21-letter words containing n, r, i

ticker-tape reception — (mainly in New York) the showering of the motorcade of a distinguished politician, visiting head of state, etc, with ticker tape as a sign of welcome
tide-generating force — the difference between the force of gravity exerted by the moon or the sun on a particle of water in the ocean and that exerted on an equal mass of matter at the centre of the earth. The lunar tide-generating forces are about 2.2 times greater than are the solar ones
to be arrayed against — to be opposed to
to be in dire straits — to be in a position of acute difficulty
to cross your fingers — If you cross your fingers, you put one finger on top of another and hope for good luck. If you say that someone is keeping their fingers crossed, you mean they are hoping for good luck.
to fall into the trap — If someone falls into the trap of doing something, they think or behave in a way which is not wise or sensible.
to get into high gear — if people or an activity go into high gear, moves into high gear, etc, people do what they were doing more intensely, or the activity becomes more intense
to have green fingers — If someone has green fingers, they are very good at gardening and their plants grow well.
to kill a mockingbird — a novel (1960) by Harper Lee.
to know your own mind — If you know your own mind, you are sure about your opinions, and are not easily influenced by other people.
to lay down your life — If someone lays down their life for another person, they die so that the other person can live.
to lay something bare — If you lay something bare, you uncover it completely so that it can then be seen.
to let your hair down — If you let your hair down, you relax completely and enjoy yourself.
to risk life and limb — If someone risks life and limb, they do something very dangerous that may cause them to die or be seriously injured.
to sink without trace — If you say that someone or something sinks without trace or sinks without a trace, you mean that they stop existing or stop being successful very suddenly and completely.
to stick in your mind — If something sticks in your mind, it remains firmly in your memory.
to stick to your guns — If you stick to your guns, you continue to have your own opinion about something even though other people are trying to tell you that you are wrong.
to take your mind off — If something takes your mind off a problem or unpleasant situation, it helps you to forget about it for a while.
to think better of it — If you intend to do something and then think better of it, you decide not to do it because you realize it would not be sensible.
to throw in the towel — If you throw in the towel, you stop trying to do something because you realize that you cannot succeed.
topological invariant — a property of a topological space that is a property of every space related to the given space by a homeomorphism.
toussaint l'ouverture — François Dominique [frahn-swa dawmee-neek] /frɑ̃ˈswa dɔmiˈnik/ (Show IPA), 1743–1803, Haitian patriot and leader of the Haitian Revolution slave rebellion.
trades union congress — The Trades Union Congress in Britain is the same as the TUC.
traffic control tower — an elevated structure for the visual observation and control of the air and ground traffic at an airport
trans-alaska pipeline — a pipeline system opened in 1977 that transports oil 800 miles (1300 km) across Alaska, from Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope S to Valdez harbor.
transactinide element — any element having an atomic number higher than 103, the last of the actinide series. These superheavy, radioactive elements are extremely short-lived, and can only be created in the laboratory.
transformational rule — Linguistics. a rule of transformational grammar that relates two phrase markers in the course of a derivation from the deep to the surface syntactic representation of a sentence, as by reordering, inserting, or deleting elements; a rule that converts deep structures into surface structures.
transport segregation — Transport segregation is when particles from a mixture separate because the mixture vibrates while it is being moved.
traveling salesperson — a representative of a business firm who travels in an assigned territory soliciting orders for a company's services.
triangulation station — a point used in triangulation as a basis for making maps. Triangulation stations are marked in a number of ways, such as by a tapering stone pillar on a hilltop
trichloronitromethane — chloropicrin.
tripartite and fretty — (of a cross) having the limbs divided into three longitudinal strips each, intermingled in the manner of those in a cross parted and fretty.
trustee in bankruptcy — a person appointed by a court to administer the property of a bankrupt.
tubercular meningitis — an infection of the membranes of the central nervous system caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis; features can include fever, headache, and coma
tumor necrosis factor — a protein, produced in humans and other animals, that is destructive to cells showing abnormally rapid growth: identical with cachectin. Abbreviation: TNF.
turn queen's evidence — (of an accomplice) to act as witness for the prosecution and testify against those associated with him or her in crime
turn state's evidence — If someone who is accused of a crime turns state's evidence, they agree to give evidence in a law court against another person such as a former accomplice, usually in exchange for a reduced sentence for themselves.
twenty-two metre line — one of two lines on a rugby pitch which are twenty-two metres from the goal-line
two-point perspective — a mathematical system for representing three-dimensional objects and space on a two-dimensional surface by means of intersecting lines that are drawn vertically and horizontally and that radiate from one point (one-point perspective) two points (two-point perspective) or several points on a horizon line as perceived by a viewer imagined in an arbitrarily fixed position.
ulster unionist party — a Northern Irish political party advocating the maintenance of union with the UK
ultraviolet astronomy — the branch of astronomy that deals with celestial objects emitting electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet range.
uncertainty principle — the principle of quantum mechanics, formulated by Heisenberg, that the accurate measurement of one of two related, observable quantities, as position and momentum or energy and time, produces uncertainties in the measurement of the other, such that the product of the uncertainties of both quantities is equal to or greater than h/ 2 π, where h equals Planck's constant.
undesirable discharge — a discharge under other than honorable conditions of a person from military service by administrative action.
uniform business rate — a local tax in the UK paid by businesses, based on a local valuation of their premises and a rate fixed by central government that applies throughout the country
uniform resource name — (web) (URN, previously Uniform/Universal Resource Number) 1. Any URI which is not a URL. 2. A particular scheme which is currently (1991-4) under development by the IETF, which should provide for the resolution using Internet protocols of names which have a greater persistence than that currently associated with Internet host names or organisations (as used in URLs). Uniform Resource Names will be URI schemes that improve on URLs in reliability over time, including authenticity, replication, and high availability. When defined, a URN in sense 1 will be an example of a URN in sense 2.
union of south africa — former name for South Africa, Republic of.
unit investment trust — Also called fixed investment trust, fixed trust. an investment company that has a fixed portfolio of securities, usually of a single type, such as municipal bonds or corporate bonds, which are held to maturity: each investor receives a share in the amount proportionate to his or her holding.
universal affirmative — a proposition of the form “All S is P.” Symbol: A, a.
universal disk format — (storage, standard) (UDF) A CD-ROM file system standard that is required for DVD ROMs. UDF is the OSTA's replacement for the ISO 9660 file system used on CD-ROMs, but will be mostly used on DVD. DVD multimedia disks use UDF to contain MPEG audio and video streams. To read DVDs you need a DVD drive, the kernel driver for the drive, MPEG video support, and a UDF driver. DVDs containing both UDF filesystems and ISO 9660 filesystems can be read without UDF support. UDF can also be used by CD-R and CD-RW recorders in packet writing mode.
universe of discourse — the totality of known or supposed objects and phenomena throughout space; the cosmos; macrocosm.

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