12-letter words containing a, r, u, n
- articulating — Present participle of articulate.
- articulation — Articulation is the action of producing a sound or word clearly, in speech or music.
- arts council — an organization that provides funding for a variety of arts activities
- arts student — a person studying an arts subject
- ashurbanipal — died ?626 bc, king of Assyria (?668–?626): son of Esarhaddon. He built the magnificent palace and library at Nineveh
- assurbanipal — Ashurbanipal
- astronautics — the science and technology of space flight
- astroturfing — a PR tactic used in politics and advertising in which actors are paid to display overt and apparently spontaneous grassroots support for a particular product, policy, or event
- asynchronous — An asynchronous electric machine is one in which the magnetic field and the rotation are not exactly the same.
- at a venture — at random; by chance
- attenborough — Sir David. born 1926, British naturalist and broadcaster; noted esp for his TV series Life on Earth (1978), The Living Planet (1983), The Life of Birds (1998), The Life of Mammals (2002), and First Life (2010)
- attributions — Plural form of attribution.
- au contraire — on the contrary
- auction room — a room in a building where auctions take place
- auctioneered — Simple past tense and past participle of auctioneer.
- aurene glass — an iridescent American art glass colored gold and blue.
- auroral zone — the region surrounding the north or south geomagnetic pole in which the auroral phenomena take place.
- austin friar — one of the Hermits of St. Augustine.
- australasian — Australasian means belonging or relating to Australasia or to its people.
- austronesian — of or relating to Austronesia, its peoples, or their languages
- autoanalyzer — any of various automatic devices that test and analyze chemicals, blood, etc.
- autochangers — Plural form of autochanger.
- autographing — Present participle of autograph.
- autoinjector — A medical device designed to deliver a single dose of a particular, typically life-saving, drug.
- autorotation — the continuous rotation of a body in an airflow, such as that of the rotor blades of a helicopter in an unpowered descent
- averruncator — a long pair of shears used for pruning the higher branches of trees
- avuncularity — the condition of being an uncle
- baby-bouncer — a seat on springs suspended from a door frame, etc, in which a baby may be placed for exercise
- baccalaurean — of a baccalaureate
- back country — The back country is an area that is a long way from any city and has very few people living in it.
- backcourtman — any of the players stationed in the backcourt; a guard
- backgrounded — Simple past tense and past participle of background.
- backgrounder — A backgrounder is a short article in a newspaper or magazine that provides background information about a particular subject.
- badger skunk — hog-nosed skunk (def 1).
- badger-skunk — Also called badger skunk, rooter skunk. a large, naked-muzzled skunk, Conepatus mesoleucus, common in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, having a black coat with one broad white stripe down the back and tail.
- ball turning — the turning of arms or legs on furniture to make them resemble a continuous row of balls.
- banana shrub — a tall Chinese shrub, Michelia figo, of the magnolia family, having cream-yellow flowers with a reddish edge and a strong banana odor.
- banbury cake — a cake consisting of a pastry base filled with currants, raisins, candied peel, and sugar, with a crisscross pattern on the top
- banbury tart — a tart filled with a lemon-flavored mixture of currants, raisins, or the like.
- bankruptcies — Plural form of bankruptcy.
- banner cloud — a plume-shaped cloud extending downwind from an isolated mountain peak. Also called cloud banner. Compare cap cloud (def 1).
- banquet room — A banquet room is a room in a hotel where large formal meals for many people can be held.
- barbados nut — an ornamental, tropical American tree, Jatropha curcas, of the spurge family, having ivylike leaves, small, yellow or greenish-yellow flowers, and olive-shaped fruit yielding a purgative, poisonous oil.
- barcalounger — a type of reclinable armchair with an extendable footrest
- bare-knuckle — without boxing gloves
- barium enema — an injection into the rectum of a preparation of barium sulphate, which is opaque to X-rays, before X-raying the lower alimentary canal
- barranquilla — a port in N Colombia, on the Magdalena River. Pop: 1 918 000 (2005 est)
- battleground — A battleground is the same as a battlefield.
- bean counter — You can describe people such as accountants and business managers as bean counters if you disapprove of them because you think they are only interested in money.
- bean sprouts — the sprouts of newly germinated mung beans, eaten as a vegetable, esp in Chinese dishes