16-letter words containing a, b, t, e
- occasional table — a small table with no regular use
- on the back foot — at a disadvantage; outmanoeuvred or outclassed by an opponent
- on the bandwagon — on the popular or apparently winning side, as in an election
- on the beam-ends — tipping so far to the side as to be in danger of capsizing
- on the breadline — impoverished; living at subsistence level
- onboard computer — onboard a vehicle, ship, plane, train or spacecraft
- one-armed bandit — slot machine (def 1).
- operating budget — money allocated to a project
- orbital velocity — the minimum velocity at which a body must move to maintain a given orbit.
- outboard profile — an exterior side elevation of a vessel, showing all deck structures, rigging, fittings, etc.
- overexcitability — to excite too much.
- overurbanization — the act or fact of urbanizing, or taking on the characteristics of a city: Urbanization has led to more air pollution and increasing childhood asthma.
- oxidation number — the state of an element or ion in a compound with regard to the electrons gained or lost by the element or ion in the reaction that formed the compound, expressed as a positive or negative number indicating the ionic charge of the element or ion.
- paint-by-numbers — formulaic; showing no original thought or creativity
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- pass-band filter — band-pass filter
- patent ambiguity — uncertainty of meaning created by the obscure or ambiguous language appearing on the face of a written instrument.
- peach tree borer — the larva of any of several clearwing moths, as Sanninoidea exitiosa, that bore into the wood of the peach and other drupaceous trees.
- permafrost table — the variable surface constituting the upper limit of permafrost. Compare frostline (def 2).
- personal liberty — the liberty of an individual to do his or her will freely except for those restraints imposed by law to safeguard the physical, moral, political, and economic welfare of others.
- pietermaritzburg — a province in the E part of the Republic of South Africa. 35,284 sq. mi. (91,886 sq. km). Capital: Pietermaritzburg.
- pigs in blankets — small frankfurters wrapped in dough and baked, served as an appetizer
- planetary nebula — an expanding shell of thin ionized gas that is ejected from and surrounds a hot, dying star of about the same mass as the sun; the gas absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the central star and reemits it as visible light by the process of fluorescence.
- platform-balance — a scale with a platform for holding the items to be weighed.
- pocket billiards — pool2 (def 1).
- police constable — police officer
- poor boy sweater — a snug-fitting, pullover sweater with ribbing on both the body and sleeves, worn by girls and women.
- portable airtime — (communications, wireless) A wireless, digital communications system enabling user-to-user voice communication, "quicknotes", and alphanumeric messaging.
- post-boost phase — the part of a multistage missile flight when the warheads are released.
- post-elizabethan — of or relating to the reign of Elizabeth I, queen of England, or to her times: Elizabethan diplomacy; Elizabethan music.
- potato tuberworm — the larva of the potato moth.
- presentation box — a specially designed and attractive box to hold a product, and make it look more impressive
- public relations — (used with a plural verb) the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.
- publication date — the date on which a book or periodical is or is planned to be published.
- publicity agency — an advertising agency; a firm that gets publicity for people or products
- questionableness — The state or condition of being questionable; dubiousness.
- rainbow lorikeet — a small Australasian parrot, Trichoglossus haematodus, with brightly-coloured plumage
- rambunctiousness — difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
- ramen profitable — If a startup business is ramen profitable, it is barely profitable, just enough to allow the founder to live on the cheapest diet.
- raster subsystem — (graphics) The part of a graphics system concerned with an image after it has been transformed and scaled to screen coordinates. It includes scan conversion and display.
- re-establishment — the act or an instance of establishing.
- reaction chamber — the chamber in a rocket engine in which the reaction or combustion of fuel occurs
- reaction turbine — a turbine driven by the reactive force of a fluid passing through the rotor blades.
- reasonable doubt — law: grounds for believing sb is innocent
- rectus abdominis — a long flat muscle that extends along the whole length of both sides of the abdomen. It flexes the vertebral column, particularly the lumbar portion; it also tenses the anterior abdominal wall and assists in compressing the abdominal contents
- redbank whiteoak — a city in S Tennessee.
- redistributional — a distribution performed again or anew.
- relative bearing — the bearing of an object, relative to the heading of a vessel or aircraft.
- republican party — one of the two major political parties in the U.S.: originated 1854–56.
- rhythm and blues — a folk-based but urbanized form of black popular music that is marked by strong, repetitious rhythms and simple melodies and was developed, in a commercialized form, into rock-'n'-roll.