19-letter words containing n, e, d, h
- to hold your tongue — If you hold your tongue, you do not say anything even though you might want to or be expected to, because it is the wrong time to say it.
- to lay down the law — If you say that someone lays down the law, you are critical of them because they give other people orders and they think that they are always right.
- to plumb new depths — If you say that something plumbs new depths, you mean that it is worse than all the things of its kind that have existed before, even though some of them have been very bad.
- to shorten the odds — To shorten the odds on something happening means to make it more likely to happen. To lengthen the odds means to make it less likely to happen. You can also say that the odds shorten or lengthen.
- to shudder to think — If you say that you shudder to think what would happen in a particular situation, you mean that you expect it to be so bad that you do not really want to think about it.
- trahison des clercs — a compromising of intellectual integrity, esp. for political reasons
- trickle-down theory — an economic theory that monetary benefits directed especially by the government to big business will in turn pass down to and profit smaller businesses and the general public.
- turn someone's head — the upper part of the body in humans, joined to the trunk by the neck, containing the brain, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
- turn sth inside out — If someone turns a place inside out or upside down, they search it very thoroughly and usually make it very untidy.
- under the banner of — If someone does something under the banner of a particular cause, idea, or belief, they do it saying that they support that cause, idea, or belief.
- under the influence — the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others: He used family influence to get the contract.
- under the shadow of — in danger of; apparently fated for
- under the spotlight — If someone or something comes under the spotlight, they are thoroughly examined, especially by journalists and the public.
- vinylidene chloride — a colorless, volatile, flammable liquid, C 2 H 2 Cl, that is copolymerized chiefly with vinyl chloride to form saran.
- wash one's hands of — the terminal, prehensile part of the upper limb in humans and other primates, consisting of the wrist, metacarpal area, fingers, and thumb.
- wesleyan methodists — a branch of the Methodist Church in its original form
- west dunbartonshire — a council area of W central Scotland, on Loch Lomond and the Clyde estuary: corresponds to part of the historical county of Dunbartonshire; part of Strathclyde Region from 1975 to 1996: engineering industries. Administrative centre: Dumbarton. Pop: 92 320 (2003 est). Area: 162 sq km (63 sq miles)
- wet behind the ears — moistened, covered, or soaked with water or some other liquid: wet hands.
- whistle in the dark — to make a clear musical sound, a series of such sounds, or a high-pitched, warbling sound by the forcible expulsion of the breath through a small opening formed by contracting the lips, or through the teeth, with the aid of the tongue.
- whistle in the wind — If you describe someone as whistling in the wind, you mean that they are trying unsuccessfully to change something which cannot be changed.
- white-fronted goose — a grayish-brown wild goose, Anser albifrons, of Eurasia and western North America, having a white patch on the front of the face.
- white-handed gibbon — a gibbon, Hylobates lar, inhabiting Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, and northern Sumatra, varying from black to light buff in color, and having white hands and feet: an endangered species.
- white-winged scoter — a blackish North American duck, Melanitta deglandi, having a white patch on each wing.
- wild bleeding-heart — a plant, Dicentra eximia, of the fumitory family, native to the eastern coast of the U.S., having elongated clusters of drooping, heart-shaped rose-colored or pink flowers.
- withdrawal syndrome — a spectrum of physical and behavioral symptoms following cessation from the continuous use of an addictive drug, the character and severity of the symptoms depending upon the particular drug and the daily dose.
- yeoman of the guard — a member of the bodyguard of the English sovereign, instituted in 1485, which now consists of 100 men, including officers, having purely ceremonial duties.
- your hands are tied — If you say that your hands are tied, you mean that something is preventing you from acting in the way that you want to.
- yourdon methodology — (programming) The software engineering methodology developed by Edward Yourdon and colleagues in the 1970s and 1980s. "Yourdon methodology" is a generic term for all of the following methodologies: Yourdon/Demarco, Yourdon/Constantine, Coad/Yourdon.