17-letter words containing a, n
- bangalore torpedo — an explosive device in a long metal tube, used to blow gaps in barbed-wire barriers
- banking principle — the principle that bank notes are a form of credit and should be issued freely in order to maintain an elastic currency.
- bankruptcy estate — all of the interests that a debtor has at the start of a bankruptcy case
- barbed wire fence — a fence constructed from strong wire that has sharply pointed barbs at close intervals along its length
- barkhausen effect — the phenomenon of short, sudden changes in the magnetism of a ferromagnetic substance occurring when the intensity of the magnetizing field is continuously altered.
- barrel distortion — distortion of an image produced by an optical system that causes straight lines at image margins to bulge outwards
- barren strawberry — a Eurasian plant, Potentilla sterilis, related to the strawberry that does not produce edible fruit
- barrow-in-furness — an industrial town in NW England, in S Cumbria. Pop: 47 194 (2001)
- bartholin's gland — either of two small glands near the vaginal opening: during sexual excitement they secrete a mucous lubricating substance
- basal anaesthesia — preliminary and incomplete anaesthesia induced to prepare a surgical patient for total anaesthesia with another agent
- base lending rate — a minimum interest rate on which financial institutions base the rates they use for lending
- baseboard heating — a heating system by pipes, through which steam or hot water circulates, near the base of the walls of rooms
- basement membrane — a thin, extracellular membrane underlying epithelial tissue.
- basic proposition — protocol (def 6).
- bathroom fittings — plumbing fixtures or accessories suitable for use in a bathroom
- battle of britain — (in World War II) the series of aerial combats that took place between British and German aircraft during the autumn of 1940 and that included the severe bombardment of British cities.
- be black and blue — If you say that someone is black and blue, you mean that they are badly bruised.
- be off one's head — If you say that someone is off their head, you mean that they have taken so many drugs that they do not know what they are doing.
- be running scared — If you say that a person or group is running scared, you mean that they are frightened of what someone might do to them or what might happen.
- be your own woman — If you say that a woman is her own woman, you approve of the fact that she makes her plans and decisions herself, and does not depend on other people.
- beat one's brains — to try hard to remember, understand, or solve something
- beat one's breast — to display guilt and remorse publicly or ostentatiously
- beat to the punch — to be quicker than (another) in doing something, as in striking a blow
- bed and breakfast — Bed and breakfast is a system of accommodation in a hotel or guest house, in which you pay for a room for the night and for breakfast the following morning. The abbreviation B&B is also used.
- bed-and-breakfast — an accommodation offered by an inn, hotel, or especially a private home, consisting of a room for the night and breakfast the next morning for one inclusive price.
- beefsteak begonia — an ornamental plant, Begonia erythrophylla, having light-pink flowers and nearly round, thick, fleshy leaves that are red on the underside.
- beer and skittles — enjoyment or pleasure
- behind one's back — without one's knowledge; secretly or deceitfully
- bell-hanger's bit — a bit for drilling small holes through studs or the like.
- benjamin banneker — Benjamin, 1731–1806, U.S. mathematician, natural historian, and astronomer.
- benjamin franklin — Aretha [uh-ree-thuh] /əˈri θə/ (Show IPA), born 1942, U.S. singer.
- benjamin-constant — Henri Benjamin [ahn-ree ban-zha-man] /ɑ̃ˈri bɛ̃ ʒaˈmɛ̃/ (Show IPA), (Benjamin Constant) 1767–1830, French statesman and author, born in Switzerland.
- benoit mandelbrot — (person) /ben'wa man'dl-bro/ Benoit B. Mandelbrot. The IBM scientist who wrote several original books on fractals and gave his name to the set he was discovered, the Mandelbrot set and coined the term "fractal" in 1975 from the Latin fractus or "to break".
- bent out of shape — very angry, upset, or agitated
- benzeneazobenzene — azobenzene.
- beyond comparison — outstanding, without equal
- bighorn mountains — range of the Rocky Mountains in N Wyo. and S Mont.: highest peak, 13,165 ft (4,013 m)
- bill of adventure — a certificate made out by a merchant to show that goods handled by him and his agents are the property of another party at whose risk the dealing is done
- bill of attainder — (formerly) a legislative act finding a person guilty without trial of treason or felony and declaring him attainted
- binary opposition — a relation between the members of a pair of linguistic items, as a pair of distinctive features, such that one is the absence of the other, as voicelessness and voice, or that one is at the opposite pole from the other, as stridency and mellowness.
- binet-simon scale — a test comprising questions and tasks, used to determine the mental age of subjects, usually children
- binocular rivalry — the phenomenon whereby one is unable to see simultaneously different images presented one to each eye; usually in some areas of the eye the image presented to the left eye is seen, in others that presented to the right eye
- biological parent — a parent who has conceived (biological mother) or sired (biological father) rather than adopted a child and whose genes are therefore transmitted to the child.
- biological weapon — a weapon which uses a biological agent to harm people and other living organisms
- biotransformation — the metabolizing of some substance, esp. a drug, in the body
- birth of a nation — an American film (1915), directed by D. W. Griffith.
- bitter almond oil — almond oil (def 2).
- bitter-almond-oil — Also called sweet almond oil, expressed almond oil. a colorless to pale yellow fatty oil expressed from the seeds of the sweet almond, used in preparing perfumes and confections.
- bjarne stroustrup — (person) The father of C++ and author of the C++ bible.
- black nationalism — a movement advocating the establishment of a separate black nation within the U.S.