14-letter words containing a, s, o, u
- base community — (especially in South America) a group of people taking part in religious devotions and Bible study, who seek to apply this in their socioeconomic and political situation.
- basque country — Theregion comprising three provinces in N Spain, on the Bay of Biscay, inhabited by Basques: 2,803 sq mi (7,260 sq km); pop. 2,104,000
- basso continuo — continuo.
- basso profundo — (esp in operatic solo singing) a singer with a very deep bass voice
- beaufort scale — an international scale of wind velocities ranging for practical purposes from 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane force). In the US an extension of the scale, from 13 to 17 for winds over 64 knots, is used
- beauty contest — A beauty contest is a competition in which young women are judged to decide which one is the most beautiful.
- berberidaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Berberidaceae, a mainly N temperate family of flowering plants (mostly shrubs), including barberry and barrenwort
- bermuda shorts — close-fitting shorts that come down to the knees
- beyond measure — If you say that something has changed or that it has affected you beyond measure, you are emphasizing that it has done this to a great extent.
- bildungsromane — a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist.
- bilious attack — a group of symptoms consisting of headache, abdominal pain, and constipation
- bioaeronautics — the use of aircraft in the discovery, development, and protection of natural and biological resources
- blood and guts — dealing with or depicting war or violence, especially in a lurid manner: a blood-and-guts movie.
- blood-and-guts — dealing with or depicting war or violence, especially in a lurid manner: a blood-and-guts movie.
- blue mountains — a mountain range in the US, in NE Oregon and SE Washington. Highest peak: Rock Creek Butte, 2773 m (9097 ft)
- boarding house — A boarding house is a house which people pay to stay in for a short time.
- bobo-dioulasso — a city in W Burkina Faso. Pop: 396 000 (2005 est)
- bophuthatswana — (formerly) a Bantu homeland in N South Africa: consisted of six separate areas; declared independent by South Africa in 1977 although this was not internationally recognized; abolished in 1993. Capital: Mmabatho
- bounce message — A notification message returned to the sender by a site unable to relay e-mail to the intended recipient or the next link in a bang path. Reasons might include a nonexistent or misspelled user name or a down relay site. Bounce messages can themselves fail, with occasionally ugly results; see sorcerer's apprentice mode and software laser. The terms "bounce mail" and "barfmail" are also common.
- boundary-stone — a stone marking a boundary, sometimes giving information such as the initials of the local authority in whose jurisdiction the boundary is
- broad-spectrum — effective against a wide variety of diseases or microorganisms
- bulk transport — the transport of large quantities of goods or commodities in lorries, ships, or by rail
- bust one's ass — Informal. to burst. to go bankrupt. to collapse from the strain of making a supreme effort: She was determined to make straight A's or bust.
- cadaverousness — of or like a corpse.
- cahokia mounds — the largest group of prehistoric Indian earthworks in the US, located northeast of East St Louis
- calumniousness — Calumny.
- camera obscura — a darkened chamber or small building in which images of outside objects are projected onto a flat surface by a convex lens in an aperture
- camp counselor — activities supervisor
- campanulaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Campanulaceae, a family of temperate and subtropical plants, including the campanulas, having bell-shaped nodding flowers
- campylotropous — (of an ovule) curved so that the micropyle and funiculus almost touch
- canons regular — one of a body of dignitaries or prebendaries attached to a cathedral or a collegiate church; a member of the chapter of a cathedral or a collegiate church.
- cantankerously — In a cantankerous manner.
- capparidaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Capparidaceae (or (Capparaceae), a family of plants, mostly shrubs including the caper, of warm tropical regions
- 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.
- cardiovascular — of the heart and the blood vessels as a unified body system
- carousel fraud — the practice of importing goods from a country where they are not subject to VAT, selling them with VAT added, then deliberately not paying the VAT to the government
- carriage house — coach house.
- castrop-rauxel — an industrial city in W Germany, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Pop: 78 208 (2003 est)
- casual contact — the level of contact at which a person is not subject to contracting a communicable disease from another, especially nonsexual contact with a person infected with a venereal disease.
- caustic potash — potassium hydroxide
- chivalrousness — The state of being chivalrous.
- cholera morbus — gastroenteritis
- claustrophilia — abnormal pleasure derived from being in a confined space
- claustrophobes — Plural form of claustrophobe.
- claustrophobia — Someone who suffers from claustrophobia feels very uncomfortable or anxious when they are in small or enclosed places.
- claustrophobic — You describe a place or situation as claustrophobic when it makes you feel uncomfortable and unhappy because you are enclosed or restricted.
- clearing house — If an organization acts as a clearing house, it collects, sorts, and distributes specialized information.
- clearing-house — a place or institution where mutual claims and accounts are settled, as between banks.
- clearinghouses — Plural form of clearinghouse.
- cleistocarpous — Mycology. having cleistothecia.