23-letter words containing s, h, e, a

talk/speak of the devil — People say speak of the devil, or in British English talk of the devil, if someone they have just been talking about appears unexpectedly.
tennessee walking horse — an American breed of horse, marked by its stamina and trained to move at a fast running walk
thank one's lucky stars — any of the heavenly bodies, except the moon, appearing as fixed luminous points in the sky at night.
the chamber of deputies — the lower legislative assembly in some parliaments
the department of state — the United States federal department concerned with foreign policy
the haves and have-nots — the people who are very wealthy and the people who are very poor
the library of congress — the official library of the United States in Washington, DC. It houses extensive collections in all subject areas and formats, important historical documents, and is also a depository for copyrighted materials.
the numbers game/racket — If you refer to the numbers game, the numbers racket, or the numbers, you are referring to an illegal lottery or illegal betting.
the royal naval reserve — the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom
the scottish parliament — the devolved national legislature of Scotland, located in Edinburgh
the taming of the shrew — a comedy (1594?) by Shakespeare.
the teaching profession — the profession of a teacher
the thrill of the chase — If you talk about the thrill of the chase, you are referring to the excitement that people feel when they are trying hard to get something.
the whys and wherefores — The whys and wherefores of something are the reasons for it.
thompson submachine gun — a portable, .45-caliber, automatic weapon designed to be fired from the shoulder or hip.
thousand and one nights — a collection of Eastern folk tales derived in part from Indian and Persian sources and dating from the 10th century a.d.
to change for the worse — If a situation changes for the worse, it becomes more unpleasant or more difficult.
to draw the short straw — If you draw the short straw, you are chosen from a number of people to perform a job or duty that you will not enjoy.
to force someone's hand — If you force someone's hand, you force them to act sooner than they want to, or to act in public when they would prefer to keep their actions secret.
to get ahold of oneself — to force oneself to become calm and sensible after a shock or in a difficult situation
to have feelings for sb — to be emotionally or sexually attracted to
to have your hands full — If you have your hands full with something, you are very busy because of it.
to hell in a handbasket — to one's doom
to keep a straight face — If you manage to keep a straight face, you manage to look serious, although you want to laugh.
to make the best of sth — If you make the best of something, you accept an unsatisfactory situation cheerfully and try to manage as well as you can. In British English, you can also say that you make the best of a bad job.
to meet someone halfway — If you meet someone halfway, you accept some of the points they are making so that you can come to an agreement with them.
to pass the time of day — If you pass the time of day with someone, you have a short friendly conversation with them.
to pay through the nose — If you say that you paid through the nose for something, you are emphasizing that you had to pay what you consider too high a price for it.
to play for high stakes — to gamble on something very important
to rise to the occasion — If you say that someone rose to the occasion, you mean that they did what was necessary to successfully overcome a difficult situation.
to run someone to earth — If you run someone or something to earth, you find them after searching for them for a long time.
to see the light of day — If something sees the light of day at a particular time, it comes into existence or is made known to the public at that time.
to shake someone's hand — If you shake someone's hand or shake someone by the hand, you shake hands with them.
to wipe the slate clean — If you wipe the slate clean, you decide to forget previous mistakes, failures, or debts and to start again.
to your heart's content — as much as you please
trans-new guinea phylum — the largest grouping of the non-Austronesian languages of Papua and New Guinea and the surrounding regions
transfer characteristic — the relationship between output and input of an electronic or electromechanical system, esp as depicted graphically
trigonal trisoctahedron — a trisoctahedron whose faces are triangles.
turn a cold shoulder to — to treat with disdain; snub
unconditional discharge — the release of a defendant without having to spend time on parole or probation
under a gooseberry bush — used humorously in answering children's questions regarding their birth
under the circumstances — a condition, detail, part, or attribute, with respect to time, place, manner,agent, etc., that accompanies, determines, or modifies a fact or event; a modifying or influencing factor: Do not judge his behavior without considering every circumstance.
universal character set — (character, standard) (UCS, ISO/IEC 10646) A 1993 ISO and IEC standard character set, also known as "Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set". UCS comes in a 16-bit variant called UCS-2 and a 32-bit variant called UCS-4, which is composed of 16-bit UCS-2 "planes". So far only one 16-bit plane has been defined, which is known as the Basic Multilingual Plane. The implementation of UCS is still in its infancy, though some moves, such as the Java language defining a character to be 16 bits, are suggestive.
urea-formaldehyde resin — any of a group of resins formed by the interaction of urea and formaldehyde under conditions that include heat and pH control: used chiefly in the manufacture of buttons, baking enamels, and for making fabrics wrinkle-resistant.
vestibulocochlear nerve — either one of the eight pairs of cranial nerves that supply the cochlea and semicircular canals of the internal ear and contribute to the sense of hearing
viscount horatio nelson — Viscount Horatio, 1758–1805, British admiral.
what makes someone tick — the basic drive or motivation of a person
when the chips are down — a small, slender piece, as of wood, separated by chopping, cutting, or breaking.
whet someone's appetite — If someone or something whets your appetite for a particular thing, they increase your desire to have it or know about it, especially by giving you an idea of what it is like.
white-coat hypertension — the phenomenon of having elevated blood pressure only during a medical consultation

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