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16-letter words containing a, c, n

  • binuclear family — a social unit composed of an extended family, usually the children and subsequent spouses of divorced parents.
  • biofortification — the process of breeding staple crops to have higher levels of essential nutrients, either through selective breeding or genetic modification: iron biofortification of rice; biofortification of wheat with zinc.
  • biomagnification — biological magnification.
  • biotechnological — Biotechnological means relating to biotechnology.
  • biotic potential — the capacity of a population of organisms to increase in numbers under optimum environmental conditions.
  • birchbark biting — a Native Canadian craft in which designs are bitten onto bark from birch trees
  • bismarck herring — marinaded herring, served cold
  • black nightshade — a poisonous solanaceous plant, Solanum nigrum, a common weed in cultivated land, having small white flowers with backward-curved petals and black berry-like fruits
  • black propaganda — propaganda that does not come from the source it claims to come from
  • black-eyed susan — any of several North American plants of the genus Rudbeckia, esp R. hirta, having flower heads of orange-yellow rays and brown-black centres: family Asteraceae (composites)
  • bleaching powder — a white powder with the odour of chlorine, consisting of chlorinated calcium hydroxide with an approximate formula CaCl(OCl).4H2O. It is used in solution as a bleaching agent and disinfectant
  • blink comparator — an optical instrument used to detect small differences in two photographs of the same field or object by viewing them alternately, switching rapidly from one to the other.
  • block and tackle — a hoisting device in which a rope or chain is passed around a pair of blocks containing one or more pulleys. The upper block is secured overhead and the lower block supports the load, the effort being applied to the free end of the rope or chain
  • blow one's stack — to lose one's temper; fly into a rage
  • blue in the face — the pure color of a clear sky; the primary color between green and violet in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 450 and 500 nm.
  • boarding officer — a coastguard who boards ships suspected of carrying illegal cargoes or posing a security risk
  • bombing campaign — a concerted, intensive and prolonged bombing of a target
  • bonhomme richard — the flagship of John Paul Jones.
  • boston cream pie — a cake of two layers with icing and a creamy filling
  • botanical garden — a place where collections of plants and trees are kept for scientific study and exhibition
  • bowman's capsule — a membranous, double-walled capsule surrounding a glomerulus of a nephron.
  • bracknell forest — a unitary authority in SE England, in E Berkshire. Pop: 110 100 (2003 est). Area: 109 sq km (42 sq miles)
  • bragg scattering — the diffraction phenomenon exhibited by a crystal bombarded with x-rays in such a way that each plane of the crystal lattice acts as a reflector (Bragg reflector)
  • braking distance — the distance a vehicle travels from the point at which its brakes are applied to the point at which it comes to a stop
  • branchial groove — one of a series of rudimentary depressions on the surface of the embryo between adjacent branchial arches, homologous to the branchial clefts of gill-breathing ancestral forms.
  • branchiopneustic — breathing by means of gills, as certain aquatic insect larvae.
  • brand acceptance — the extent to which consumers recognize and welcome a brand
  • break one's back — to overwork or work very hard
  • break one's neck — to exert oneself greatly, esp by hurrying, in order to do something
  • breast screening — a radiological or other examination of a woman's breasts to check for signs of cancer
  • bren gun carrier — (esp in World War II) a small armoured vehicle equipped with a Bren gun
  • brick-and-mortar — pertaining to conventional stores, businesses, etc., having physical buildings and facilities, as opposed to Internet or remote services.
  • bridge financing — interim or emergency financing through a short- or medium-term loan (bridge loan)
  • bridging finance — money borrowed temporarily to cover the period before a particular event occurs, for example, until a house purchaser receives money under a mortgage
  • bronchial asthma — asthma.
  • bronchopneumonia — inflammation of the lungs, originating in the bronchioles
  • buckley's chance — no chance at all
  • buckthorn family — the plant family Rhamnaceae, characterized by shrubs and trees having alternate, simple leaves, clusters of small flowers, and fruit in the form of a drupe or capsule, and including the buckthorn, cascara, and New Jersey tea.
  • bullying tactics — the use of intimidation to gain one's objective
  • buoyancy chamber — an enclosed section of a canoe, float, ship or other object that contains air, foam, or another buoyant substance in order to help maintain buoyancy
  • bureau de change — a place where foreign currencies can be exchanged
  • business account — a bank account or type of bank account used for business transactions rather than personal ones
  • business machine — a machine for expediting clerical work, as a tabulator or adding machine.
  • butenedioic acid — either of two geometrical isomers with the formula HOOCCH:CHCOOH
  • byzantine church — Orthodox Church (def 1).
  • cabinet minister — a minister who is a member of the cabinet
  • cable television — Cable television is a television system in which signals are sent along wires rather than by radio waves.
  • cache on a stick — (architecture)   (COAST) Intel Corporation attempt to's standardise the modular L2 cache subsystem in Pentium-based computers. A COAST module should be about 4.35" wide by 1.14" high. According to earlier specifications from Motorola, a module between 4.33" and 4.36" wide, and between 1.12" and 1.16" high is within the COAST standard. Some module vendors, including some major motherboard suppliers, greatly violate the height specification. Another COAST specification violated by many suppliers concerns clock distribution in synchronous modules. The specification requires that the clock tree to each synchronous chip be balanced, i.e. equal length from edge of the connector to individual chips. An unbalanced clock tree increases reflections and noise. For a 256 kilobyte cache module the standard requires the same clock be used for both chips but some vendors use separate clocks to reduce loading on the clock driver and hence increase the clock speed. However, this creates unbalanced loading in other motherboard configurations, such as motherboards with soldered caches in the system.
  • caducibranchiate — (of many amphibians, such as frogs) having gills during one stage of the life cycle only
  • calamian islands — a group of about 100 islands in the SW Philippines. 600 sq. mi. (1554 sq. km). Largest island, Busuanga.
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