16-letter words containing a, b, e, o
- background noise — any type of noise that is not the sound that you are specifically listening to or monitoring
- background paper — a report or other piece of writing that is intended to provide contextual and historical information that will help people understand a particular topic or situation
- bacterioplankton — (biology) The bacterial component of marine plankton.
- badminton racket — the type of racket used in games of badminton
- bahasa indonesia — the official language of Indonesia: developed from the form of Malay formerly widely used as a trade language in SE Asia
- balance of power — The balance of power is the way in which power is distributed between rival groups or countries.
- balance of trade — A country's balance of trade is the difference in value, over a period of time, between the goods it imports and the goods it exports.
- ballast resistor — ballast (def 5a).
- ballast-resistor — Nautical. any heavy material carried temporarily or permanently in a vessel to provide desired draft and stability.
- balloon catheter — a type of catheter with a tiny, inflatable balloon at the tip, used in various surgical procedures
- balloon mortgage — A balloon mortgage is a mortgage on which the repayments are relatively small until the large final payment.
- baltimore canyon — a submarine valley cut into the continental shelf and slope seaward of Chesapeake Bay.
- baltimore heater — a stove for heating a lower and upper room, having its fire door in the lower room.
- baltimore oriole — a North American oriole, Icterus galbula, the male of which has orange and black plumage
- bankruptcy order — a court order appointing a receiver to manage the property of a debtor or bankrupt
- barbecue stopper — a controversial current-affairs issue
- barclay de tolly — Prince Mikhail (mixaˈil). 1761–1818, Russian field marshal: commander in chief against Napoleon in 1812
- bargaining power — the ability of a person, group, or organization to exert influence over another party in a negotiation in order to achieve a deal which is favourable to themselves
- bargaining scope — the range of topics within the scope of a particular set of negotiations leading to a collective agreement
- barium carbonate — a white, poisonous, water-insoluble powder, BaCO 3 , used chiefly in the manufacture of rodenticides, paints, and dyes.
- barium hydroxide — a white poisonous crystalline solid, used in the manufacture of organic compounds and in the preparation of beet sugar. Formula: Ba(OH)2
- barometric error — error of a timepiece due to the fluctuations in density of the atmosphere through which the balance or pendulum moves.
- baron tweedsmuir — the title of Scottish novelist John Buchan
- barrier of ideas — the representations of objects which certain accounts of perception interpose between the objects themselves and our awareness of them, so that, as critics argue, we can never know whether there is in reality anything which resembles our perceptions
- bartholomeu dias — Bartholomeu [bahr-too-loo-me-oo] /ˌbɑr tʊ lʊˈmɛ ʊ/ (Show IPA), c1450–1500, Portuguese navigator: discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope.
- basal metabolism — the amount of energy required by an individual in the resting state, for such functions as breathing and circulation of the blood
- basement complex — the undifferentiated assemblage of rock (basement rock) underlying the oldest stratified rocks in any region: usually crystalline, metamorphosed, and mostly, but not necessarily, Precambrian in age.
- basic dichromate — an orange-red, amorphous, water-insoluble powder, Bi 2 O 3 ⋅2CrO 3 , used chiefly as a pigment in paints.
- basque provinces — an autonomous region of N Spain, comprising the provinces of Álava, Guipúzcoa, and Vizcaya: inhabited mainly by Basques, who retained virtual autonomy from the 9th to the 19th century. Pop: 1 840 700 (2003 est). Area: about 7250 sq km (2800 sq miles)
- batch processing — manufacturing products or treating materials in batches, by passing the output of one process to subsequent processes
- bathroom cabinet — a wall-mounted cabinet in a bathroom, typically with a mirror front and used for the storage of medicines and toiletries
- bathythermograph — a device for measuring the temperature of the ocean at any specific depth down to c. 1,800 m (c. 5,900 ft)
- batlle y ordonez — José [haw-se] /hɔˈsɛ/ (Show IPA), 1856–1929, Uruguayan statesman: president of Uruguay 1903–07, 1911–15.
- battery-operated — powered, driven, or operated with batteries
- battle-axe block — a block of land behind another, with access from the street through a narrow drive
- bayonet practice — drill in the use of a bayonet
- be as good as to — would you please
- be of assistance — Someone or something that is of assistance to you is helpful or useful to you.
- be on the market — to be offered for sale
- be one's own man — to be independent or free
- be out of breath — If you are out of breath, you are breathing very quickly and with difficulty because you have been doing something energetic.
- be the making of — to cause the success of
- bear one's cross — a structure consisting essentially of an upright and a transverse piece, used to execute persons in ancient times.
- beat to the draw — to be quicker than (another) in doing something, as in drawing one's weapon
- beautiful people — wealthy, fashionable people of the leisure class
- beefsteak tomato — a very large fleshy variety of tomato
- behavior pattern — a recurrent way of acting by an individual or group toward a given object or in a given situation.
- behavior therapy — therapy employing behavior modification
- behavioural sink — a small area in which people or animals live in overcrowded conditions
- belgian malinois — one of a Belgian breed of medium-sized dogs having a short coat, tan to dark brown in color, a black mask, and erect ears, bred originally as a sheepherding dog.