15-letter words containing a, b, c, u
- black guillemot — a common guillemot, Cepphus grylle: its summer plumage is black with white wing patches and its winter plumage white with greyish wings
- black horehound — a hairy unpleasant-smelling chiefly Mediterranean plant, Ballota nigra, having clusters of purple flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)
- black mountains — a mountain range running from N Monmouthshire and SE Powys (Wales) to SW Herefordshire (England). Highest peak: Waun Fach, 811 m (2660 ft)
- blackberry bush — a bush on which blackberries grow
- blockade runner — a person, ship etc that tries to carry goods through a blockade
- blockade-runner — a ship or person that passes through a blockade.
- blue cattle dog — an Australian breed of dog with a bluish coat, developed for herding cattle
- blueback salmon — sockeye salmon.
- book of account — a book to keep accounts in; ledger
- brachial plexus — a network of nerves in the armpits and neck, innervating the shoulders, arms, and hands.
- brachystomatous — having a short proboscis, as certain insects.
- brake parachute — a parachute attached to the rear of a vehicle and opened to assist braking
- branchial pouch — one of a series of rudimentary outcroppings of the inner pharyngeal wall, corresponding to the branchial grooves on the surface.
- branching rules — rules that are used to break down a complex problem into several smaller problems
- branchiostegous — branchiostegal.
- breach of trust — a violation of duty by a trustee or any other person in a fiduciary position
- bronchial tubes — the bronchi or their smaller divisions
- brush discharge — a slightly luminous electrical discharge between points of high charge density when the charge density is insufficient to cause a spark or around sharp points on a highly charged conductor because of ionization of air molecules in their vicinity
- brushback pitch — a fast ball deliberately thrown at or too near a batter's head
- brussels carpet — a worsted carpet with a heavy pile formed by uncut loops of wool on a linen warp
- bucket elevator — a chain of buckets for raising liquids or materials to a higher level
- buckinghamshire — a county in SE central England, containing the Vale of Aylesbury and parts of the Chiltern Hills: the geographic and ceremonial county includes Milton Keynes, which became an independent unitary authority in 1997. Administrative centre: Aylesbury. Pop (excluding Milton Keynes): 478 000 (2003 est). Area (excluding Milton Keynes): 1568 sq km (605 sq miles)
- buffalo currant — an ornamental shrub, Ribes odoratum, of the central U.S., having showy, drooping clusters of fragrant yellow flowers and edible black fruit.
- bullock's heart — the large, edible fruit of a tropical American tree, Annona reticulata.
- bullock's-heart — the large, edible fruit of a tropical American tree, Annona reticulata.
- buryat republic — a constituent republic of SE central Russia, on Lake Baikal: mountainous, with forests covering over half the total area. Capital: Ulan-Ude. Pop: 981 000 (2002). Area: 351 300 sq km (135 608 sq miles)
- business casual — a style of casual clothing worn by businesspeople at work instead of more formal attire
- butterfly chair — a lightweight chair consisting of a piece of canvas, leather, etc. slung from a framework of metal bars
- buy-back option — the option for a company to buy some or all of its shares from an investor, who acquired them by putting venture capital into the company when it was formed
- by all accounts — according to everyone
- cabbage lettuce — any of several varieties of lettuce that have roundish flattened heads resembling cabbages
- cabinet picture — a small easel painting, usually under 3 feet (0.9 meters) in width and formerly exhibited in a cabinet or special room.
- cabinet pudding — a steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit
- calabash nutmeg — a tropical African shrub, Monodora myristica, whose oily aromatic seeds can be used as nutmegs: family Annonaceae
- calcium blocker — any of a group of drugs that prevent the influx of calcium into excitable tissues such as smooth muscle of the heart or arterioles, used in the treatment of angina, hypertension, and certain arrhythmias.
- calcium carbide — a grey salt of calcium used in the production of acetylene (by its reaction with water) and calcium cyanamide. Formula: CaC2
- camelback truss — a roof truss having upper and lower chords curving upward from a common point at each side.
- campaign button — a disk-shaped pin worn by a supporter of a political candidate, usually bearing the name of the candidate and often a slogan or the candidate's picture.
- cannot help but — to be unable to do anything else except
- canterbury bell — a campanulaceous biennial European plant, Campanula medium, widely cultivated for its blue, violet, or white flowers
- canterbury lamb — New Zealand lamb exported chilled or frozen to the United Kingdom
- cardinal number — A cardinal number is a number such as 1, 3, or 10 that tells you how many things there are in a group but not what order they are in. Compare ordinal number.
- cartesian doubt — willful suspension of all interpretations of experience that are not absolutely certain: used as a method of deriving, by elimination of such uncertainties, axioms upon which to base theories.
- casual labourer — a person who is employed on a temporary, rather than a permanent or regular basis
- centrifugal box — a revolving chamber, used in the spinning of manufactured filaments, in which the plastic fibers, subjected to centrifugal force, are slightly twisted and emerge in the form of yarn wound into the shape of a hollow cylinder.
- cerebrovascular — of or relating to the blood vessels and the blood supply of the brain
- ceteris paribus — other things being equal
- chamber counsel — a counsel who advises in private and does not plead in court
- charcoal burner — (formerly) a person whose work was making charcoal by burning
- charcoal-burner — a device that burns charcoal, as a stove or brazier.