13-letter words containing a, i, d, s
- autoschediasm — anything done with little forethought or preparation
- autoschediaze — to do or act with little forethought or preparation
- avant-gardism — the attitudes, techniques, etc., of the cultural avant-garde.
- baffin island — the largest island of the Canadian Arctic, between Greenland and Hudson Bay. Area: 476 560 sq km (184 000 sq miles)
- bail bondsman — an individual or firm that lends bail money to defendants awaiting trial
- baily's beads — the brilliant points of sunlight that appear briefly around the moon, just before and after a total eclipse
- baltic shield — the wide area of ancient rock in Scandinavia
- banana spider — a large, yellowish, tropical crab spider (Heteropoda venatoria) occasionally found in bunches of bananas shipped to the Temperate Zones
- banderilleros — Plural form of banderillero.
- bandspreading — an additional tuning control in some radio receivers whereby a selected narrow band of frequencies can be spread over a wider frequency band, in order to give finer control of tuning
- bank discount — interest on a loan deducted from the principal amount when the loan is made and based on the loan's face value
- bar billiards — a table game in pubs, etc, in which short cues are used to pocket balls into holes scoring various points and guarded by wooden pegs that incur penalties if they are knocked over
- barred spiral — a spiral galaxy in which the arms originate at the ends of a bar-shaped nucleus
- basidiomycete — any fungus of the phylum Basidiomycota (formerly class Basidiomycetes), in which the spores are produced in basidia. The group includes boletes, puffballs, smuts, and rusts
- basidiospores — Plural form of basidiospore.
- basket dinner — a group social gathering, as of church members, to which participants contribute casseroles or other dishes to share.
- bastard eigne — the first-born illegitimate son of parents whose second son was legitimate.
- bastard title — half title (def 1).
- bastard-title — Also called bastard title. the first printed page of certain books, appearing after the end papers and before the title page and containing only the title of the book.
- batan islands — a group of islands in the Philippines, north of Luzon. Capital: Basco. Pop: 16 467 (2000). Area: 197 sq km (76 sq miles)
- be upstanding — (in a court of law) a direction to all persons present to rise to their feet before the judge enters or leaves the court
- bearing sword — a large sword carried for its owner by a squire or servant because of its size.
- bedside table — a small table beside a bed
- biased sample — a statistical sample in which the items selected share some property which influences their distribution
- bildungsroman — a novel concerned with a person's formative years and development
- birthday bash — a birthday party
- birthday suit — If you are in your birthday suit, you are not wearing any clothes.
- biscuit bread — biscuits or a biscuit: I like biscuit bread more than corn bread for supper.
- bits and bobs — Bits and bobs are small objects or parts of something.
- black disease — an infectious necrotic hepatitis in sheep and occasionally cattle caused by toxins produced by infection with species of Clostridial. Secondary to liver fluke infestation, the disease is characterized by sudden death. So-called because of the black discolouration of subcutaneous tissues due to congestion and haemorrhage seen at post-mortem
- black studies — a program of studies in black history and culture offered by a school or college, often including Afro-American history and black literature.
- black-a-vised — having a dark complexion.
- blandishments — Blandishments are pleasant things that someone says to another person in order to persuade them to do something.
- blood-stained — stained with blood: a bloodstained knife.
- boarding fees — fees paid for boarding at a school
- boarding pass — A boarding pass is a card that a passenger must have when boarding a plane or a boat.
- boardinghouse — a private house in which accommodation and meals are provided for paying guests
- bois de vache — dried buffalo dung, used as fuel by Canadian and U.S. fur trappers in the 18th and 19th centuries.
- bomb disposal — Bomb disposal is the job of dealing with bombs which have not exploded, by taking out the fuse or by blowing them up in a controlled explosion.
- bonin islands — a group of 27 volcanic islands in the W Pacific: occupied by the US after World War II; returned to Japan in 1968. Largest island: Chichijima. Area: 103 sq km (40 sq miles)
- borna disease — viral disease found in mammals, esp horses
- boys' brigade — (in Britain) an organization for boys, founded in 1883, with the aim of promoting discipline and self-respect
- braggadocious — boastful
- brassfounding — the practice of making things from brass
- bridal shower — a party, held for a woman before her wedding, to which her friends bring gifts
- bristol board — a heavy smooth cardboard of fine quality, used for printing and drawing
- british india — the 17 provinces of India formerly governed by the British under the British sovereign: ceased to exist in 1947 when the independent states of India and Pakistan were created
- buridan's ass — an example intended to show the deficiency of reason. An ass standing equidistant from two identical heaps of oats starves to death because reason provides no grounds for choosing to eat one rather than the other
- burt standish — Burt L. pseudonym of Gilbert Patten.
- business card — A person's business card or their card is a small card which they give to other people, and which has their name and details of their job and company printed on it.