14-letter words containing a, t, s, e, o
- bacteriophages — Plural form of bacteriophage.
- bacteriostasis — inhibition of the growth and reproduction of bacteria, esp by the action of a chemical agent
- bacteriostatic — the prevention of the further growth of bacteria.
- ballast pocket — a depression that is formed beneath the ballast layer by penetration of ballast particles into the subgrade and that tends to collect moisture.
- barbados earth — a diatomaceous marl found in Barbados
- 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.
- base component — the system of rules in a transformational grammar that specify the deep structure of the language
- basidiomycetes — Mycology. any of a group of fungi constituting the phylum Basidiomycota of the kingdom Fungi (or, in older classification schemes, the class Basidiomycetes of the kingdom Plantae), characterized by bearing the spores on a basidium, including the smuts, rust, mushrooms, and puffballs.
- basket-of-gold — a yellow-flowered perennial plant (Alyssum saxatile, now more properly Aurinia saxatilis) of the crucifer family, often used in rock gardens
- 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 cantante — a bass voice with an upper range that is more developed than that of the basso profundo.
- battle of wits — If you refer to a situation as a battle of wits, you mean that it involves people with opposing aims who compete with each other using their intelligence, rather than force.
- battle station — the place or position that one is assigned to for battle or in an emergency.
- bayes' theorem — the fundamental result which expresses the conditional probability P(E/A) of an event E given an event A as P(A/E).P(E)/P(A); more generally, where En is one of a set of values Ei which partition the sample space, P(En/A) = P(A/En)P(En)/Σ P(A/Ei)P(Ei). This enables prior estimates of probability to be continually revised in the light of observations
- bayonet socket — a socket for a bayonet fitting
- beard-stroking — deep thought
- 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.
- beclomethasone — a potent synthetic corticosteroid, C 28 H 37 ClO 7 , prepared as an inhalant in the treatment of bronchial asthma.
- belaya tserkov — city in WC Ukraine: pop. 204,000
- belvoir castle — a castle in Leicestershire, near Grantham (in Lincolnshire): seat of the Dukes of Rutland; rebuilt by James Wyatt in 1816
- bermuda shorts — close-fitting shorts that come down to the knees
- betake oneself — to go; move
- betray oneself — to reveal one's true character, intentions, etc
- billy no-mates — a person with no friends
- bioaeronautics — the use of aircraft in the discovery, development, and protection of natural and biological resources
- biomathematics — the study of the application of mathematics to biology
- bioregionalist — someone who believes in bioregionalism
- biosystematics — the study of the variation and evolution of a population of organisms in relation to their taxonomic classification
- biosystematist — someone who studies or works professionally in the field of biosystematics
- bisphosphonate — any drug of a class that inhibits the resorption of bone; used in treating certain bone disorders, esp osteoporosis
- blepharoplasty — cosmetic surgery performed on the eyelid
- blow off steam — water in the form of an invisible gas or vapor.
- blue mountains — a mountain range in the US, in NE Oregon and SE Washington. Highest peak: Rock Creek Butte, 2773 m (9097 ft)
- bolshoi ballet — a ballet company founded in Moscow in 1776.
- booster cables — jumper cables
- born yesterday — brought forth by birth.
- boundary-stone — a stone marking a boundary, sometimes giving information such as the initials of the local authority in whose jurisdiction the boundary is
- branchiostegal — of or relating to the operculum covering the gill slits of fish
- breakfast food — any prepared cereal for breakfast
- breakfast room — a room set aside for serving and eating breakfast, esp in a hotel or guesthouse
- breakfast show — a radio or television broadcast that airs around breakfast time
- bring onstream — To bring onstream a plant, mine, oilfield, etc. is to start production there.
- broad-spectrum — effective against a wide variety of diseases or microorganisms
- bronchiectasis — chronic dilation of the bronchi or bronchial tubes, which often become infected
- brood parasite — a young bird hatched and reared by birds of a different species as a result of brood parasitism.
- brown thrasher — a common large songbird, Toxostoma rufum, of the eastern U.S., having reddish-brown plumage.
- 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.
- cairngormstone — (mineral, rare) A yellow or smoky brown variety of rock crystal, found especially in the mountains of w Cairngorm in Scotland.
- call the shots — The person who calls the shots is in a position to tell others what to do.