15-letter words containing a, b, s, i
- back plastering — the introduction of partitions of lath and plaster between the inner and outer surfaces of a stud wall in order to improve the insulating properties of the wall.
- back-scratching — a reciprocal exchange of favors, aid, or compliments
- backseat driver — If you refer to a passenger in a car as a backseat driver, they annoy you because they constantly give you advice about how to drive.
- bacterial ghost — a bacterial cell that is emptied and filled artificially with another substance
- bacteriophagous — Pertaining to the predation and consumption of bacterium.
- bag on the side — An extension to an established hack that is supposed to add some functionality to the original. Usually derogatory, implying that the original was being overextended and should have been thrown away, and the new product is ugly, inelegant, or bloated. Also "to hang a bag on the side [of]". "C++? That's just a bag on the side of C." "They want me to hang a bag on the side of the accounting system."
- bahasa malaysia — the dialect of Malay used as the official language of Malaysia.
- bait and switch — Bait and switch is used to refer to a sales technique in which goods are advertised at low prices in order to attract customers, although only a small number of the low-priced goods are available.
- bait-and-switch — denoting a deceptive method of selling, by which customers, attracted to a store by sale items, are told either that the advertised bargain item is out of stock or is inferior to a higher-priced item that is available.
- balanoposthitis — An inflammation of the glans penis and the prepuce.
- ballet mistress — a woman who teaches and rehearses the dancers in a ballet company
- bandpass filter — A bandpass filter is a filter designed to pass all frequencies within a band of frequencies.
- bandstop filter — A bandstop filter is a filter designed to eliminate all frequencies within a band of frequencies.
- bangtail muster — a roundup of cattle to be counted, each one having the hairs on its tail docked as it is counted
- baptism of fire — If someone who has just begun a new job has a baptism of fire, they immediately have to cope with very many severe difficulties and obstacles.
- barbizon school — a group of French painters of landscapes of the 1840s, including Théodore Rousseau, Daubigny, Diaz, Corot, and Millet
- barium stearate — a white, crystalline, water-insoluble solid, Ba(C 18 H 35 O 2) 2 , used chiefly as a waterproofing agent and as a lubricant.
- barium sulphate — a white insoluble fine dense powder, used as a pigment, as a filler for paper, rubber, etc, and in barium meals. Formula: BaSO4
- barley sandwich — a drink of beer, esp at lunch time
- barn conversion — the adaptation of a farm barn into a building serving a different use, such as a house or commercial premises
- barry mountains — a mountain range in SE Australia, in E Victoria: part of the Australian Alps
- basic anhydride — a compound formed by removing water from a more complex compound: an oxide of a nonmetal (acid anhydride) or a metal (basic anhydride) that forms an acid or a base, respectively, when united with water.
- basic autocoder — Early system on IBM 7070. Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959).
- basic education — (in India) education in which all teaching is correlated with the learning of a craft
- basic statement — protocol (def 6).
- basidiomycetous — belonging or pertaining to the basidiomycetes.
- basse-normandie — a region of NW France, on the English Channel: consists of the Cherbourg peninsula in the west rising to the Normandy hills in the east; mainly agricultural
- bat-wing sleeve — formed, shaped, etc., like the wing of a bat.
- bathing costume — A bathing costume is a piece of clothing that is worn for swimming, especially by women and girls.
- bathurst island — an island off the coast of N Nunavut, Canada, in the Arctic Archipelago: present south of the North Magnetic Pole nearby. 7609 sq. mi. (19,707 sq. km).
- battle of wills — A battle of wills is a situation that involves people who try to defeat each other by refusing to change their own aims or demands and hoping that their opponents will weaken first.
- battle stations — the places to which soldiers, sailors, warships, etc. are assigned for a battle or an emergency
- battleship gray — a subdued bluish gray.
- be having sb on — If you are having someone on, you are pretending that something is true when it is not true, for example as a joke or in order to tease them.
- bear comparison — to be sufficiently similar in class or range to be compared with (something else), esp favourably
- béarnaise sauce — a creamy sauce, esp. for meat or fish, made of butter and egg yolks and flavored with wine, vinegar, shallots, and herbs
- bedloe's island — Liberty Island
- belted sandfish — a sea bass, Serranus subligarius, inhabiting warm, shallow waters of the western Atlantic Ocean.
- benefits agency — an agency that handles the payment of benefits
- berenice's hair — the constellation Coma Berenices
- beside the mark — not striking the point aimed at
- beta conversion — (theory) A term from lambda-calculus for beta reduction or beta abstraction.
- bias (ply) tire — a motor vehicle tire having a foundation of plies of rubberized cords in a crisscross pattern of lines diagonal to the center line of the tread
- big sandy creek — a river in central Colorado, flowing NE and SE to the Arkansas River near Lamar: site of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. 200 miles (322 km) long.
- binomial series — an infinite series obtained by expanding a binomial raised to a power that is not a positive integer.
- bioastronautics — the study of the effects of space flight on living organisms
- biogasification — the conversion of organic matter into biogas.
- biostatistician — someone who studies or works professionally in the field of biostatistics
- biostratigraphy — the examination of the ages of rock strata by using fossils
- biot-savart law — the law that the magnetic induction near a long, straight conductor, as wire, varies inversely as the distance from the conductor and directly as the intensity of the current in the conductor.