15-letter words containing a, b, c, t, o, r
- elastic rebound — a theory of earthquakes that envisages gradual deformation of the fault zone without fault slippage until friction is overcome, when the fault suddenly slips to produce the earthquake
- enterobacterial — relating to enterobacteria
- enterobacterium — (microbiology) Any of very many gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae, many of which are pathogenic.
- eta abstraction — eta conversion
- executive board — administrative committee
- fabric softener — a substance added to fabrics during laundering to make them puffier and softer.
- false buckthorn — a spiny shrub or small tree, Bumelia lanuginosa, of the sapodilla family, native to the southern U.S., having gummy, milky sap and white, bell-shaped flowers and yielding a hard, light-brown wood.
- fibrocartilages — Plural form of fibrocartilage.
- four-ball match — a match, scored by holes, between two pairs of players, in which the four players tee off and the partners alternate in hitting the pair's ball having the better lie off the tee.
- garbage collect — garbage collection
- gastric balloon — an inflatable rubber bag placed in the stomach to reduce its capacity as an aid to losing weight
- globe artichoke — artichoke (defs 1, 2).
- hibernicization — the process or act of making Irish
- hoosier cabinet — a tall kitchen cabinet mass-produced during the early part of the 20th century, usually of oak, featuring an enameled work surface, storage bins, a flour sifter, etc.
- hype-carbonated — (of a product or service) overvalued as a result of relentless marketing and PR or intensive media exposure
- hypercatabolism — an abnormally high metabolic breakdown of a substance or tissue which leads to weight loss and physical deterioration
- incomparability — beyond comparison; matchless or unequaled: incomparable beauty.
- indicator board — a device that shows information, such as the arrival and departure times of trains or planes
- indirect labour — work done in administration and sales rather than in the manufacturing of a product
- irritable colon — any combination of common disturbances of the bowel, as diarrhea or constipation, occurring with abdominal pain, sometimes accompanied by psychological stress. Abbreviation: IBS.
- knight bachelor — bachelor (def 3).
- lubricating oil — an oily substance that is used to cover or treat machinery so as to lessen friction
- matrix bar code — a type of 2D bar code that stores data in a matrix of geometrically shaped dark and light cells that represent bits. See also QR code.
- microsoft basic — (language) (MS-BASIC) A dialect of BASIC from Microsoft, originally developed by Bill Gates in a garage back in the CP/M days. It was originally known as GWBasic, then QBASIC and finally MS-BASIC. When the MS-DOS operating system came out, it incorporated the GWBASIC.EXE or BASICA.EXE interpreters. GWBASIC ("Gee Whiz") incorporated graphics and a screen editor and was compatible with earlier BASICs. QBASIC was more sophisticated. Version 4.5 had a full screen editor, debugger and compiler. The compiler could also produce executable files but to run these a utility program (BRUN44.EXE) had to be present. Thus source code could be kept private. From DOS 5.0 or 6.0 onward, MS-BASIC was standard. Version 1.1 produced stand-alone executables and could display graphics.
- mount blackburn — a mountain in SE Alaska, the highest peak in the Wrangell Mountains. Height: 5037 m (16 523 ft)
- mount suribachi — a volcanic hill in the Volcano Islands, on Iwo Jima: site of a US victory (1945) over the Japanese in World War II
- myofibroblastic — Relating to myofibroblasts.
- nanofabrication — the design and manufacture of products and structures, especially electronic devices, with dimensions measured in nanometers.
- non-rectifiable — able to be rectified.
- nonbureaucratic — of, relating to, or characteristic of a bureaucrat or a bureaucracy; arbitrary and routine.
- noncontrollable — not able to be controlled
- not a dickybird — not a word; nothing
- obedience trial — a competitive event at which a dog can progress toward a degree in obedience by demonstrating its ability to follow a prescribed series of commands.
- obituary column — the division of a publication reserved for obituaries
- observation car — a railroad passenger car having a lounge or platform from which the scenery can be viewed.
- obstacle course — a military training area having obstacles, as hurdles, ditches, and walls, that must be surmounted or crossed in succession.
- octanitrocubane — (organic compound) A high explosive derived from cubane.
- orthoboric acid — boric acid (def 1). Compare ortho- (def 2).
- orthopaedic bed — a specially firm bed designed to help correct or ameliorate the discomfort of disorders of the spine and joints
- parti québécois — (in Canada) a political party in Quebec, formed in 1968 and originally advocating the separation of Quebec from the rest of the country
- polycarboxylate — a salt or ester of a polycarboxylic acid. Polycarboxylate esters are used in certain detergents
- pre-celebration — an act of celebrating.
- problematically — of the nature of a problem; doubtful; uncertain; questionable.
- procrustean bed — a plan or scheme to produce uniformity or conformity by arbitrary or violent methods.
- public lavatory — a public toilet
- pulmobranchiate — possessing a pulmobranch
- pyrometric bead — (in a kiln) a ball of material that indicates by changing color that a certain temperature has been reached.
- radio broadcast — sth transmitted via radio signal
- recognizability — to identify as something or someone previously seen, known, etc.: He had changed so much that one could scarcely recognize him.
- recombinant dna — DNA in which one or more segments or genes have been inserted, either naturally or by laboratory manipulation, from a different molecule or from another part of the same molecule, resulting in a new genetic combination.