12-letter words containing a, r, b, o, s
- brontosaurus — any very large herbivorous quadrupedal dinosaur of the genus Apatosaurus, common in North America during Jurassic times, having a long neck and long tail: suborder Sauropoda (sauropods)
- brooks range — a mountain range in N Alaska. Highest peak: Mount Isto, 2761 m (9058 ft)
- brooks's law — (programming) "Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later" - a result of the fact that the expected advantage from splitting work among N programmers is O(N) (that is, proportional to N), but the complexity and communications cost associated with coordinating and then merging their work is O(N^2) (that is, proportional to the square of N). The quote is from Fred Brooks, a manager of IBM's OS/360 project and author of "The Mythical Man-Month". The myth in question has been most tersely expressed as "Programmer time is fungible" and Brooks established conclusively that it is not. Hackers have never forgotten his advice; too often, management still does. See also creationism, second-system effect, optimism.
- buenos aires — the capital of Argentina, a major port and industrial city on the Río de la Plata estuary: became capital in 1880; university (1821). Pop: 13 349 000 (2005 est)
- bunco artist — a confidence trickster or con artist
- burkina faso — an inland republic in W Africa: dominated by Mossi kingdoms (10th–19th centuries); French protectorate established in 1896; became an independent republic in 1960; consists mainly of a flat savanna plateau. Official language: French; Mossi and other African languages also widely spoken. Religion: mostly animist, with a large Muslim minority. Currency: franc. Capital: Ouagadougou. Pop: 17 812 961 (2013 est). Area: 273 200 sq km (105 900 sq miles)
- burro's tail — a succulent Mexican plant, Sedum morganianum, of the stonecrop family, bearing small, rose-colored flowers and long, hanging, nearly cylindrical stems with closely packed whitish-green leaves.
- burseraceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Burseraceae, a tropical family of trees and shrubs having compound leaves and resin or balsam in their stems. The family includes bdellium and some balsams
- by reason of — If one thing happens by reason of another, it happens because of it.
- byelorussian — Byelorussian means belonging or relating to Byelorussia or to its people or culture.
- bypass ratio — the ratio of the amount of air that bypasses the combustion chambers of an aircraft gas turbine to that passing through them
- cabbage rose — a rose, Rosa centifolia, with a round compact full-petalled head
- cabora bassa — the site on the Zambezi River in N Mozambique of the largest dam in southern Africa
- cabot strait — a channel in Canada, connecting the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the Atlantic Ocean. 68 miles (109 km) wide.
- calibrations — Plural form of calibration.
- carbocations — Plural form of carbocation.
- carbohydrase — a digestive enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates through hydrolysis
- carbon brush — a small block of carbon used to convey current between the stationary and moving parts of an electric generator, motor, etc
- carbon steel — steel whose characteristics are determined by the amount of carbon it contains
- carbonaceous — of, resembling, or containing carbon
- carbonatites — Plural form of carbonatite.
- cassel brown — Vandyke brown.
- celebrations — Plural form of celebration.
- centerboards — Plural form of centerboard.
- cerebrations — Plural form of cerebration.
- charlesbourg — city in S Quebec, Canada: pop. 71,000
- chatterboxes — Plural form of chatterbox.
- cheese board — A cheese board is a board from which cheese is served at a meal.
- cheeseboards — Plural form of cheeseboard.
- chondroblast — a type of cell that develops into a chondrocyte or cartilage cell
- collaborates — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of collaborate.
- comfortables — Plural form of comfortable.
- commiserable — worthy of commiseration; pitiable
- considerable — Considerable means great in amount or degree.
- considerably — to a noteworthy or marked extent; much; noticeably; substantially; amply.
- constabulary — In Britain and some other countries, a constabulary is the police force of a particular area.
- contrabasses — Plural form of contrabass.
- contrabbasso — a double bass
- contrastable — to compare in order to show unlikeness or differences; note the opposite natures, purposes, etc., of: Contrast the political rights of Romans and Greeks.
- conurbations — Plural form of conurbation.
- coral gables — a city in SE Florida, near Miami.
- coralberries — Plural form of coralberry.
- corroborates — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of corroborate.
- counterblast — A counterblast is a strong angry reply to something that has been said, written, or done.
- cradleboards — Plural form of cradleboard.
- cristobalite — a white microcrystalline mineral consisting of silica and occurring in volcanic rocks. Formula: SiO2
- cross-bearer — a person who carries or holds a cross, especially in a religious procession.
- crossability — the quality of being crossable
- crossbanding — a veneer border, as on furniture, with its grain at right angles to the grain of the adjacent wood
- crossbarring — stripes, esp those of an animal