20-letter words containing p, h, o, r

pythagoras's theorem — (mathematics) The theorem of geometry, named after Pythagoras, of Samos, Ionia, stating that, for a right-angled triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides. I.e. if the longest side has length A and the other sides have lengths B and C (in any units), A^2 = B^2 + C^2 (2004-02-12)
quantum cryptography — a method of coding information based on quantum mechanics, which is said to be unbreakable
queen of the prairie — a tall plant, Filipendula rubra, of the rose family, having branching clusters of pink flowers, growing in meadows and prairies.
raynaud's phenomenon — a secondary circulatory disorder, often associated with a primary vascular disease, characterized by changes of blood flow resulting in white, bluish, or red hands and feet
recreational therapy — therapy by means of recreational activities engaged in by the patient
redheaded woodpecker — a North American woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), with a bright-red head and neck, black back, and white underparts
rocky mountain sheep — bighorn.
rub up the wrong way — to arouse anger (in); annoy
satellite photograph — a photograph taken by an artificial satellite from space
schizoid personality — sb with identity disorder
semiautobiographical — pertaining to or being a fictionalized account of an author's own life.
serve a person right — to pay a person back, esp for wrongful or foolish treatment or behaviour
sex change operation — a surgical operation designed to change a person's physical sexual characteristics to those of the opposite sex
shakespearean sonnet — a sonnet form used by Shakespeare and having the rhyme scheme abab, cdcd, efef, gg.
sharp-tailed sparrow — a sparrow, Ammospiza caudacuta, inhabiting salt marshes in North America, having narrow, sharply pointed tail feathers.
slip through the net — If criminals slip through the net, they avoid being caught by the system or trap that was meant to catch them.
soke of peterborough — a former administrative unit of E central England, generally considered part of Northamptonshire or Huntingdonshire: absorbed into Cambridgeshire in 1974
south american plate — a major tectonic division of the earth's crust, comprising the continent of South America and several ocean basins and bounded on the north by the Caribbean Plate, on the east by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, on the west by a submarine trench that borders the western coast of the continent, and on the south by the Antarctic Plate.
south temperate zone — the part of the earth's surface between the tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle.
span of apprehension — the maximum number of objects that can be correctly assessed after a brief presentation
spanish oyster plant — a composite plant, Scolymus hispanicus, of southern Europe, having spiny, thistlelike leaf margins, small yellow flowers, and an edible root.
special relationship — the exceptionally close political, diplomatic, cultural and historical relations between the United States and the United Kingdom
spectrophotoelectric — pertaining to the relationship between the wavelength of the incident radiation and the number of electrons released by a photoelectric substance.
spherical aberration — variation in focal length of a lens or mirror from center to edge, due to its spherical shape.
spherical coordinate — Usually, spherical coordinates. any of three coordinates used to locate a point in space by the length of its radius vector and the angles this vector makes with two perpendicular polar planes.
spiral of archimedes — a curve that is the locus of a point that moves outward with uniform speed along a vector, beginning at the origin, while the vector rotates about the origin with uniform angular velocity. Equation (in polar coordinates): r = aθ.
spirits of hartshorn — a colorless, pungent, suffocating, aqueous solution of about 28.5 percent ammonia gas: used chiefly as a detergent, for removing stains and extracting certain vegetable coloring agents, and in the manufacture of ammonium salts.
state highway patrol — a state's road traffic police
step into the breach — If you step into the breach, you do a job or task which someone else was supposed to do or has done in the past, because they are suddenly unable to do it.
switchboard operator — a person who operates an installation in a telephone exchange, office, hotel, etc, at which the interconnection of telephone lines is manually controlled
telephone subscriber — a person who subscribes to a telephone service
the legal profession — the profession of law
the price of someone — what someone deserves, esp a fitting punishment
the thinking process — thought; the activity of thinking
therapeutic abortion — abortion performed when a woman's pregnancy endangers her health.
third-party software — software created by programmers or publishers independent of the manufacturer of the hardware for which it is intended.
throw up one's hands — the terminal, prehensile part of the upper limb in humans and other primates, consisting of the wrist, metacarpal area, fingers, and thumb.
to bring up the rear — If a person or vehicle is bringing up the rear, they are the last person or vehicle in a moving line of them.
to disturb the peace — If someone is accused of disturbing the peace, they are accused of behaving in a noisy and offensive way in public.
to hope for the best — If you are in a difficult situation and do something and hope for the best, you hope that everything will happen in the way you want, although you know that it may not.
to keep your hand in — If you do something to keep your hand in, you practise a skill or hobby occasionally in order to remain fairly good at it.
to overstep the mark — If someone oversteps the mark, they behave in a way that is considered unacceptable.
to pull your punches — If you say that someone does not pull their punches when they are criticizing a person or thing, you mean that they say exactly what they think, even though this might upset or offend people.
to put sth to rights — to make something consistent with justice, correctness, or orderly arrangement
to scrape the barrel — If you say that someone is scraping the barrel, or scraping the bottom of the barrel, you disapprove of the fact that they are using or doing something of extremely poor quality.
to show sb the ropes — to show someone how to do a particular job or task
transposition cipher — a cipher that rearranges the letters of the plain text in a different sequence.
triple witching hour — the last hour of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on the four Fridays each year when stock options, stock index futures, and options on such futures simultaneously expire: regarded as a time of extreme volatility in trading.
tropospheric scatter — transmission of radio frequency signals that have been scattered from irregularities in the troposphere to locations hundreds of kilometers distant.
trumpet call for sth — a signal for something

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