14-letter words containing a, b, u
- boulder canyon — a canyon of the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada, above Boulder Dam.
- bounce message — A notification message returned to the sender by a site unable to relay e-mail to the intended recipient or the next link in a bang path. Reasons might include a nonexistent or misspelled user name or a down relay site. Bounce messages can themselves fail, with occasionally ugly results; see sorcerer's apprentice mode and software laser. The terms "bounce mail" and "barfmail" are also common.
- bound variable — (in the functional calculus) a variable occurring in a quantifier and in a sentential function within the scope of the quantifier.
- boundary fence — a fence between properties
- boundary layer — the layer of fluid closest to the surface of a solid past which the fluid flows: it has a lower rate of flow than the bulk of the fluid because of its adhesion to the solid
- boundary rider — an employee on a sheep or cattle station whose job is to maintain fences in good repair and to prevent stock from straying
- boundary value — boundary value analysis
- boundary-stone — a stone marking a boundary, sometimes giving information such as the initials of the local authority in whose jurisdiction the boundary is
- bracket fungus — any saprotroph or parasitic fungus of the basidiomycetous family Polyporaceae, growing as a shelflike mass (bracket) from tree trunks and producing spores in vertical tubes in the bracket
- brass knuckles — linked metal rings or a metal bar with holes for the fingers, worn for rough fighting
- braunschweiger — a smoked liver sausage, named after the city of Braunschweig
- brazil current — a warm current in the Atlantic Ocean flowing SE along the E coast of Brazil.
- brazilian ruby — a light-rose spinel used as a gem: not a true ruby.
- bread poultice — a poultice made from breadcrumbs
- break-up value — the value of an organization assuming that it will not continue to trade
- breakfast club — a service that provides a breakfast for children who arrive early at school
- bremsstrahlung — the radiation produced when an electrically charged particle, esp an electron, is slowed down by the electric field of an atomic nucleus or an atomic ion
- british guiana — Guyana
- broad-spectrum — effective against a wide variety of diseases or microorganisms
- bronchial tube — Your bronchial tubes are the two tubes which connect your windpipe to your lungs.
- broom cupboard — a small cupboard or closet for storing brooms, mops, etc
- brown bullhead — a freshwater catfish, Ictalurus nebulosus, of eastern North America, having an olive to brown body with dark markings on the sides.
- bubble chamber — a device that enables the tracks of ionizing particles to be photographed as a row of bubbles in a superheated liquid. Immediately before the particles enter the chamber the pressure is reduced so that the ionized particles act as centres for small vapour bubbles
- bubble company — a company whose shares are highly valued and then plummet
- bubonic plague — Bubonic plague is a serious infectious disease spread by rats. It killed many people during the Middle Ages.
- bucket brigade — a line of persons passing buckets of water along in trying to put out a fire
- buckwheat cake — a pancake made of buckwheat flour.
- buckwheat coal — anthracite coal in sizes ranging from 5/16 to 9/16 inch (7.9 to 13.9 m).
- buckwheat note — shape note.
- budget account — an account with a department store, etc, enabling a customer to make monthly payments to cover his or her past and future purchases
- budget heading — a heading in a budget under which an expenditure is listed
- budgetary year — the financial year a budget is drawn up for
- buffalo beetle — the hairy larva of a carpet beetle (Anthrenus scrophulariae), harmful to furs and woolens
- buffalo indian — a member of any of the American Indian tribes, as those of the Algonquian, Athabascan, Caddoan, Kiowa, Siouan, or Uto-Aztecan linguistic families, that formerly inhabited the Great Plains. All were more or less nomadic, following the buffalo, and were often in touch with one another so that the development among them of common culture traits is noticeable.
- bug-compatible — Said of a design or revision that has been badly compromised by a requirement to be compatible with fossils or misfeatures in other programs or (especially) previous releases of itself. "MS-DOS 2.0 used \ as a path separator to be bug-compatible with some cretin's choice of / as an option character in 1.0."
- building paper — any of various types of heavy-duty paper that usually consist of bitumen reinforced with fibre sandwiched between two sheets of kraft paper: used in damp-proofing or as insulation between the soil and a road surface
- building trade — the economic sector comprising all companies and workers involved in construction
- bulgur (wheat) — wheat that has been cooked, dried, and coarsely ground: used to make tabbouleh or, sometimes, pilaf or couscous
- bulk transport — the transport of large quantities of goods or commodities in lorries, ships, or by rail
- bulletin board — A bulletin board is a board which is usually attached to a wall in order to display notices giving information about something.
- burschenschaft — a students' fraternity, originally one concerned with Christian ideals, patriotism, etc
- bush carpenter — a rough-and-ready unskilled workman
- bush telegraph — a means of communication between primitive peoples over large areas, as by drum beats
- bush, vannevar — Vannevar Bush
- business agent — a representative of a labor union local, who investigates working conditions, negotiates contracts, etc.
- business angel — A business angel is a person who gives financial support to a commercial venture and receives a share of any profits from it, but who does not expect to be involved in its management.
- business class — Business class seating on an aeroplane costs less than first class but more than economy class.
- bust one's ass — Informal. to burst. to go bankrupt. to collapse from the strain of making a supreme effort: She was determined to make straight A's or bust.
- butler's table — a small table, usually used as a coffee table, with a removable or fixed butler's tray for a top.
- butyl aldehyde — butyraldehyde