14-letter words containing a, r, o, n, i, c
- back-formation — the analogical creation of one word from another word that appears to be a derived or inflected form of the first by dropping the apparent affix or by modification.
- backside-front — backend-to.
- ball indicator — a flight instrument that measures the angle of roll about an aircraft's horizontal axis, thereby indicating whether or not the aircraft is skidding or slipping.
- bamboo curtain — (esp in the 1950s and 1960s) the political and military barrier to communications around the People's Republic of China
- bancroft prize — one of a group of annual awards for literary achievement in American history and biography: administered by Columbia University.
- beta reduction — [lambda-calculus] The application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. A copy of the body of the lambda abstraction is made and occurrences of the bound variable being replaced by the argument. E.g. (\ x . x+1) 4 --> 4+1 Beta reduction is the only kind of reduction in the pure lambda-calculus. The opposite of beta reduction is beta abstraction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion. See also name capture.
- binary counter — (electronics, hardware) A digital circuit which has a clock input and a number of count outputs which give the number of clock cycles. The output may change either on rising or falling clock edges. The circuit may also have a reset input which sets all outputs to zero when asserted. The counter may be either a synchronous counter or a ripple counter.
- bioaeronautics — the use of aircraft in the discovery, development, and protection of natural and biological resources
- bioinformatics — the branch of information science concerned with large databases of biochemical or pharmaceutical information
- board chairman — the chairman of the board of a company, etc
- bone porcelain — bone china.
- boring machine — a machine that bores holes, tunnels, etc
- botanic garden — a place in which plants are grown, studied, and exhibited
- bowling crease — a line marked at the wicket, over which a bowler must not advance fully before delivering the ball
- brachydiagonal — the shorter lateral axis of a rhombic prism
- brachypinakoid — the side parallel to the shorter horizontal axis in a crystal
- branch officer — (in the British navy since 1949) any officer who holds warrant
- branchiostegal — of or relating to the operculum covering the gill slits of fish
- breech-loading — (of a firearm) loaded at the breech
- britannia coin — any of four British gold coins introduced in 1987 for investment purposes; their denominations are £100, £50, £25, and £10
- bronchial tube — Your bronchial tubes are the two tubes which connect your windpipe to your lungs.
- bronchiectasis — chronic dilation of the bronchi or bronchial tubes, which often become infected
- bronchodilator — any drug or other agent that causes dilation of the bronchial tubes by relaxing bronchial muscle: used, esp in the form of aerosol sprays, for the relief of asthma
- bronchorrhagia — hemorrhage from the bronchial tubes.
- bronchospastic — of or relating to bronchospasms
- cadmium bronze — an alloy of copper with about 1 percent cadmium.
- cadmium orange — a yellow color approaching orange.
- cairngormstone — (mineral, rare) A yellow or smoky brown variety of rock crystal, found especially in the mountains of w Cairngorm in Scotland.
- caloric energy — energy measured in calories
- calorification — the production of heat
- can ill afford — If you say that someone can ill afford to do something, or can ill afford something, you mean that they must prevent it from happening because it would be harmful or embarrassing to them.
- canicola fever — an acute febrile disease of humans and dogs, characterized by inflammation of the stomach and intestines and by jaundice: caused by a spirochete, Leptospira canicola.
- canonical hour — one of the seven prayer times appointed for each day by canon law
- capriciousness — subject to, led by, or indicative of a sudden, odd notion or unpredictable change; erratic: He's such a capricious boss I never know how he'll react.
- captain cooker — a wild pig
- caramelisation — (chiefly British) alternative spelling of caramelization.
- caramelization — the conversion of sugar into caramel, caused by heating
- carbon dioxide — Carbon dioxide is a gas. It is produced by animals and people breathing out, and by chemical reactions.
- carbon trading — Carbon trading is the practice of buying and selling the right to produce carbon dioxide emissions, so that people, countries or companies who use a lot of fuel and electricity can buy rights from those that do not use so much.
- carcinogenesis — the development of cancerous cells from normal ones
- carcinogenetic — Of or pertaining to carcinogenesis; forming cancer cells.
- carcinological — relating to carcinology
- carcinomatosis — a condition characterized by widespread dissemination of carcinomas or by a carcinoma that affects a large area
- carcinosarcoma — a malignant tumour composed of carcinoma and sarcoma
- cardinal point — The cardinal points are the four main points of the compass, north, south, east, and west.
- cardinal vowel — any one of eight primary, purportedly invariant, sustained vowel sounds that constitute a reference set for describing the vowel inventory of a language.
- cardiocentesis — surgical puncture of the heart
- carnarvonshire — Caernarvon.
- carpet bombing — Carpet bombing is heavy bombing from aircraft, with the intention of hitting as many places as possible in a particular area.
- carpet bowling — a form of bowls played indoors on a strip of carpet, at the centre of which lies an obstacle round which the bowl has to pass