15-letter words containing a, l, e, n, b
- dispensableness — The quality of being dispensable.
- display cabinet — a cabinet in a shop, museum, etc, that displays items
- distinguishable — to mark off as different (often followed by from or by): He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
- double in brass — twice as large, heavy, strong, etc.; twofold in size, amount, number, extent, etc.: a double portion; a new house double the size of the old one.
- double integral — an integral in which the integrand involves a function of two variables and that requires two applications of the integration process to evaluate.
- double negation — the principle that a statement is equivalent to the denial of its negation, as it is not the case that John is not here meaning John is here
- double negative — a syntactic construction in which two negative words are used in the same clause to express a single negation.
- double saucepan — a cooking utensil consisting of two saucepans, one fitting inside the other. The bottom saucepan contains water that, while boiling, gently heats food in the upper pan
- double standard — any code or set of principles containing different provisions for one group of people than for another, especially an unwritten code of sexual behavior permitting men more freedom than women. Compare single standard (def 1).
- doublet pattern — a pattern, as on a fabric, in which a figure or group is duplicated in reverse order on the opposite side of a centerline.
- drop handlebars — aerodynamic handlebars that drop down and curve towards the rider at the ends rather than turning upwards as on conventional bicycles
- dumbbell nebula — the planetary nebula in the constellation Vulpecula, which in photographs appears to have the shape of a dumbbell.
- eight-bit clean — (software) A term which describes a system that deals correctly with extended character sets which (unlike ASCII) use all eight bits of a byte. Many programs and communications systems assume that all characters have codes in the range 0 to 127. This leaves the top bit of each byte free for use as a parity bit or some kind of flag bit. These assumptions break down when the program is used in some non-english-speaking countries with larger alphabets. If a binary file is transmitted via a communications link which is not eight-bit clean, it will be corrupted. To combat this you can encode it with uuencode which uses only ASCII characters. There are some links however which are not even "seven-bit clean" and cause problems even for uuencoded data.
- elastic rebound — a theory of earthquakes that envisages gradual deformation of the fault zone without fault slippage until friction is overcome, when the fault suddenly slips to produce the earthquake
- embalming fluid — a liquid used to treat a dead body, which contains preservatives to retard putrefaction
- emission nebula — a type of nebula that emits visible radiation
- endocannibalism — A form of cannibalism, the eating of dead members of one's own social group, often associated with spiritual beliefs.
- enfant terrible — If you describe someone as an enfant terrible, you mean that they are clever but unconventional, and often cause problems or embarrassment for their friends or families.
- enterobacterial — relating to enterobacteria
- Évian-les-bains — a resort and spa town in E France, on Lake Geneva opposite Lausanne; noted for its bottled mineral waters. Pop: 8064 (2006)
- exchangeability — The condition of being exchangeable.
- exhibition hall — a hall in which pictures, sculptures, or other objects of interest are displayed
- extension cable — an extra length of cable with a plug and a connector that can be added to an electric lead
- fallopian tubes — one of a pair of long, slender ducts in the female abdomen that transport ova from the ovary to the uterus and, in fertilization, transport sperm cells from the uterus to the released ova; the oviduct of higher mammals.
- false buckthorn — a spiny shrub or small tree, Bumelia lanuginosa, of the sapodilla family, native to the southern U.S., having gummy, milky sap and white, bell-shaped flowers and yielding a hard, light-brown wood.
- family business — company owned and run by a family
- fashionableness — The state of being fashionable; stylishness; elegance.
- field ambulance — a mobile medical unit that accepts casualties from forward units, treating the lightly wounded and stabilizing the condition of the seriously wounded before evacuating them to a hospital
- finger alphabet — a series of shapes made by the fingers that indicate letters of an alphabet and can be used in fingerspelling for the deaf
- flatbed scanner — a type of optical scanner having a flat, stationary surface on which a page is scanned by a moving head.
- flemish brabant — a province of central Belgium, formed in 1995 from the N part of Brabant province: densely populated and intensively farmed, with large industrial centres. Pop: 1 031 904 (2004 est). Area: 2106 sq km (813 sq miles)
- flesh and blood — offspring or relatives: one's own flesh and blood.
- football season — annual period when soccer is played
- galactic nebula — a nebula in the Milky Way.
- gambier islands — a group of islands in the S Pacific Ocean, in French Polynesia. Chief settlement: Rikitéa. Pop: 1097 (2002). Area: 30 sq km (11 sq miles)
- gambling losses — money lost as a result of playing games of chance for money
- gilbert islands — a group of islands in the W Pacific: with Banaba, the Phoenix Islands, and three of the Line Islands they constitute the independent state of Kiribati; until 1975 they formed part of the British colony of Gilbert and Ellice Islands; achieved full independence in 1979. Pop: 82 902 (2005). Area: 295 sq km (114 sq miles)
- great rebellion — English Civil War.
- green vegetable — a vegetable having green edible parts, as lettuce or broccoli.
- haemoglobinuria — the presence of haemoglobin in the urine
- haemoglobinuric — relating to the presence of haemoglobin in the urine
- halting problem — The problem of determining in advance whether a particular program or algorithm will terminate or run forever. The halting problem is the canonical example of a provably unsolvable problem. Obviously any attempt to answer the question by actually executing the algorithm or simulating each step of its execution will only give an answer if the algorithm under consideration does terminate, otherwise the algorithm attempting to answer the question will itself run forever. Some special cases of the halting problem are partially solvable given sufficient resources. For example, if it is possible to record the complete state of the execution of the algorithm at each step and the current state is ever identical to some previous state then the algorithm is in a loop. This might require an arbitrary amount of storage however. Alternatively, if there are at most N possible different states then the algorithm can run for at most N steps without looping. A program analysis called termination analysis attempts to answer this question for limited kinds of input algorithm.
- harlequin table — a writing or dressing table having a central set of compartments that rise when drop leaves are raised.
- health benefits — positive effects on health
- heartbreakingly — causing intense anguish or sorrow.
- hebrew calendar — the lunisolar calendar used by Jews, as for determining religious holidays, that is reckoned from 3761 b.c. and was established by Hillel II in the 4th century a.d., the calendar year consisting of 353 days (defective year) 354 days (regular year) or 355 days (perfect year or abundant year) and containing 12 months: Tishri, Heshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar, Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, and Elul, with the 29-day intercalary month of Adar Sheni added after Adar seven times in every 19-year cycle in order to adjust the calendar to the solar cycle. The Jewish ecclesiastical year begins with Nisan and the civil year with Tishri.
- hendecasyllabic — having 11 syllables.
- hendecasyllable — a word or line of verse of 11 syllables.
- herbal medicine — the use of herbs to treat illness
- hubble constant — the ratio of the recessional velocity of galaxies to their distance from the sun, with current measurements of its value ranging from 50 to 100 km/sec per megaparsec.