15-letter words containing a, b, s, e, n
- 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 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).
- drop handlebars — aerodynamic handlebars that drop down and curve towards the rider at the ends rather than turning upwards as on conventional bicycles
- 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
- emission nebula — a type of nebula that emits visible radiation
- endocannibalism — A form of cannibalism, the eating of dead members of one's own social group, often associated with spiritual beliefs.
- eta abstraction — eta conversion
- eustachian tube — part of the ear
- Évian-les-bains — a resort and spa town in E France, on Lake Geneva opposite Lausanne; noted for its bottled mineral waters. Pop: 8064 (2006)
- extension cable — an extra length of cable with a plug and a connector that can be added to an electric lead
- fabric softener — a substance added to fabrics during laundering to make them puffier and softer.
- fallopian tubes — one of a pair of long, slender ducts in the female abdomen that transport ova from the ovary to the uterus and, in fertilization, transport sperm cells from the uterus to the released ova; the oviduct of higher mammals.
- false buckthorn — a spiny shrub or small tree, Bumelia lanuginosa, of the sapodilla family, native to the southern U.S., having gummy, milky sap and white, bell-shaped flowers and yielding a hard, light-brown wood.
- family business — company owned and run by a family
- fashionableness — The state of being fashionable; stylishness; elegance.
- 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.
- flemish brabant — a province of central Belgium, formed in 1995 from the N part of Brabant province: densely populated and intensively farmed, with large industrial centres. Pop: 1 031 904 (2004 est). Area: 2106 sq km (813 sq miles)
- 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 season — annual period when soccer is played
- fountains abbey — a ruined Cistercian abbey near Ripon in Yorkshire: founded 1132, dissolved 1539; landscaped 1720
- francis turbine — a water turbine designed to produce high flow from a low head of pressure: used esp in hydroelectric power generation
- 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)
- gambling losses — money lost as a result of playing games of chance for money
- 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)
- grafenberg spot — a patch of tissue in the front wall of the vagina, claimed to be erectile and highly erogenous.
- groundbreakings — Plural form of groundbreaking.
- guns and butter — a symbol for the economic policy of a government insofar as spending is allocated for either military or social purposes
- health benefits — positive effects on health
- heartbrokenness — The state or quality of being heartbroken.
- hendecasyllabic — having 11 syllables.
- hendecasyllable — a word or line of verse of 11 syllables.
- hoosier cabinet — a tall kitchen cabinet mass-produced during the early part of the 20th century, usually of oak, featuring an enameled work surface, storage bins, a flour sifter, etc.
- horse-and-buggy — of or relating to the last few generations preceding the invention of the automobile: vivid recollections of horse-and-buggy days.
- hubble constant — the ratio of the recessional velocity of galaxies to their distance from the sun, with current measurements of its value ranging from 50 to 100 km/sec per megaparsec.
- ibero-maurusian — of or relating to an Epipaleolithic culture of northwestern Africa that preceded the Capsian culture and was once erroneously thought to have originated in southwestern Europe; characterized by the use of backed bladelets, occupation of the maritime plain, and the hunting of the Barbary sheep.
- illimitableness — The quality of being illimitable; absence of limits.
- immensurability — The quality of being immensurable.
- immunoadsorbent — immunosorbent.
- immunoassayable — Suitable for immunoassay.
- imperviableness — the state of being imperviable
- implausibleness — The quality of being implausible.
- impregnableness — The state of being impregnable; impregnability.
- in the abstract — When you talk or think about something in the abstract, you talk or think about it in a general way, rather than considering particular things or events.
- in the box seat — in the best position
- in-visible hand — (in the economics of Adam Smith) an unseen force or mechanism that guides individuals to unwittingly benefit society through the pursuit of their private interests.
- inaccessibility — not accessible; unapproachable.
- inalterableness — The state or quality of being inalterable.