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

potassium bitartrate — cream of tartar.
potassium-bitartrate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, C 4 H 5 KO 6 , used chiefly as an ingredient in baking powders and in galvanic tinning of metals. Also called potassium bitartrate, potassium acid tartrate. Compare tartar (def 3).
proactive inhibition — the tendency for earlier memories to interfere with the retrieval of material learned later
probability function — the function the values of which are probabilities of the distinct outcomes of a discrete random variable
prohibited substance — a substance, such as a drug, etc, that is banned or forbidden by law or other authority
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.
quasi-stellar object — quasar. Abbreviation: QSO.
receivables turnover — A receivables turnover is a measure of cash flow that is calculated by dividing net credit sales by average accounts receivable.
red badge of courage — a novel (1895) by Stephen Crane.
reductio ad absurdum — a reduction to an absurdity; the refutation of a proposition by demonstrating the inevitably absurd conclusion to which it would logically lead.
relative probability — a measure or estimate of the degree of confidence one may have in the occurrence of an event, defined as the limit of the proportion observed in a sample as the sample size tends to infinity
republic of maldives — a republic occupying an archipelago of 1087 coral islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka: came under British protection in 1887; became independent in 1965 and a republic in 1968; member of the Commonwealth (1982–2016). The economy and infrastructure were severely damaged in the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004. Official language: Divehi. Official religion: (Sunni) Muslim. Currency: rufiyaa. Capital: Malé. Pop: 393 988 (2013 est). Area: 298 sq km (115 sq miles)
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.
rough-legged buzzard — a buzzard, Buteo lagopus, of Europe, Asia, and North America, having feathers covering its legs
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
sailor's breastplate — a knot consisting of three overlapping loops formed by a single rope passed alternately over and under itself at crossings.
scream bloody murder — Law. the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder) and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder)
semiautobiographical — pertaining to or being a fictionalized account of an author's own life.
server message block — (protocol) (SMB) A client/server protocol that provides file and printer sharing between computers. In addition SMB can share serial ports and communications abstractions such as named pipes and mail slots. SMB is similar to remote procedure call (RPC) specialised for file system access. SMB was developed by Intel, Microsoft, and IBM in the early 1980s. It has also had input from Xerox and 3Com. It is the native method of file and print sharing for Microsoft operating systems; where it is called Microsoft Networking. Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95, and Windows NT all include SMB clients and servers. SMB is also used by OS/2, Lan Manager and Banyan Vines. There are SMB servers and clients for Unix, for example Samba and smbclient. SMB is a presentation layer protocol structured as a large set of commands (Server Message Blocks). There are commands to support file sharing, printer sharing, user authentication, resource browsing, and other miscellaneous functions. As clients and servers may implement different versions ("dialects") of the protocol they negotiate before starting a session. The redirector packages SMB requests into a network control block (NBC) structure that can be sent across the network to a remote device. SMB originally ran on top of the lower level protocols NetBEUI and NetBIOS, but now typically runs over TCP/IP. Microsoft have developed an extended version of SMB for the Internet, the Common Internet File System (CIFS), which in most cases replaces SMB. CIFS runs only runs over TCP/IP.
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.
special boat service — a unit of the Royal Marines specializing in reconnaissance and sabotage
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.
standard book number — International Standard Book Number. Abbreviation: SBN.
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.
straight-cut tobacco — tobacco that is cut in such a way that it will lie flat.
subscription library — a commercial lending library
switchboard operator — a person who operates an installation in a telephone exchange, office, hotel, etc, at which the interconnection of telephone lines is manually controlled
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 warning shot — to be a warning
to be at loggerheads — to be in conflict
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 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 catch your breath — If something makes you catch your breath, it makes you take a short breath of air, usually because it shocks you.
to disturb the peace — If someone is accused of disturbing the peace, they are accused of behaving in a noisy and offensive way in public.
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.

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