14-letter words containing a, c, r, b
- battery backup — A battery backup is a system in some power supplies that switches between a main power source and a battery.
- battle cruiser — A battle cruiser is a large fast warship that is lighter than a battleship and moves more easily.
- battle-scarred — adversely affected from the experience of battle, or some other traumatic experience
- bavarian cream — a cold dessert consisting of a rich custard set with gelatine and flavoured in various ways
- bayonet charge — a charge by riflemen with fixed bayonets
- beach barbecue — a barbecue on a beach
- beach umbrella — a large umbrella used as a sunshade on the beach
- beach wormwood — a composite plant, Artemisia stellerana, having yellow flowers and deeply lobed leaves covered with dense white fuzz.
- bean bag chair — a small cloth bag filled with dried beans, as for tossing in various children's games.
- bean-bag chair — a small cloth bag filled with dried beans, as for tossing in various children's games.
- bearded collie — a medium-sized breed of dog having a profuse long straight coat, usually grey or fawn and often with white on the head, legs, and chest, a long tail, and a distinctive beard
- bearer channel — (communications) Originally, a channel suited for carrying one voice-grade connection. Typically a DS0 channel. Compare data channel. (1997-03-7)
- 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
- beauty culture — the skill or occupation of a beautician
- becquerel rays — rays given off by radioactive substances
- beggar's-ticks — tick trefoil
- belletristical — relating to the fine arts
- belvoir castle — a castle in Leicestershire, near Grantham (in Lincolnshire): seat of the Dukes of Rutland; rebuilt by James Wyatt in 1816
- benday process — a process for adding tone or shading, as in reproducing drawings, by the overlay on the plate of patterns, as of dots
- benzanthracene — a carcinogenic hydrocarbon
- 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.
- 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 compare — If you describe something as beyond compare, you mean that it is extremely good or extremely great.
- 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)
- biceps brachii — See under biceps.
- bicycle-racing — the act or sport of riding or traveling by bicycle, motorcycle, etc.
- 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.
- binary package — (software) An archive file that contains all files and directories that must be installed in order to make a working installation of the program(s) included in the package, and the maintainer scripts necessary for the installation. A binary package is usually specific to a certain platform, in contrast to a source package.
- bioaeronautics — the use of aircraft in the discovery, development, and protection of natural and biological resources
- bioarchaeology — the branch of archaeology that deals with the remains of living things
- bioinformatics — the branch of information science concerned with large databases of biochemical or pharmaceutical information
- bird sanctuary — an area of land in which birds are protected and encouraged to breed
- birdcage clock — lantern clock.
- birthing chair — a chair constructed to allow a woman in labour to give birth in a sitting position
- biscuit barrel — an airtight container of circular section equipped with a lid and used for storing biscuits
- bitter cassava — a species of cassava (Manihot esculenta) whose poisonous roots when processed yield tapioca starch
- black blizzard — a dust storm.
- black hawk war — a war fought in northern Illinois and present-day southern Wisconsin, 1831–32, in which U.S. regulars and militia with Indian allies defeated the Sauk and Fox Indians, led by Chief Black Hawk, attempting to recover lost hunting grounds.
- black mulberry — a small deciduous tree, Morus nigra, with small leaves, producing edible fruit
- black panthers — (in the US) a militant Black political party founded in 1965 to end the political dominance of White people
- black redstart — a small, Passerine bird, Phoenicurus ochruros, found in Central and S Europe
- black root rot — any of several diseases of plants characterized by black or brown lesions on the root.
- black squirrel — a fox squirrel or gray squirrel in that color phase in which the fur is black.
- blacktip shark — a widely distributed sand shark, Charcharinus limbatus, having fins that appear to have been dipped in ink, inhabiting shallow waters of warm seas.
- bladder cancer — any cancer of the bladder
- bletchley park — the Buckinghamshire estate which was the centre of British code-breaking operations during World War II