16-letter words containing a, b, e, c
- blow one's stack — to lose one's temper; fly into a rage
- blue in the face — the pure color of a clear sky; the primary color between green and violet in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 450 and 500 nm.
- boarding officer — a coastguard who boards ships suspected of carrying illegal cargoes or posing a security risk
- bomb calorimeter — a device for determining heats of combustion by igniting a sample in a high pressure of oxygen in a sealed vessel and measuring the resulting rise in temperature: used for measuring the calorific value of foods
- bonhomme richard — the flagship of John Paul Jones.
- bordelaise sauce — a dark sauce made from meat stock, flour, wine, onions, seasonings, etc., served over broiled meat
- boreal chickadee — a brown-capped, black-throated chickadee (Parus hudsonicus) found near the Atlantic coast from Labrador to N New York
- boston cream pie — a cake of two layers with icing and a creamy filling
- botanical garden — a place where collections of plants and trees are kept for scientific study and exhibition
- bowman's capsule — a membranous, double-walled capsule surrounding a glomerulus of a nephron.
- bracknell forest — a unitary authority in SE England, in E Berkshire. Pop: 110 100 (2003 est). Area: 109 sq km (42 sq miles)
- bragg scattering — the diffraction phenomenon exhibited by a crystal bombarded with x-rays in such a way that each plane of the crystal lattice acts as a reflector (Bragg reflector)
- braking distance — the distance a vehicle travels from the point at which its brakes are applied to the point at which it comes to a stop
- branchial groove — one of a series of rudimentary depressions on the surface of the embryo between adjacent branchial arches, homologous to the branchial clefts of gill-breathing ancestral forms.
- branchiopneustic — breathing by means of gills, as certain aquatic insect larvae.
- brand acceptance — the extent to which consumers recognize and welcome a brand
- break one's back — to overwork or work very hard
- break one's neck — to exert oneself greatly, esp by hurrying, in order to do something
- break the record — surpass previous highest, best
- breakfast cereal — a type of food made from a cereal plant and commonly eaten at breakfast
- breast screening — a radiological or other examination of a woman's breasts to check for signs of cancer
- bren gun carrier — (esp in World War II) a small armoured vehicle equipped with a Bren gun
- bridge financing — interim or emergency financing through a short- or medium-term loan (bridge loan)
- bridging finance — money borrowed temporarily to cover the period before a particular event occurs, for example, until a house purchaser receives money under a mortgage
- broadloom carpet — any carpet woven on a wide loom and not having seams, especially one wider than 54 inches (137 cm).
- bronchopneumonia — inflammation of the lungs, originating in the bronchioles
- buckley's chance — no chance at all
- buckwheat family — the plant family Polygonaceae, characterized by herbaceous plants, vines, shrubs, and trees having stems with swollen joints, simple leaves, small, petalless flowers, and fruit in the form of an achene, and including the buckwheat, dock, knotweed, rhubarb, sea grape, and smartweed.
- buoyancy chamber — an enclosed section of a canoe, float, ship or other object that contains air, foam, or another buoyant substance in order to help maintain buoyancy
- bureau de change — a place where foreign currencies can be exchanged
- bureaucratically — of, relating to, or characteristic of a bureaucrat or a bureaucracy; arbitrary and routine.
- bury the hatchet — to cease hostilities and become reconciled
- business account — a bank account or type of bank account used for business transactions rather than personal ones
- business machine — a machine for expediting clerical work, as a tabulator or adding machine.
- butenedioic acid — either of two geometrical isomers with the formula HOOCCH:CHCOOH
- buttercup family — the plant family Ranunculaceae, typified by mostly herbaceous plants having usually alternate leaves, multistaminate flowers sometimes lacking petals but with colorful sepals, and including the anemone, buttercup, clematis, columbine, delphinium, and monkshood.
- buttercup squash — a small, usually dark-green squash that is a variety of Cucurbita maxima, having sweet orange flesh.
- byzantine church — Orthodox Church (def 1).
- cabbage palmetto — a tropical American fan palm, Sabal palmetto, with edible leaf buds and leaves used in thatching
- cabbage root fly — a dipterous fly, Erioischia brassicae, whose larvae feed on the roots and stems of cabbages and other brassicas: family Muscidae (houseflies, etc)
- cabbage-tree hat — a broad-brimmed hat made from cabbage-tree leaves.
- cabinet minister — a minister who is a member of the cabinet
- cable television — Cable television is a television system in which signals are sent along wires rather than by radio waves.
- caducibranchiate — (of many amphibians, such as frogs) having gills during one stage of the life cycle only
- camborne-redruth — a former (until 1974) urban district in SW England, in Cornwall: formed in 1934 by the amalgamation of the neighbouring towns of Camborne and Redruth. Pop: 39 936 (2001)
- can you beat it? — an expression of utter amazement or surprise
- can-not help but — to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; render assistance to; cooperate effectively with; aid; assist: He planned to help me with my work. Let me help you with those packages.
- canada bluegrass — a Eurasian grass, Poa compressa, naturalized in North America, having creeping rootstocks and bluish-green leaves.
- cannonball serve — (in tennis) a very fast low serve
- canterbury bells — a cultivated bellflower (Campanula medium) with white, pink, or blue cuplike flowers