15-letter words containing a, t, r, s
- bristol channel — an inlet of the Atlantic, between S Wales and SW England, merging into the Severn estuary. Length: about 137 km (85 miles)
- bristol fashion — clean and neat, with newly painted and scrubbed surfaces, brass polished, etc
- british america — British North America.
- british library — the British national library, formed in 1973 from the British Museum library and other national collections: housed mainly in the British Museum until 1997 when a purpose-built library in St Pancras, London, was completed
- broadcast storm — (networking) A broadcast on a network that causes multiple hosts to respond by broadcasting themselves, causing the storm to grow exponentially in severity. See network meltdown.
- bronchial tubes — the bronchi or their smaller divisions
- bronze diabetes — hemochromatosis.
- brother-in-arms — a fellow soldier or comrade in a shared struggle
- brushback pitch — a fast ball deliberately thrown at or too near a batter's head
- brussels carpet — a worsted carpet with a heavy pile formed by uncut loops of wool on a linen warp
- building trades — the trades and professions concerned with the creation and finishing of buildings, such as carpenters, plasterers, masons, electricians, etc.
- bullock's heart — the large, edible fruit of a tropical American tree, Annona reticulata.
- bullock's-heart — the large, edible fruit of a tropical American tree, Annona reticulata.
- buried treasure — A surprising piece of code found in some program. While usually not wrong, it tends to vary from crufty to bletcherous, and has lain undiscovered only because it was functionally correct, however horrible it is. Used sarcastically, because what is found is anything *but* treasure. Buried treasure almost always needs to be dug up and removed. "I just found that the scheduler sorts its queue using bubble sort! Buried treasure!"
- burt l standish — Burt L. pseudonym of Gilbert Patten.
- butler's pantry — a pantry in a large house where crockery, glassware, cutlery, etc is kept
- butter spreader — a small knife with a wide, flat blade, as for spreading butter on bread or rolls.
- butter-and-eggs — any of various plants, such as toadflax, the flowers of which are of two shades of yellow
- buttress thread — a screw thread having one flank that is vertical while the other is inclined, and a flat top and bottom: used in machine tools and designed to withstand heavy thrust in one direction
- cabinet scraper — a scraper used in preparing a wood surface for sanding.
- cactus geranium — a plant, Pelargonium echinatum, of the geranium family, native to southern Africa, having prickly stipules and white or reddish flowers.
- cafeteria-style — set up to allow a variety of choices.
- cairngorm-stone — smoky quartz.
- calcareous tufa — tufa
- calculated risk — a chance of failure, the probability of which is estimated before some action is undertaken.
- calliper splint — a splint consisting of two metal rods with straps attached, for supporting or exerting tension on the leg
- camelback truss — a roof truss having upper and lower chords curving upward from a common point at each side.
- canisterization — the process of putting (something) into a canister or canisters
- cape finisterre — a headland in NW Spain: the westernmost point of the Spanish mainland
- capital letters — a letter of the alphabet that usually differs from its corresponding lowercase letter in form and height, as A, B, Q, and R as distinguished from a, b, q, and r : used as the initial letter of a proper name, the first word of a sentence, etc.
- capital surplus — any surplus of a business firm not derived from direct earnings or profits
- captain's chair — a hardwood armchair having a low, curved back, formed of a single rail supported by spindles, and a saddle seat
- car transporter — a vehicle for carrying automobiles
- cardinal points — the four main points of the compass: north, south, east, and west
- cardinal system — a system of coding navigational aids by shape, color, and number, according to their positions relative to navigational hazards.
- carl xvi gustaf — born 1946, king of Sweden from 1973
- carmarthenshire — a county of S Wales, formerly part of Dyfed (1974–96): on Carmarthen Bay, with the Cambrian Mountains in the N: generally agricultural (esp dairying). Administrative centre: Carmarthen. Pop: 176 000 (2003 est). Area: 2398 sq km (926 sq miles)
- carpentersville — a city in NE Illinois, near Chicago.
- carpometacarpus — a bone in the wing of a bird that consists of the metacarpal bones and some of the carpal bones fused together
- carry one's bat — (of an opening batsman) to reach the end of an innings without being dismissed
- cartesian diver — a glass vessel partially filled with water and covered with an airtight membrane, containing a hollow object that is open at the bottom and contains just enough air to allow it to float. Pressing on the membrane compresses the air in the vessel and forces water into the object, causing it to sink; releasing the membrane causes it to rise.
- cartesian doubt — willful suspension of all interpretations of experience that are not absolutely certain: used as a method of deriving, by elimination of such uncertainties, axioms upon which to base theories.
- cartesian plane — Usually, Cartesian coordinates. a member of a system of coordinates for locating a point on a plane (Cartesian plane) by its distance from each of two intersecting lines, or in space by its distance from each of three planes intersecting at a point.
- cartesian space — ordinary two- or three-dimensional space.
- cartier-bresson — Henri (ɑ̃ri). 1908–2004, French photographer
- cartridge brass — brass composed of about 70 percent copper and 30 percent zinc.
- casparian strip — a band of suberized material around the radial walls of endodermal cells: impervious to gases and liquids
- cassette memory — a removable magnetic tape cartridge that stores data and programs.
- cassette player — A cassette player is a machine that is used for playing cassettes and sometimes also recording them.
- cast around for — If you cast around for something or cast about for it, you try to find it or think of it.