14-letter words containing a, d, o
- autoradiograph — a photograph showing the distribution of a radioactive substance in a specimen. The photographic plate is exposed by radiation from the specimen
- autoresponders — Plural form of autoresponder.
- autotetraploid — an individual or strain whose chromosome complement consists of four copies of a single genome due to doubling of an ancestral chromosome complement
- aviation badge — wings.
- aviation cadet — one who trains to become an officer in an air force.
- aviation-badge — Also called aviation badge. Military Informal. a badge bearing the image of a spread pair of bird's wings with a distinctive center design, awarded to an aircrewman on completion of certain requirements.
- avogadro's law — the principle that equal volumes of all gases contain the same number of molecules at the same temperature and pressure
- avoidance play — a play by the declarer designed to prevent a particular opponent from taking the lead.
- award ceremony — ceremony at which an award is presented
- axis of diesel — a name given to a bloc of countries (Russia, Iran, and Venezuela) whose reserves of oil enhance their political importance
- axis-ordinates — y-axis (def 1).
- azidothymidine — an antiretroviral drug used to treat HIV/AIDS
- back and forth — If someone moves back and forth, they repeatedly move in one direction and then in the opposite direction.
- back o' beyond — remote; out-of-the-way; isolated.
- back of beyond — a very remote place
- back-and-forth — backward and forward; side to side; to and fro: a back-and-forth shuttling of buses to the stadium; the back-and-forth movement of a clock's pendulum.
- backside-front — backend-to.
- ball indicator — a flight instrument that measures the angle of roll about an aircraft's horizontal axis, thereby indicating whether or not the aircraft is skidding or slipping.
- ballon d'essai — a project or policy put forward experimentally to gauge reactions to it
- ballroom dance — a social dance, popular since the beginning of the 20th century, in conventional rhythms, such as the foxtrot and the quickstep
- balm of gilead — any of several trees of the burseraceous genus Commiphora, esp C. opobalsamum of Africa and W Asia, that yield a fragrant oily resin
- balm-of-gilead — any of several plants of the genus Commiphora, especially C. opobalsamum and C. meccanensis, which yield a fragrant oleoresin.
- banker's order — pay order, banker's cheque
- baranof island — an island off SE Alaska, in the western part of the Alexander Archipelago. Area: 4162 sq km (1607 sq miles)
- barbados earth — a diatomaceous marl found in Barbados
- barbados pride — Also called bead tree. a tropical African and Asian tree, Adenanthera pavonina, of the legume family, having feathery foliage and bearing red seeds that are used in beadwork.
- barcode reader — A barcode reader is an electronic scanning machine that reads and sends barcode information.
- barrier method — Barrier methods of contraception involve the use of condoms, diaphragms, or other devices that physically prevent the sperm from reaching the egg.
- basidiomycetes — Mycology. any of a group of fungi constituting the phylum Basidiomycota of the kingdom Fungi (or, in older classification schemes, the class Basidiomycetes of the kingdom Plantae), characterized by bearing the spores on a basidium, including the smuts, rust, mushrooms, and puffballs.
- basket-of-gold — a yellow-flowered perennial plant (Alyssum saxatile, now more properly Aurinia saxatilis) of the crucifer family, often used in rock gardens
- basso profundo — (esp in operatic solo singing) a singer with a very deep bass voice
- bastard indigo — a bushy shrub, Amorpha fruticosa, of the legume family, native to North America, having elongated clusters of dull purplish or bluish flowers.
- bastardisation — Alternative form of bastardization.
- bastardization — the act of bastardizing
- battered woman — See under battered woman syndrome.
- battered-women — the array of physical and psychological injuries exhibited by women (battered women or battered wives) who have been beaten repeatedly or otherwise abused by their partners or spouses.
- be in bad odor — to be in ill repute
- beach wormwood — a composite plant, Artemisia stellerana, having yellow flowers and deeply lobed leaves covered with dense white fuzz.
- beard-stroking — deep thought
- 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
- bearded dragon — a large Australian lizard, Amphibolurus barbatus, with an erectile frill around the neck
- benday process — a process for adding tone or shading, as in reproducing drawings, by the overlay on the plate of patterns, as of dots
- benzodiazepine — any of a group of chemical compounds that are used as minor tranquillizers, such as diazepam (Valium) and chlordiazepoxide (Librium)
- 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 shorts — close-fitting shorts that come down to the knees
- 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-endorphin — a potent endorphin released by the anterior pituitary gland in response to pain, trauma, exercise, or other forms of stress.
- beta-oxidation — a process by which fatty acids are degraded, involving oxidation of the beta carbons and removal of successive two-carbon fragments from the fatty acid.
- beyond a doubt — to be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely; hesitate to believe.