13-letter words containing a, t, e, l
- blow the gaff — to divulge a secret
- blue asbestos — a common name for the mineral crocidolite, a variety of asbestos found in Africa and Australia
- boat neckline — a wide, high neckline that follows the curve of the collarbone and ends in points on the shoulder seams.
- booster cable — either of a pair of electric cables having clamps at each end and used for starting the engine of a vehicle whose battery is dead.
- bootlace worm — a nemertean worm, Lineus longissimus, that inhabits shingly shores and attains lengths of over 6 m (20 ft)
- border patrol — a government agency in charge of preventing terrorists, weapons, and illegal immigrants entering the country
- borlotti bean — variety of kidney bean
- bottle-washer — a menial or factotum
- bottled water — water sold in bottles
- bouncy castle — A bouncy castle is a large object filled with air, often in the shape of a castle, which children play on at a fairground or other outdoor event.
- boycott apple — (legal) Some time before 1989, Apple Computer, Inc. started a lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, claiming they had breeched Apple's copyright on the look and feel of the Macintosh user interface. In December 1989, Xerox failed to sue Apple Computer, claiming that the software for Apple's Lisa computer and Macintosh Finder, both copyrighted in 1987, were derived from two Xerox programs: Smalltalk, developed in the mid-1970s and Star, copyrighted in 1981. Apple wanted to stop people from writing any program that worked even vaguely like a Macintosh. If such look and feel lawsuits succeed they could put an end to free software that could substitute for commercial software. In the weeks after the suit was filed, Usenet reverberated with condemnation for Apple. GNU supporters Richard Stallman, John Gilmore and Paul Rubin decided to take action against Apple. Apple's reputation as a force for progress came from having made better computers; but The League for Programming Freedom believed that Apple wanted to make all non-Apple computers worse. They therefore campaigned to discourage people from using Apple products or working for Apple or any other company threatening similar obstructionist tactics (e.g. Lotus and Xerox). Because of this boycott the Free Software Foundation for a long time didn't support Macintosh Unix in their software. In 1995, the LPF and the FSF decided to end the boycott.
- bracket clock — a small clock designed to be placed on a bracket or shelf.
- braillewriter — a machine, similar to a typewriter, for writing texts in Braille.
- brazing metal — a nonferrous metal, as copper, zinc, or nickel, or an alloy, as hard solder, used for brazing together pieces of metal.
- breathability — fitness to be breathed
- bridal wreath — any of several N temperate rosaceous shrubs of the genus Spiraea, esp S. prunifolia, cultivated for their sprays of small white flowers
- brilliantined — treated with brilliantine
- bristle-grass — any of various grasses of the genus Setaria, such as S. viridis, having a bristly inflorescence
- brittany blue — a medium greenish blue.
- bucket ladder — a series of buckets that move in a continuous chain, used to dredge riverbeds, etc, or to excavate land
- bulbourethral — of or relating to the rounded mass of tissue surrounding the urethra at the root of the penis.
- bull elephant — an adult male elephant
- bullet-headed — with a head shaped like a bullet
- bundle sheath — a layer of cells in plant leaves and stems that surrounds a vascular bundle.
- buster collar — a round collar, similar to a lampshade in shape, that is fitted round the neck of an animal or bird, for example to prevent it removing or interfering with a dressing or other treatment
- butler's tray — a tray resting on or attached to an X-shaped, often folding stand, on which are kept drink bottles and glasses
- butterfly pea — any of several leguminous plants of the genus Clitoria, as C. mariana, of North America, having pale-blue flowers.
- butyl acetate — a colourless liquid with a fruity odour, existing in four isomeric forms. Three of the isomers are important solvents for cellulose lacquers. Formula: CH3COOC4H9
- butyraldehyde — a colourless flammable pungent liquid used in the manufacture of resins. Formula: CH3(CH2)2CHO
- cable tramway — tramway (def 4).
- calabash tree — a tropical American evergreen tree, Crescentia cujete, that produces large round gourds: family Bignoniaceae
- calamity jane — real name Martha Canary. ?1852–1903, US frontierswoman, noted for her skill at shooting and riding
- calf's tongue — a molding having pendent, tonguelike members in relief against a flat or molded surface.
- call the tune — to be in control of the proceedings
- call the turn — to predict successfully
- call to order — to request to be quiet, as to start (a meeting)
- called strike — a pitch not swung at by a batter but ruled a strike by the umpire.
- callisthenics — light exercises designed to promote general fitness, develop muscle tone, etc
- calorifacient — (of foods) producing heat.
- caltanissetta — a city in central Sicily: sulphur mines. Pop: 61 438 (2001)
- camel cricket — cave cricket.
- campylobacter — a rod-shaped bacterium that causes infections in cattle and man. Unpasteurized milk infected with campylobacter is a common cause of gastroenteritis
- canaliculated — Canaliculate.
- cancellariate — the office of chancellor
- cancellations — Plural form of cancellation.
- candlelighter — a person whose task it is to light candles
- cantilevering — Present participle of cantilever.
- canton enamel — Chinese enamelware similar to Limoges.
- cape-flattery — Cape, a cape in NW Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula, at the entrance to Juan de Fuca Strait.
- capellmeister — a person in charge of an orchestra, esp in an 18th-century princely household