15-letter words containing a, b, n, d
- disestablishing — Present participle of disestablish.
- dishabilitation — the imposition of a legal disqualification
- dispensableness — The quality of being dispensable.
- display cabinet — a cabinet in a shop, museum, etc, that displays items
- distinguishable — to mark off as different (often followed by from or by): He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
- distinguishably — to mark off as different (often followed by from or by): He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
- donnybrook fair — a fair which until 1855 was held annually at Donnybrook, County Dublin, Ireland, and which was famous for rioting and dissipation.
- dorsibranchiate — having branchiae or gills along the back
- double in brass — twice as large, heavy, strong, etc.; twofold in size, amount, number, extent, etc.: a double portion; a new house double the size of the old one.
- double integral — an integral in which the integrand involves a function of two variables and that requires two applications of the integration process to evaluate.
- double negation — the principle that a statement is equivalent to the denial of its negation, as it is not the case that John is not here meaning John is here
- double negative — a syntactic construction in which two negative words are used in the same clause to express a single negation.
- double saucepan — a cooking utensil consisting of two saucepans, one fitting inside the other. The bottom saucepan contains water that, while boiling, gently heats food in the upper pan
- double standard — any code or set of principles containing different provisions for one group of people than for another, especially an unwritten code of sexual behavior permitting men more freedom than women. Compare single standard (def 1).
- doublet pattern — a pattern, as on a fabric, in which a figure or group is duplicated in reverse order on the opposite side of a centerline.
- doubting thomas — a person who refuses to believe without proof; skeptic. John 20:24–29.
- dribs and drabs — small sporadic amounts
- drop handlebars — aerodynamic handlebars that drop down and curve towards the rider at the ends rather than turning upwards as on conventional bicycles
- dumbbell nebula — the planetary nebula in the constellation Vulpecula, which in photographs appears to have the shape of a dumbbell.
- dynamic binding — The property of object-oriented programming languages where the code executed to perform a given operation is determined at run time from the class of the operand(s) (the receiver of the message). There may be several different classes of objects which can receive a given message. An expression may denote an object which may have more than one possible class and that class can only be determined at run time. New classes may be created that can receive a particular message, without changing (or recompiling) the code which sends the message. An class may be created that can receive any set of existing messages. One important reason for having dynamic binding is that it provides a mechanism for selecting between alternatives which is arguably more robust than explicit selection by conditionals or pattern matching. When a new subclass is added, or an existing subclass changes, the necessary modifications are localised: you don't have incomplete conditionals and broken patterns scattered all over the program. See overloading.
- 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
- embalming fluid — a liquid used to treat a dead body, which contains preservatives to retard putrefaction
- endocannabinoid — An endogenous cannabinoid, that is one produced by the body.
- endocannibalism — A form of cannibalism, the eating of dead members of one's own social group, often associated with spiritual beliefs.
- examining board — an organization that sets and corrects exams
- feather banding — decorative banding of veneer or inlay having the grain laid diagonally to the grain of the principal surface.
- field ambulance — a mobile medical unit that accepts casualties from forward units, treating the lightly wounded and stabilizing the condition of the seriously wounded before evacuating them to a hospital
- fish and brewis — a Newfoundland dish of cooked salt cod and soaked hard bread
- flatbed scanner — a type of optical scanner having a flat, stationary surface on which a page is scanned by a moving head.
- flesh and blood — offspring or relatives: one's own flesh and blood.
- fob destination — FOB destination is a shipping term indicating that ownership of goods passes at delivery to their destination, and the seller has total responsibility until then.
- football ground — an area of land where football games are played
- gambier islands — a group of islands in the S Pacific Ocean, in French Polynesia. Chief settlement: Rikitéa. Pop: 1097 (2002). Area: 30 sq km (11 sq miles)
- gilbert islands — a group of islands in the W Pacific: with Banaba, the Phoenix Islands, and three of the Line Islands they constitute the independent state of Kiribati; until 1975 they formed part of the British colony of Gilbert and Ellice Islands; achieved full independence in 1979. Pop: 82 902 (2005). Area: 295 sq km (114 sq miles)
- gingerbread man — biscuit in the shape of a man
- ground-breaking — the act or ceremony of breaking ground for a new construction project.
- groundbreakings — Plural form of groundbreaking.
- guaranteed bond — a bond issued by a corporation in which payment of the principal, interest, or both is guaranteed by another corporation.
- guns and butter — a symbol for the economic policy of a government insofar as spending is allocated for either military or social purposes
- hebrew calendar — the lunisolar calendar used by Jews, as for determining religious holidays, that is reckoned from 3761 b.c. and was established by Hillel II in the 4th century a.d., the calendar year consisting of 353 days (defective year) 354 days (regular year) or 355 days (perfect year or abundant year) and containing 12 months: Tishri, Heshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar, Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, and Elul, with the 29-day intercalary month of Adar Sheni added after Adar seven times in every 19-year cycle in order to adjust the calendar to the solar cycle. The Jewish ecclesiastical year begins with Nisan and the civil year with Tishri.
- hendecasyllabic — having 11 syllables.
- hendecasyllable — a word or line of verse of 11 syllables.
- herbal medicine — the use of herbs to treat illness
- horse-and-buggy — of or relating to the last few generations preceding the invention of the automobile: vivid recollections of horse-and-buggy days.
- hybrid antibody — a synthetic antibody that is able to combine with two different antigens
- hype-carbonated — (of a product or service) overvalued as a result of relentless marketing and PR or intensive media exposure
- identifiability — to recognize or establish as being a particular person or thing; verify the identity of: to identify handwriting; to identify the bearer of a check.
- immunoadsorbent — immunosorbent.
- imponderability — The state or characteristic of being imponderable.
- in a (bad) spot — in a bad situation; in trouble