14-letter words containing a, b, u
- beaufort scale — an international scale of wind velocities ranging for practical purposes from 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane force). In the US an extension of the scale, from 13 to 17 for winds over 64 knots, is used
- beautification — Making beautiful, beautifying, improving the appearance of something.
- beauty contest — A beauty contest is a competition in which young women are judged to decide which one is the most beautiful.
- beauty culture — the skill or occupation of a beautician
- beauty pageant — A beauty pageant is the same as a beauty contest.
- beauty parlour — A beauty parlour is a place where women can go to have beauty treatments, for example to have their hair, nails or make-up done.
- béchamel sauce — a thick white sauce flavoured with onion and seasonings
- bechamel-sauce — a white sauce, sometimes seasoned with onion and nutmeg.
- becquerel rays — rays given off by radioactive substances
- bellingshausen — Fabian Gottlieb von [fey-bee-uh n-got-leeb von] /ˈfeɪ bi ənˈgɒt lib vɒn/ (Show IPA), (Faddey Faddeyevich Bellingshauzen) 1778–1852, Russian naval officer and explorer.
- bengal catechu — catechu.
- berberidaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Berberidaceae, a mainly N temperate family of flowering plants (mostly shrubs), including barberry and barrenwort
- bermuda collar — a narrow, pointed collar on a woman's dress or blouse
- bermuda cutter — a marconi-rigged cutter.
- bermuda shorts — close-fitting shorts that come down to the knees
- beta geminorum — Pollux
- beta reduction — [lambda-calculus] The application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. A copy of the body of the lambda abstraction is made and occurrences of the bound variable being replaced by the argument. E.g. (\ x . x+1) 4 --> 4+1 Beta reduction is the only kind of reduction in the pure lambda-calculus. The opposite of beta reduction is beta abstraction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion. See also name capture.
- beta structure — a secondary structure occurring in many proteins, consisting of several polypeptide chains running in parallel or alternating directions and joined by intermolecular hydrogen bonds, creating a flexible, strong arrangement.
- beyond a doubt — to be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely; hesitate to believe.
- beyond measure — If you say that something has changed or that it has affected you beyond measure, you are emphasizing that it has done this to a great extent.
- bezier surface — (graphics) A surface defined by mathematical formulae, used in computer graphics. A surface P(u, v), where u and v vary orthogonally from 0 to 1 from one edge of the surface to the other, is defined by a set of (n+1)*(m+1) "control points" (X(i, j), Y(i, j), Z(i, j)) for i = 0 to n, j = 0 to m.
- bib and tucker — an outfit of clothes (esp in the phrase best bib and tucker)
- bicuspid valve — mitral valve
- bildungsromane — a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist.
- bilious attack — a group of symptoms consisting of headache, abdominal pain, and constipation
- binary counter — (electronics, hardware) A digital circuit which has a clock input and a number of count outputs which give the number of clock cycles. The output may change either on rising or falling clock edges. The circuit may also have a reset input which sets all outputs to zero when asserted. The counter may be either a synchronous counter or a ripple counter.
- bioaeronautics — the use of aircraft in the discovery, development, and protection of natural and biological resources
- bioequivalence — the equality of strength, bioavailability, and dosage of various drug products
- bird sanctuary — an area of land in which birds are protected and encouraged to breed
- biscuit barrel — an airtight container of circular section equipped with a lid and used for storing biscuits
- black and blue — discolored, as by bruising; exhibiting ecchymosis: a black-and-blue mark on my knee.
- black bullhead — a common freshwater catfish, Ictalurus melas, of North America, considered by some to be a food delicacy.
- black mulberry — a small deciduous tree, Morus nigra, with small leaves, producing edible fruit
- black selenium — an allotropic form of selenium occurring as a black, amorphous, water-insoluble, light-sensitive powder: used chiefly in photoelectric cells.
- black squirrel — a fox squirrel or gray squirrel in that color phase in which the fur is black.
- black-and-blue — (of the skin) discoloured, as from a bruise
- bleat on about — If you say that someone is bleating on about something, you mean that they are talking about it a great deal in a way which makes them sound weak and irritating.
- block faulting — the process by which tensional forces in the earth's crust cause large bodies of rock to founder.
- block mountain — a mountain produced by faulting and the uplifting of large blocks of rock
- blood and guts — dealing with or depicting war or violence, especially in a lurid manner: a blood-and-guts movie.
- blood-and-guts — dealing with or depicting war or violence, especially in a lurid manner: a blood-and-guts movie.
- blue dandelion — chicory (def 1).
- blue mountains — a mountain range in the US, in NE Oregon and SE Washington. Highest peak: Rock Creek Butte, 2773 m (9097 ft)
- blue straggler — one of a small group of blue stars within a cluster that falls near the main sequence even though other stars of its color have evolved off the main sequence.
- blue-arsed fly — a blowfly; bluebottle
- blue-eyed mary — a blue-flowered boraginaceous plant, Omphalodes verna, native to S Europe and cultivated in Britain
- boarding house — A boarding house is a house which people pay to stay in for a short time.
- bobo-dioulasso — a city in W Burkina Faso. Pop: 396 000 (2005 est)
- body beautiful — a beautiful body
- bophuthatswana — (formerly) a Bantu homeland in N South Africa: consisted of six separate areas; declared independent by South Africa in 1977 although this was not internationally recognized; abolished in 1993. Capital: Mmabatho