21-letter words containing p, t
- the cream of the crop — You can refer to the best people or things of a particular kind as the cream of the crop.
- the end of one's rope — the end of one's endurance, resources, etc.
- the joker in the pack — If you describe someone or something as the joker in the pack, you mean that they are different from the other people or things in their group, and can be unpredictable.
- the oldest profession — prostitution
- the origin of species — (On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life) a treatise (1859) by Charles Darwin setting forth his theory of evolution.
- the press association — the national news agency for the United Kingdom and Ireland
- the probation service — a criminal justice service that is mainly responsible for dealing with offenders by placing them under the supervision of a probation officer
- the shipping forecast — a radio broadcast made by the BBC of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the British Isles
- the slough of despond — a state of extreme despondency, depression or degradation
- the stars and stripes — the national flag of the United States of America, consisting of 50 white stars representing the present states on a blue field and seven red and six white horizontal stripes representing the original states
- the supreme sacrifice — the sacrifice of one's life
- theater of operations — the part of the theater of war, including a combat zone and a communications zone, that is engaged in military operations and their support.
- theoretical physicist — a scientist who studies theoretical physics
- therapeutic community — a group-based form of therapy for mental disorders, sometimes residential
- thermal decomposition — Thermal decomposition is the process in which a chemical species breaks down when its temperature is increased.
- thermal power station — a power station in which heat is converted into electricity
- thermoelectric couple — thermocouple.
- thermophosphorescence — thermoluminescence.
- third party liability — Third party liability is insurance against money which an insured may have to pay to third parties if they accidentally cause them injury, loss, or damage.
- third party procedure — impleader.
- third-party insurance — insurance that compensates for a loss to a party other than the insured for which the insured is liable.
- three-toed woodpecker — either of two woodpeckers of the genus Picoides, of the Northern Hemisphere, having only three toes on each foot.
- threshold wage policy — a policy whereby wages are increased in accordance with inflation
- 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
- to be a hospital case — if you say that someone or something is a hospital case, you mean that they need urgent help because they are doing very badly
- to be mixed up in sth — if you are mixed up in something, usually something bad, you are involved in it
- to be public property — to be publicly owned
- to blow sth wide open — to expose something
- 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 mix your metaphors — If you mix your metaphors, you use two conflicting metaphors. People do this accidentally, or sometimes deliberately as a joke.
- to move the goalposts — If you accuse someone of moving the goalposts, you mean that they have changed the rules in a situation or an activity, in order to gain an advantage for themselves and to make things difficult for other people.
- to play second fiddle — If you play second fiddle to someone, your position is less important than theirs in something that you are doing together.
- to play the race card — if someone plays the race card they bring up the issue of race in a discussion, perhaps for sympathy or to seek popularity by appealing to racist sentiment
- to pull someone's leg — If you are pulling someone's leg, you are teasing them by telling them something shocking or worrying as a joke.
- to pull your socks up — If you tell someone to pull their socks up, you mean that they should start working or studying harder, because they have been lazy or careless.
- to put one over on sb — If someone puts one over on you, they make you do or believe something by telling you things that are not true.
- to put the wind up sb — If something or someone puts the wind up you, they frighten or worry you.
- to put you in mind of — If something puts you in mind of something else, it reminds you of it because it is similar to it or is associated with it.
- to put/set sb to work — If you put someone to work or set them to work, you give them a job or task to do.
- to shoot from the hip — If you say that someone shoots from the hip or fires from the hip, you mean that they react to situations or give their opinion very quickly, without stopping to think.
- topgallant forecastle — a partial weather deck on top of a forecastle superstructure; forecastle deck.
- topological invariant — a property of a topological space that is a property of every space related to the given space by a homeomorphism.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- triple superphosphate — superphosphate (def 2).
- triple-superphosphate — Also called acid phosphate. a mixture of calcium acid phosphate and calcium sulfate prepared by treating phosphate rock with sulfuric acid: used chiefly as a fertilizer.
- trustee in bankruptcy — a person appointed by a court to administer the property of a bankrupt.
- tuple space smalltalk — ["Using Tuple Space Communication in Distributed Object-Oriented Languages", S. Matsuoka et al, SIGPLAN Notices 23(11):276-284 (Nov 1988)].