23-letter words containing r, h
- polyvinylidene chloride — a polymer of vinylidene chloride, used chiefly in the manufacture of saran.
- precipitation hardening — a process in which alloys are strengthened by the formation, in their lattice, of a fine dispersion of one component when the metal is quenched from a high temperature and aged at an intermediate temperature
- price out of the market — to charge so highly for as to prevent the sale, hire, etc, of
- private branch exchange — (communications) (PBX) A telephone exchange local to a particular organisation who use, rather than provide, telephone services. The earliest PBXs were manual (Private Manual Branch EXchange, PMBX) but are now more likely to be automatic (Private Automatic Branch eXchange).
- process hazard analysis — Process hazard analysis is calculating what might be a hazard in a process, how likely it is to happen, and what should be done if someone or something is exposed to this hazard.
- psychomotor retardation — a generalized slowing of psychological and physical activity, frequently occurring as a symptom of severe depression.
- public-key cryptography — public-key encryption
- put one's finger on sth — If you put your finger on something, for example a reason or problem, you see and identify exactly what it is.
- put the record straight — to correct an error or misunderstanding
- put through one's paces — a rate of movement, especially in stepping, walking, etc.: to walk at a brisk pace of five miles an hour.
- queen charlotte islands — a group of about 150 islands off the W coast of Canada: part of British Columbia. Pop: about 6000 (latest est). Area: 9596 sq km (3705 sq miles)
- queenborough in sheppey — a town in SE England, in Kent: formed in 1968 by the amalgamation of Queenborough, Sheerness, and Sheppey. Pop: 3471 (2001)
- quota share reinsurance — Quota share reinsurance is a form of reinsurance in which the reinsurer accepts a certain percentage of all or certain parts of the business of the reinsured person or company.
- quote chapter and verse — [by analogy with the mainstream phrase] To cite a relevant excerpt from an appropriate bible. "I don't care if "rn" gets it wrong; "Followup-To: poster" is explicitly permitted by RFC 1036. I'll quote chapter and verse if you don't believe me." See also legalese, language lawyer, RTFS (sense 2).
- radial drilling machine — a machine in which the drilling head is mounted to slide along a radial arm which can be rotated, raised, or lowered on a vertical mast to adjust the position of the drill above the workpiece
- reverse polish notation — postfix notation
- rheumatic heart disease — damage to the heart, especially to the valves, as a result of rheumatic fever, characterized by inflammation of the myocardium or scarring and malfunction of the heart valves.
- right circular cylinder — a cylinder generated by the revolution of a rectangle about one of its sides.
- right, left, and centre — on all sides; from every direction
- rub sb up the wrong way — If you rub someone up the wrong way in British English, or rub someone the wrong way in American English, you offend or annoy them without intending to.
- russian orthodox church — the national Church of Russia, constituting a branch of the Eastern Church, presided over by the Patriarch of Moscow
- saint christopher-nevis — St. Kitts-Nevis.
- saint george's mushroom — an edible whitish basidiomycetous fungus, Tricholoma gambosum, with a floury smell
- schematic type variable — generic type variable
- schizotypal personality — a personality disorder characterized by a group of symptoms similar to but less severe than schizophrenia, as odd behavior, peculiar thinking, and social isolation.
- school (crossing) guard — a person, either an adult or an older student, whose duty it is to help children cross streets near schools safely
- scottish national party — a political party advocating the independence of Scotland, founded in 1934
- secondary modern school — (formerly) a secondary school offering a more technical or practical and less academic education than a grammar school
- secondary seventh chord — a chord formed by superposition of three thirds upon any degree of the scale except the dominant.
- secondary sex character — any of a number of manifestations, as development of breasts or beard, muscularity, distribution of fat tissue, and change of pitch in voice, specific to each sex and incipient at puberty but not essential to reproduction.
- securities exchange act — a law passed in 1934 establishing the SEC.
- see someone to the door — If you see someone to the door, you go to the door with a visitor when they leave.
- self extracting archive — (file format) (SEA) An archive format used on the Apple Macintosh. Double-clicking a file of this type should extract its contents.
- set one's heart at rest — Anatomy. a hollow, pumplike organ of blood circulation, composed mainly of rhythmically contractile smooth muscle, located in the chest between the lungs and slightly to the left and consisting of four chambers: a right atrium that receives blood returning from the body via the superior and inferior vena cavae, a right ventricle that pumps the blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs for oxygenation, a left atrium that receives the oxygenated blood via the pulmonary veins and passes it through the mitral valve, and a left ventricle that pumps the oxygenated blood, via the aorta, throughout the body.
- sheltered accommodation — housing specially designed to provide a safe environment for the elderly, handicapped, or disabled, often with some shared facilities and a caretaker
- short-billed marsh wren — sedge wren.
- short-tailed shearwater — any of several long-winged seabirds, often used as food, especially Puffinus tenuirostris (short-tailed shearwater) of Australia and Puffinus griseus (sooty shearwater) which breeds in the Southern Hemisphere and winters in the Northern Hemisphere.
- shout from the rooftops — to proclaim (something) publicly
- slip between the cracks — to break without complete separation of parts; become fissured: The plate cracked when I dropped it, but it was still usable.
- sodium tripolyphosphate — a white powder, Na 5 P 3 O 1 0 , used as a water softener, sequestering agent, and food additive.
- spirit of nitrous ether — ethyl nitrite spirit.
- staggered directorships — a defence against unwelcome takeover bids in which a company resolves that its directors should serve staggered terms of office and that no director can be removed from office without just cause, thus preventing a bidder from controlling the board for some years
- steal someone's thunder — to strike, drive, inflict, give forth, etc., with loud noise or violent action.
- straight bill of lading — a bill of lading that is issued to a specified consignee for the delivery of the goods and that cannot be endorsed to another party.
- structural anthropology — a school of anthropology founded by Claude Lévi-Strauss and based loosely on the principles of structural linguistics.
- suit down to the ground — the solid surface of the earth; firm or dry land: to fall to the ground.
- suprasegmental phonemes — phonemes or features of speech, as pitch, stress, and juncture, that may extend over and modify series of segmental phonemes
- survival of the fittest — (not in technical use) natural selection.
- take sth in your stride — In British English, if you take a problem or difficulty in your stride, you deal with it calmly and easily. The American expression is take something in stride.
- tennessee walking horse — an American breed of horse, marked by its stamina and trained to move at a fast running walk