16-letter words containing a, c, e, t
- attendance sheet — an official document for listing those attending a meeting, class, course, etc
- attorney-in-fact — a person authorized by power of attorney to act on the authorizer's behalf outside a court of law.
- atwood's machine — a device consisting of two unequal masses connected by a string passed over a pulley, used to illustrate the laws of motion.
- auction pinochle — a variety of pinochle for three to five players in which, for every hand, there are three active players, each dealt 15 cards, with the highest bidder winning the contract and playing against the other two active opponents.
- auditory vesicle — the pouch that is formed by the invagination of an ectodermal placode and that develops into the internal ear.
- australopithecus — an extinct genus of small-brained,large-toothed bipedal hominids that lived in Africa between one and four million years ago.
- authentification — The process of making, or establishing as, authentic.
- autoethnographic — Using ethnographic techniques to describe one's own life, or events in which one is a participant.
- autofluorescence — (biology, microscopy) Self-induced fluorescence.
- automatic camera — a camera in which the lens aperture or the shutter speed or both are automatically adjusted to the prevailing conditions
- automatic redial — a telephone service feature whereby the last number dialed is automatically called again, either after a specified time or when activated by the user.
- automatic repeat — a key on the keyboard of a typewriter, computer, etc, which, when depressed continuously, produces the character repeatedly until the key is released
- autostereoscopic — Of or pertaining to autostereoscopy.
- axminster carpet — a type of patterned carpet with a cut pile
- bachelor of arts — a degree conferred on a person who has successfully completed his or her undergraduate studies, usually in a branch of the liberal arts or humanities
- bachelor-at-arms — bachelor (def 4).
- back-seat driver — If you refer to a passenger in a car as a back-seat driver, they annoy you because they constantly give you advice.
- bacterial canker — a disease of plants, characterized by cankers and usually by exudation of gum, caused by bacteria, as of the genera Pseudomonas and Corynebacterium.
- bacterioplankton — (biology) The bacterial component of marine plankton.
- badminton racket — the type of racket used in games of badminton
- balance of trade — A country's balance of trade is the difference in value, over a period of time, between the goods it imports and the goods it exports.
- balance transfer — the act of transferring debt from one credit card to another, assuming that the second card has better terms or interest rates than the first
- ballistic camera — a camera for tracking missiles launched at night.
- balloon catheter — a type of catheter with a tiny, inflatable balloon at the tip, used in various surgical procedures
- baltimore canyon — a submarine valley cut into the continental shelf and slope seaward of Chesapeake Bay.
- bankruptcy order — a court order appointing a receiver to manage the property of a debtor or bankrupt
- banned substance — In sport, banned substances are drugs that competitors are not allowed to take because they could artificially improve their performance.
- barbecue stopper — a controversial current-affairs issue
- barclay de tolly — Prince Mikhail (mixaˈil). 1761–1818, Russian field marshal: commander in chief against Napoleon in 1812
- bare necessities — only the essentials
- barium carbonate — a white, poisonous, water-insoluble powder, BaCO 3 , used chiefly in the manufacture of rodenticides, paints, and dyes.
- barometric error — error of a timepiece due to the fluctuations in density of the atmosphere through which the balance or pendulum moves.
- basement complex — the undifferentiated assemblage of rock (basement rock) underlying the oldest stratified rocks in any region: usually crystalline, metamorphosed, and mostly, but not necessarily, Precambrian in age.
- basic dichromate — an orange-red, amorphous, water-insoluble powder, Bi 2 O 3 ⋅2CrO 3 , used chiefly as a pigment in paints.
- bastard culverin — a 16th-century cannon, smaller than a culverin, firing a shot of between 5 and 8 pounds (11 and 17.6 kg).
- batch processing — manufacturing products or treating materials in batches, by passing the output of one process to subsequent processes
- batesian mimicry — mimicry in which a harmless species is protected from predators by means of its resemblance to a harmful or inedible species
- bathroom cabinet — a wall-mounted cabinet in a bathroom, typically with a mirror front and used for the storage of medicines and toiletries
- battle-axe block — a block of land behind another, with access from the street through a narrow drive
- bayonet practice — drill in the use of a bayonet
- be of assistance — Someone or something that is of assistance to you is helpful or useful to you.
- bearish tendency — a tendency for share prices to fall
- benguela current — a strong ocean current in the South Atlantic, flowing northward along the SW coast of Africa
- beta abstraction — [lambda-calculus] The conversion of an expression to an application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. Some subterm of the original expression becomes the argument of the abstraction and the rest becomes its body. E.g. 4+1 --> (\ x . x+1) 4 The opposite of beta abstraction is beta reduction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion.
- beta coefficient — a measure of the extent to which a particular security rises or falls in value in response to market movements
- bidirectionality — capable of reacting or functioning in two, usually opposite, directions.
- bimetallic strip — a strip consisting of two metals of different coefficients of expansion welded together so that it buckles on heating: used in thermostats, etc
- biotechnological — Biotechnological means relating to biotechnology.
- biotic potential — the capacity of a population of organisms to increase in numbers under optimum environmental conditions.
- black bottom pie — a rich pie with a rum- or whiskey-flavored chocolate filling, often with a crust of crushed gingersnaps, and topped with whipped cream.