16-letter words containing a, m, u, r
- bartholomeu dias — Bartholomeu [bahr-too-loo-me-oo] /ˌbɑr tʊ lʊˈmɛ ʊ/ (Show IPA), c1450–1500, Portuguese navigator: discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope.
- basic curriculum — in England and Wales, the National Curriculum plus religious education
- beauty treatment — the use of some form of treatment to improve someone's beauty such as a facial, manicure or depilation
- beaux' stratagem — a comedy (1707) by George Farquhar.
- bermuda palmetto — a palm, Sabal bermudana, of Bermuda, having small, roundish, black fruit and leaves that are checkered beneath.
- bermuda triangle — an area in the Atlantic Ocean bounded by Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Florida where ships and aeroplanes are alleged to have disappeared mysteriously
- binuclear family — a social unit composed of an extended family, usually the children and subsequent spouses of divorced parents.
- blind man's rule — a carpenter's rule having large numbers to permit its reading in dim light.
- bordeaux mixture — a fungicide consisting of a solution of equal quantities of copper sulphate and quicklime
- brass instrument — a musical wind instrument of brass or other metal with a cup-shaped mouthpiece, as the trombone, tuba, French horn, trumpet, or cornet.
- breeding plumage — the plumage assumed by a male bird during the courtship period, especially in those species that are more colorful at this period.
- british columbia — a province of W Canada, on the Pacific coast: largely mountainous with extensive forests, rich mineral resources, and important fisheries. Capital: Victoria. Pop: 4 400 057 (2011 est). Area: 930 532 sq km (359 279 sq miles)
- bronchopneumonia — inflammation of the lungs, originating in the bronchioles
- buckthorn family — the plant family Rhamnaceae, characterized by shrubs and trees having alternate, simple leaves, clusters of small flowers, and fruit in the form of a drupe or capsule, and including the buckthorn, cascara, and New Jersey tea.
- bunker mentality — a defensive attitude in which others are seen as hostile or potentially hostile
- buoyancy chamber — an enclosed section of a canoe, float, ship or other object that contains air, foam, or another buoyant substance in order to help maintain buoyancy
- burkitt lymphoma — a rare type of tumour of the white blood cells, occurring mainly in Africa and associated with infection by Epstein-Barr virus
- business manager — a person who ensures the running of a business by managing the work of relevant staff
- buttercup family — the plant family Ranunculaceae, typified by mostly herbaceous plants having usually alternate leaves, multistaminate flowers sometimes lacking petals but with colorful sepals, and including the anemone, buttercup, clematis, columbine, delphinium, and monkshood.
- butterfly damper — a damper, as in a flue, that rotates about a central axis across its face.
- calcium arsenate — a toxic, white powder, Ca3(AsO4)2, used as an insecticide in the form of a spray or dust
- calcium chloride — a white deliquescent salt occurring naturally in seawater and used in the de-icing of roads and as a drying agent. Formula: CaCl2
- calcium fluoride — a white, crystalline compound, CaF 2 , insoluble in water, occurring in nature as the mineral fluorite: used as a flux in metallurgy and as a decay preventive in dentifrices.
- camborne-redruth — a former (until 1974) urban district in SW England, in Cornwall: formed in 1934 by the amalgamation of the neighbouring towns of Camborne and Redruth. Pop: 39 936 (2001)
- cardinal numbers — Also called cardinal numeral. any of the numbers that express amount, as one, two, three, etc. (distinguished from ordinal number).
- centrifugal pump — a pump having a high-speed rotating impeller whose blades throw the water outwards
- character armour — the defence an individual exhibits to others and to himself or herself to disguise his or her underlying weaknesses: a term coined by William Reich
- chemoautotrophic — producing organic matter by the use of energy obtained by oxidation of certain chemicals with carbon dioxide as the carbon source
- chemotherapeutic — of or used in chemotherapy
- cholera infantum — an often fatal form of gastroenteritis occurring in infants, not of the same cause as cholera but having somewhat similar characteristics.
- christmas cactus — a Brazilian cactus, Schlumbergera (formerly Zygocactus) truncatus, widely cultivated as an ornamental for its showy red flowers
- 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.
- chromium plating — plating, often for decorative effect, made of chromium
- chronic glaucoma — Ophthalmology. abnormally high fluid pressure in the eye, most commonly caused either by blockage of the channel through which aqueous humor drains (open-angle glaucoma or chronic glaucoma) or by pressure of the iris against the lens, which traps the aqueous humor (angle-closure glaucoma or acute glaucoma)
- churidar pyjamas — long tight-fitting trousers, worn by Indian men and women
- circular measure — the measurement of an angle in radians
- circumambulating — Present participle of circumambulate.
- circumambulation — The act of walking around something in a circle, especially for a ritual purpose.
- circumlocutional — Of or relating to circumlocution : circumlocutionary.
- circumnavigating — Present participle of circumnavigate.
- circumnavigation — to sail or fly around; make the circuit of by navigation: to circumnavigate the earth.
- circumnavigatory — Pertaining to circumnavigation.
- circumstantially — of pertaining to, or derived from circumstances: a circumstantial result.
- circumstantiated — Simple past tense and past participle of circumstantiate.
- circumstantiates — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of circumstantiate.
- clearance volume — The clearance volume is the volume remaining above the piston of an engine when it reaches top dead center.
- closing argument — In a court case, a lawyer's closing argument is their final speech, in which they give a summary of their case.
- column extractor — A column extractor is a tall vessel in which one liquid removes something from another liquid using physical contact.
- combination drug — a medication comprised of set dosages of two or more separate drugs.
- commensurability — The quality of being commensurable or commensurate.