20-letter words containing a, b, n, o

prothonotary warbler — a wood warbler, Protonotaria citrea, of the eastern U.S., having an orange-yellow head and underparts, and bluish-gray wings and tail.
public administrator — an official of a city, county, or state government.
quantum bogodynamics — /kwon'tm boh"goh-di:-nam"iks/ A theory that characterises the universe in terms of bogon sources (such as politicians, used-car salesmen, TV evangelists, and suits in general), bogon sinks (such as taxpayers and computers), and bogosity potential fields. Bogon absorption causes human beings to behave mindlessly and machines to fail (and may also cause both to emit secondary bogons); however, the precise mechanics of bogon-computron interaction are not yet understood. Quantum bogodynamics is most often invoked to explain the sharp increase in hardware and software failures in the presence of suits; the latter emit bogons, which the former absorb.
receivables turnover — A receivables turnover is a measure of cash flow that is calculated by dividing net credit sales by average accounts receivable.
rocky mountain basic — (language) The BASIC language used by Hewlett Packard on their 680x0-based computers. Rocky Mountain Basic is good for interfaces to IEEE 488 controls and contains many mathematical and matrix functions. It has about 600 commands. Typical applications include automatic test stations.
royal british legion — an organization founded in 1921 to provide services and assistance for former members of the armed forces
rub up the wrong way — to arouse anger (in); annoy
saint john ambulance — an organization that provides first aid and first-aid training
save someone's bacon — to help someone to escape from danger
second-hand bookshop — a shop selling second-hand books
set the ball rolling — to open or initiate (an action, discussion, movement, etc)
shaken baby syndrome — a usually fatal condition of abused infants brought on by violent shaking by the arms or shoulders that causes severe internal bleeding, especially around the brain and in the eyes.
short back and sides — If a man has a short back and sides, his hair is cut very short at the back and sides with slightly thicker, longer hair on the top of the head.
skull and crossbones — a representation of a front view of a human skull above two crossed bones, originally used on pirates' flags and now used as a warning sign, as in designating substances as poisons.
spectroscopic binary — a binary star having components that are not sufficiently separated to be resolved by a telescope, known to be a binary only bythe variations in wavelength of emitted light that are detected by a spectroscope.
spherical aberration — variation in focal length of a lens or mirror from center to edge, due to its spherical shape.
spontaneous abortion — miscarriage (def 1).
spontaneous-abortion — Also called voluntary abortion. the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy.
spotted crane's-bill — the American wild geranium, Geranium maculatum.
st. james-assiniboia — a city in SE Manitoba, in S central Canada: suburb of Winnipeg.
standard book number — International Standard Book Number. Abbreviation: SBN.
stefan-boltzmann law — the law stating that the total energy radiated from a blackbody is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature.
step into the breach — If you step into the breach, you do a job or task which someone else was supposed to do or has done in the past, because they are suddenly unable to do it.
subpoena duces tecum — a writ directing a person to appear in court and to bring some document described in the writ.
subscription library — a commercial lending library
tchebycheff equation — a differential equation of the form (1 − x 2) d 2 y/dx 2 − x dy/dx + n 2 y = 0, where n is any nonnegative integer.
television broadcast — sth shown on tv
tetrahydrocannabinol — a compound, C 21 H 30 O 2 , that is the physiologically active component in cannabis preparations (marijuana, hashish, etc.) derived from the Indian hemp plant or produced synthetically. Abbreviation: THC.
therapeutic abortion — abortion performed when a woman's pregnancy endangers her health.
to be a one-man show — to be reliant on one person alone
to be a warning shot — to be a warning
to be walking on air — If you say that you are walking on air or floating on air, you mean that you feel extremely happy about something.
to bear the brunt of — To bear the brunt or take the brunt of something unpleasant means to suffer the main part or force of it.
to beat one's breast — If you say that someone beats their breast, you are emphasizing that they are very angry or upset about something, or that they are pretending to be very angry or upset about it.
to blow hot and cold — If someone blows hot and cold, they keep changing their attitude towards something, sometimes being very enthusiastic and at other times expressing no interest at all.
to bring up the rear — If a person or vehicle is bringing up the rear, they are the last person or vehicle in a moving line of them.
to burst into flames — If something bursts into flames or bursts into flame, it suddenly starts burning strongly.
to get your bearings — to find out where one is or to find out what one should do next
to get your own back — If you get your own back on someone, you have your revenge on them because of something bad that they have done to you.
to have it in for sb — If someone has it in for you, they do not like you and they want to make life difficult for you.
to keep your balance — If you keep your balance, for example, when standing in a moving vehicle, you remain steady and do not fall over. If you lose your balance, you become unsteady and fall over.
to sb's disadvantage — If something is to your disadvantage or works to your disadvantage, it creates difficulties for you.
tropical disturbance — a very weak, or incipient, tropical cyclone.
upper income bracket — a grouping of the highest earning tax payers
vertical combination — the integration within one company of individual businesses working separately in related phases of the production and sale of a product.
voice over broadband — a transmission technique that enables a user to make and receive telephone calls over a broadband connection
walton and weybridge — a city in Surrey, SE England: a London suburb.
war of the rebellion — American Civil War.
war production board — the board (1942–45) that supervised and regulated the production and sale of matériel essential to the logistics of World War II. Abbreviation: WPB, W.P.B.
wardrobe malfunction — an embarrassing situation caused by the clothes a person is wearing

Was this page helpful?

Yes No

Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page

Tell us why?