16-letter words containing a, e, r, o, b, i
- biodegradability — capable of decaying through the action of living organisms: biodegradable paper; biodegradable detergent.
- biodeterioration — biodegradation.
- bioenvironmental — pertaining to the environment of living organisms: Bioenvironmental engineers seek to reduce air and water pollution.
- bipolar disorder — Bipolar disorder is a mental illness in which a person's state of mind changes between extreme happiness and extreme depression.
- bird of paradise — A bird of paradise is a songbird which is found mainly in New Guinea. The male birds have very brightly coloured feathers.
- bird-of-paradise — Also called bird-of-paradise flower. any of several plants of the genus Strelitzia, native to southern Africa, especially S. reginae, having a large, showy orange and blue inflorescence.
- bitterroot range — range of the Rocky Mountains, along the Ida.-Mont. border: highest peak, c. 11,000 ft (3,353 m)
- 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
- bluegrass region — a region in central Kentucky, famous for its horse farms and fields of bluegrass.
- boarding kennels — a place where dog owners can pay to have their dogs looked after while they are away
- boarding officer — a coastguard who boards ships suspected of carrying illegal cargoes or posing a security risk
- bomb calorimeter — a device for determining heats of combustion by igniting a sample in a high pressure of oxygen in a sealed vessel and measuring the resulting rise in temperature: used for measuring the calorific value of foods
- bonhomme richard — the flagship of John Paul Jones.
- bordeaux mixture — a fungicide consisting of a solution of equal quantities of copper sulphate and quicklime
- bordelaise sauce — a dark sauce made from meat stock, flour, wine, onions, seasonings, etc., served over broiled meat
- boreal chickadee — a brown-capped, black-throated chickadee (Parus hudsonicus) found near the Atlantic coast from Labrador to N New York
- bornholm disease — an epidemic virus infection characterized by pain round the base of the chest
- 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
- boundary dispute — dispute between neighbours about the boundary between their properties
- braille embosser — Braille printer
- 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.
- break-even point — When a company reaches break-even point, the money it makes from the sale of goods or services is just enough to cover the cost of supplying those goods or services, but not enough to make a profit.
- bring to bear on — to cause to have an effect on
- bronchopneumonia — inflammation of the lungs, originating in the bronchioles
- broomrape family — the plant family Orobanchaceae, characterized by scaly, leafless herbaceous plants that are parasitic on the roots of other plants and have irregular flowers and many-seeded capsular fruit, and including beechdrops, broomrape, and squawroot.
- buying behaviour — the behaviours displayed by consumers when they purchase things, such as preferences, price points, etc
- bypass operation — an operation involving redirection of blood flow, either to avoid a diseased blood vessel or in order to perform heart surgery
- carbon bisulfide — carbon disulfide
- carbon disulfide — a heavy, volatile, colorless liquid, CS2, highly flammable and poisonous, used as a solvent, insecticide, etc.
- carboxypeptidase — any of several digestive enzymes that catalyze the removal of an amino acid from the end of a peptide chain having a free carbonyl group.
- chiclet keyboard — (hardware, abuse) A keyboard with a small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like pieces of Chiclets chewing gum. Used especially to describe the original IBM PCjr keyboard. Vendors unanimously liked these because they were cheap, and a lot of early portable and laptop computers were launched with them. Customers rejected the idea with almost equal unanimity, and chiclets are not often seen on anything larger than a digital watch any more.
- chromatic number — (mathematics) The smallest number of colours necessary to colour the nodes of a graph so that no two adjacent nodes have the same colour. See also: four colour map theorem.
- city of aberdeen — a council area in NE Scotland, established in 1996. Pop: 206 600 (2003 est). Area: 186 sq km (72 sq miles)
- come/bring alive — If a story or description comes alive, it becomes interesting, lively, or realistic. If someone or something brings it alive, they make it seem more interesting, lively, or realistic.
- commensurability — The quality of being commensurable or commensurate.
- commercial break — A commercial break is the interval during a commercial television programme, or between programmes, during which advertisements are shown.
- complex variable — a variable to which complex numbers may be assigned as value.
- concertina table — an extensible table having a hinged double top falling onto a hinged frame that unfolds like an accordion when pulled out.
- congeliturbation — the churning, heaving, and thrusting of soil material due to the action of frost.
- control variable — Also called control. Statistics. a person, group, event, etc., that is used as a constant and unchanging standard of comparison in scientific experimentation. Compare dependent variable (def 2), independent variable (def 2).
- conversion table — a diagram which shows equivalent amounts in different measuring systems
- cooperative bank — a cooperative savings institution, chartered and regulated by a state or the federal government, that receives deposits in exchange for shares of ownership and invests its funds chiefly in loans secured by first mortgages on homes.
- counterbalancing — Present participle of counterbalance.
- cyanogen bromide — a colorless, slightly water-soluble, poisonous, volatile, crystalline solid, BrCN, used chiefly as a fumigant and a pesticide.
- daylight robbery — If someone charges you a great deal of money for something and you think this is unfair or unreasonable, you can refer to this as daylight robbery.
- de broglie waves — the set of waves that represent the behaviour of an elementary particle, or some atoms and molecules, under certain conditions. The de Broglie wavelength, λ, is given by λ = h/mv, where h is the Planck constant, m the mass, and v the velocity of the particle
- dearborn heights — city in SE Mich.: suburb of Detroit: pop. 58,000
- deboursification — (jargon) Removal of irrelevant newsgroups from the Newsgroups header of a followup. The term applies particularly to the removal of frivolous groups added by one of the Kooks. See also: sneck.