15-letter words containing a, b, c, i
- backseat driver — If you refer to a passenger in a car as a backseat driver, they annoy you because they constantly give you advice about how to drive.
- backup rotation — (operating system) Any system for re-using backup media, e.g. magnetic tape. One extreme would be to use the same media for every backup (e.g. copy disk A to disk B), the other extreme would be to use new media every time. The trade-off is between the cost of buying and storing media and the ability to restore any version of any file. One example is the Grandfather, Father, Son (GFS) scheme.
- baconian method — induction (def 4a).
- baconian theory — the theory attributing the authorship of Shakespeare's plays to Francis Bacon.
- bacterial ghost — a bacterial cell that is emptied and filled artificially with another substance
- bacteriological — Of or relating to bacteriology or bacteria.
- bacteriophagous — Pertaining to the predation and consumption of bacterium.
- badminton court — the court on which games of badminton are played
- baggage reclaim — the process of passengers' getting back the baggage that they have checked in for a flight
- bait and switch — Bait and switch is used to refer to a sales technique in which goods are advertised at low prices in order to attract customers, although only a small number of the low-priced goods are available.
- bait-and-switch — denoting a deceptive method of selling, by which customers, attracted to a store by sale items, are told either that the advertised bargain item is out of stock or is inferior to a higher-priced item that is available.
- baja california — peninsula in Mexico, between the Pacific & the Gulf of California: divided into a northern state (Baja California), 27,071 sq mi (70,114 sq km), pop. 1,661,000, cap. Mexicali; and a southern state (Baja California Sur), 28,447 sq mi (73,677 sq km), pop. 318,000, cap. La Paz
- balanced ticket — a slate of candidates chosen to appeal to a wide range of voters, especially by including members of large regional, ethnic, or religious groups.
- baltic exchange — a group of companies, based in London, which engages in trading activities, esp chartering cargo vessels
- banana republic — Small, poor countries that are politically unstable are sometimes referred to as banana republics.
- banking product — one of the various services offered by a bank to its customers: mortgages, loans, insurance etc
- barbituric acid — a white crystalline solid used in the preparation of barbiturate drugs. Formula: C4H4N2O3
- barbizon school — a group of French painters of landscapes of the 1840s, including Théodore Rousseau, Daubigny, Diaz, Corot, and Millet
- barcelona chair — an armless, padded leather chair on a steel frame shaped like a curved X: Barcelona is a trademark for this chair
- bargain counter — a store counter on which goods are displayed for sale at reduced prices
- bargaining chip — In negotiations with other people, a bargaining chip is something that you are prepared to give up in order to obtain what you want.
- barium chloride — a poisonous compound, BaCl2, consisting of flat white crystals that are soluble in water: it is used to treat water, metals, leather, etc.
- barium chromate — a yellow, crystalline compound, BaCrO 4 , used as a pigment (barium yellow)
- barley sandwich — a drink of beer, esp at lunch time
- barn conversion — the adaptation of a farm barn into a building serving a different use, such as a house or commercial premises
- barycentrically — In a barycentric manner.
- basic anhydride — a compound formed by removing water from a more complex compound: an oxide of a nonmetal (acid anhydride) or a metal (basic anhydride) that forms an acid or a base, respectively, when united with water.
- basic autocoder — Early system on IBM 7070. Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959).
- basic education — (in India) education in which all teaching is correlated with the learning of a craft
- basic statement — protocol (def 6).
- basidiomycetous — belonging or pertaining to the basidiomycetes.
- bateau neckline — a wide, high neckline that follows the curve of the collarbone and ends in points on the shoulder seams.
- bathing costume — A bathing costume is a piece of clothing that is worn for swimming, especially by women and girls.
- bathing machine — a small hut, on wheels so that it could be pulled to the sea, used in the 18th and 19th centuries for bathers to change their clothes
- bathing-machine — a small bathhouse on wheels formerly used as a dressing room and in which bathers could also be transported from the beach to the water.
- bathymetrically — In a bathymetric way.
- be carried away — to be moved to great or unreasoning emotion or enthusiasm
- be in the black — If a person or an organization is in the black, they do not owe anyone any money.
- bear animalcule — tardigrade (def 3).
- bear comparison — to be sufficiently similar in class or range to be compared with (something else), esp favourably
- béarnaise sauce — a creamy sauce, esp. for meat or fish, made of butter and egg yolks and flavored with wine, vinegar, shallots, and herbs
- benedict arnold — Benedict, 1741–1801, American general in the Revolutionary War who became a traitor.
- benefits agency — an agency that handles the payment of benefits
- benzal chloride — a colorless, oily liquid, C 7 H 6 Cl 2 , used chiefly in the synthesis of benzaldehyde, and in the manufacture of dyes.
- berenice's hair — the constellation Coma Berenices
- beta conversion — (theory) A term from lambda-calculus for beta reduction or beta abstraction.
- beta-adrenergic — pertaining to or involving beta receptors
- biblical hebrew — the Hebrew language used in the Old Testament. Abbreviation: BiblHeb.
- bibliographical — a complete or selective list of works compiled upon some common principle, as authorship, subject, place of publication, or printer.
- bidirectionally — in a bidirectional manner