20-letter words containing a, r, o, n
- background radiation — low-intensity radiation from, for example, small amounts of radioisotopes in soil, air, building materials, etc
- backward and forward — If someone or something moves backward and forward, they move repeatedly first in one direction and then in the opposite direction.
- basal cell carcinoma — a common and usually curable skin cancer that arises from epithelial cells and rarely metastasizes: often associated with overexposure to sunlight.
- basic encoding rules — (protocol, standard) (BER) ASN.1 encoding rules for producing self-identifying and self-delimiting transfer syntax for data structures described in ASN.1 notations. BER is an self-identifying and self-delimiting encoding scheme, which means that each data value can be identified, extracted and decoded individually. Huw Rogers once described BER as "a triumph of bloated theory over clean implementation". He also criticises it as designed around bitstreams with arbitrary boundaries between data which can only be determined at a high level. Documents: ITU-T X.690, ISO 8825-1. See also CER, DER, PER.
- basic lead carbonate — ceruse.
- basic oxygen process — a process for refining steel in which oxygen is blown into the molten iron
- bats-wing coral-tree — a small tree, Erythrina verspertilio, of tropical and subtropical Australia with red flowers and leaves shaped like the wings of a bat
- be in the market for — to wish to buy or acquire
- be someone's funeral — to be someone's problem, worry, etc. and not another's
- beat around the bush — to talk around a subject without getting to the point
- beaverhead mountains — a mountain range on the border of E Idaho and SW Montana, in the Bitterroot Range. 10,961 feet (3343 meters).
- been-there done-that — an exclamation expressing familiarity and boredom with a situation, experience, etc
- beggar-your-neighbor — a children's card game for two, played with 52 cards, that is won when a player captures all of the cards.
- belgian shepherd dog — a medium-sized well-proportioned dog of a breed that resembles an Alsatian in appearance and is often used as a sheepdog or a guard dog
- benoit b. mandelbrot — Benoit Mandelbrot
- benzene hexachloride — a compound, C6H6Cl6, used as an insecticide
- benztropine mesylate — a synthetic anticholinergic, C 21 H 25 NO⋅CH 4 O 3 S, used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
- benzyl isoamyl ether — a colorless liquid, C 12 H 18 O, used in soap perfumes.
- bernard of clairvaux — Saint. ?1090–1153, French abbot and theologian, who founded the stricter branch of the Cistercians in 1115
- bernese mountain dog — a strong sturdy dog of a breed with a bushy tail and a long silky black coat with reddish-brown and white markings, often used as a working farm dog
- bimodal distribution — a frequency distribution with two modes
- binary coded decimal — (data) (BCD, packed decimal) A number representation where a number is expressed as a sequence of decimal digits and then each decimal digit is encoded as a four-bit binary number (a nibble). E.g. decimal 92 would be encoded as the eight-bit sequence 1001 0010. In some cases, the right-most nibble contains the sign (positive or negative). It is easier to convert decimal numbers to and from BCD than binary and, though BCD is often converted to binary for arithmetic processing, it is possible to build hardware that operates directly on BCD.
- binary-coded decimal — a number in binary code written in groups of four bits, each group representing one digit of the corresponding decimal number
- bird-footed dinosaur — theropod.
- blue ridge mountains — a mountain range in the eastern US, extending from West Virginia into Georgia: part of the Appalachian mountains. Highest peak: Mount Mitchell, 2038 m (6684 ft)
- blue screen of death — (humour) (BSOD) The infamous white-on-blue text screen which appears when Microsoft Windows crashes. BSOD is mostly seen on the 16-bit systems such as Windows 3.1, but also on Windows 95 and apparently even under Windows NT 4. It is most likely to be caused by a GPF, although Windows 95 can do it if you've removed a required CD-ROM from the drive. It is often impossible to recover cleanly from a BSOD. The acronym BSOD is sometimes used as a verb, e.g. "Windoze just keeps BSODing on me today".
- bobbin and fly frame — a roving machine used in the final stages of converting spun cotton fiber into yarn.
- bolometric magnitude — the magnitude of a star derived either from the total energy that it radiates at all wavelengths or from the total energy of those of its wavelengths that are received on earth.
- bone mineral density — a measurement of the amount of calcium and other minerals in a segment of bone, a higher mineral content indicating a higher bone density and strength, used to detect osteoporosis or monitor its treatment.
- born-again christian — person: evangelical
- boulogne billancourt — a suburb of Paris, in N France.
- boulogne-billancourt — an industrial suburb of SW Paris. Pop: 106 367 (1999)
- bouvier des flandres — any of a breed of large, strong dog with a rough, wiry coat and pointed, erect ears
- brachiocephalic vein — either of two major veins, formed by the merger of the subclavian and internal jugular veins, that drain blood from the head and arms.
- breakerless ignition — electronic ignition.
- breakfast television — Breakfast television refers to television programmes which are broadcast in the morning at the time when most people are having breakfast.
- bring home the bacon — If you bring home the bacon, you achieve what you needed to achieve.
- brittle bone disease — bone disorder
- broadcast journalism — journalism as practiced in radio and television.
- broadcasting station — a television or radio station
- broaden o's/the mind — If an experience broadens your mind, it makes you more willing to accept other people's beliefs and customs.
- brown lung (disease) — a chronic disease of the lungs caused by inhalation of fine textile fibers, esp. cotton; byssinosis
- buck's horn plantain — a Eurasian plant, Plantago coronopus, having leaves resembling a buck's horn: family Plantaginaceae
- buoyancy compensator — an inflatable vest used to control one's buoyancy underwater or to rest at the surface, usually having a connecting hose for inflation or deflation by mouth and a CO 2 cartridge for rapid, emergency inflation.
- bureau of the census — the division of the Department of Commerce that gathers, tabulates, and correlates census statistics.
- by their own account — If you say that something concerning a particular person is true by his or her own account, you mean that you believe it because that person has said it is true.
- by/from all accounts — If you say that something is true by all accounts or from all accounts, you believe it is true because other people say so.
- caesar and cleopatra — a comedy (1898) by G. B. Shaw.
- calderon de la barca — Pedro (ˈpeðro). 1600–81, Spanish dramatist, whose best-known work is La Vida es Sueño. He also wrote autos sacramentales, outdoor plays for the feast of Corpus Christi, 76 of which survive
- california barracuda — a small, slender barracuda, Sphyraena argentea, of coastal seas from Alaska to Baja California, valued as a food fish.