
- hemicraniectomy — (surgery) The surgical removal of half of the cranium to enable brain surgery; hemicraniotomy.
- hemochromatosis — a rare metabolic disorder characterized by a bronzed skin, cirrhosis, and severe diabetes, caused by the deposit in tissue, especially of the liver and pancreas, of hemosiderin and other pigments containing iron.
- henrietta maria — 1609–69, queen of England (1625–49), the wife of Charles I; daughter of Henry IV of France. Her Roman Catholicism contributed to the unpopularity of the crown in the period leading to the Civil War
- hepatocarcinoma — (pathology) cancer of the liver.
- hereditarianism — a person who believes that differences between individuals or groups, including moral and intellectual attributes, are predominantly determined by genetic factors (opposed to environmentalist).
- hereditarianist — a person who believes in the doctrine of hereditarianism
- heritage centre — a museum that houses exhibits describing the culture and history of a particular place and its inhabitants
- hermaphroditism — the condition of being a hermaphrodite.
- hermeneutically — of or relating to hermeneutics; interpretative; explanatory.
- heterocercality — the condition or state of having a heterocercal tail
- heterochromatic — of, having, or pertaining to more than one color.
- heterochromatin — the dense, highly stainable part of a chromosome.