17-letter words containing a, b, o, h
- boothia peninsula — a peninsula of N Canada: the northernmost part of the mainland of North America, lying west of the Gulf of Boothia, an arm of the Arctic Ocean
- bottlebrush grass — a North American grass, Hystrix patula, having loose flower spikes with long awns.
- brain haemorrhage — bleeding into the brain
- branch delay slot — delayed control-transfer
- branch prediction — (processor, algorithm) A technique used in some processors with instruction prefetch to guess whether a conditional branch will be taken or not and prefetch code from the appropriate location. When a branch instruction is executed, its address and that of the next instruction executed (the chosen destination of the branch) are stored in the Branch Target Buffer. This information is used to predict which way the instruction will branch the next time it is executed so that instruction prefetch can continue. When the prediction is correct (and it is over 90% of the time), executing a branch does not cause a pipeline break. Some later CPUs simply prefetch both paths instead of trying to predict which way the branch will go. An extension of the idea of branch prediction is speculative execution.
- breach of promise — (formerly) failure to carry out one's promise to marry
- break one's heart — to grieve or cause to grieve very deeply, esp through love
- break the back of — to complete the greatest or hardest part of (a task)
- breathe life into — revive, rejuvenate
- brighton and hove — a city and unitary authority in S England, in East Sussex. Pop: 251 500 (2003 est). Area: 72 sq km (28 sq miles)
- british cameroons — a former British trust territory of West Africa
- british columbian — of or relating to British Columbia or its inhabitants
- british shorthair — a breed of large cat with a short dense coat
- british-cameroons — German Kamerun. a region in W Africa: a German protectorate 1884–1919; divided in 1919 into British and French mandates.
- broad-winged hawk — an American hawk, Buteo platypterus, dark brown above and white barred with rufous below.
- broadview heights — a town in N Ohio.
- buncher resonator — See under Klystron.
- bury the tomahawk — to stop fighting; make peace
- by the same token — You use by the same token to introduce a statement that you think is true for the same reasons that were given for a previous statement.
- called to the bar — admitted to the practice of law as a barrister
- can't be bothered — If you say that you can't be bothered to do something, you mean that you are not going to do it because you think it is unnecessary or because you are too lazy.
- cannot choose but — to be obliged to
- carbon disulphide — a colourless slightly soluble volatile flammable poisonous liquid commonly having a disagreeable odour due to the presence of impurities: used as an organic solvent and in the manufacture of rayon and carbon tetrachloride. Formula: CS2
- carbon microphone — a microphone in which a diaphragm, vibrated by sound waves, applies a varying pressure to a container packed with carbon granules, altering the resistance of the carbon. A current flowing through the carbon is thus modulated at the frequency of the sound waves
- carbonyl chloride — phosgene
- carboxyhemoglobin — a compound formed in the blood when carbon monoxide occupies the positions on the hemoglobin molecule normally taken by oxygen, resulting in cellular oxygen starvation
- chamber orchestra — A chamber orchestra is a small orchestra which plays classical music.
- chateau cardboard — wine sold in a winebox
- checkable deposit — a checking account
- chicklet keyboard — (spelling) It's spelled "chiclet keyboard".
- chocolate biscuit — a biscuit covered with chocolate
- clare boothe luce — Clare Boothe, 1903–87, U.S. writer, politician, and diplomat.
- code of behaviour — the generally accepted rules governing how people behave
- code of hammurabi — a Babylonian legal code of the 18th century b.c. or earlier, instituted by Hammurabi and dealing with criminal and civil matters.
- combine harvester — A combine harvester is a large machine which is used on farms to cut, sort, and clean grain.
- creature of habit — If you say that someone is a creature of habit, you mean that they usually do the same thing at the same time each day, rather than doing new and different things.
- culpable homicide — manslaughter
- cytotrophoblastic — Relating to, or containing, cytotrophoblasts.
- de-baathification — the process of removing the members and influence of the Ba'ath Party from public office in Iraq following the US-led invasion of 2003
- digital dashboard — (software) A personalised desktop portal that focuses on business intelligence and knowledge management.
- dishonourableness — Alternative spelling of dishonorableness.
- doberman pinscher — one of a German breed of medium-sized, short-haired dogs having a black, brown, or blue coat with rusty brown markings.
- embroidery thread — a thread used for embroidery
- establishing shot — Cinema
- football hooligan — a noisy violent football supporter
- fort walton beach — a city in NW Florida.
- glastonbury chair — a folding chair having legs crossed front-to-back and having arms connected to the back and to the front seat rail.
- go back to the pa — to abandon city life in favour of rural life
- go by the wayside — to be put aside on account of something more urgent
- great willow herb — either of two tall, large-flowered willow herbs, Epilobium angustifolium or E. hirsutum.