16-letter words containing b, a, c, t, r, i
- hairbrush cactus — a stout, spiny cactus, Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum, of Mexico, having white flowers and bristly fruits sometimes used locally as combs.
- hit a brick wall — unable to continue or make progress because of a hindrance
- icterine warbler — a European variety of tree warbler (Hippolais icterina )
- imperfectability — The quality of not being perfectable; of being forever imperfect.
- impracticability — The quality or condition of being impracticable.
- incontravertable — Misspelling of incontrovertible.
- incorporated bar — (in some states) a system of bar associations to which all lawyers are required to belong.
- indescribability — (uncountable) The state or characteristic of being indescribable.
- intercalibration — to determine, check, or rectify the graduation of (any instrument giving quantitative measurements).
- irreplaceability — The quality of being irreplaceable; inability to be replaced; (frequently) uniqueness.
- liberal democrat — In Britain, a Liberal Democrat is a member of the Liberal Democrat Party.
- library pictures — a caption used to alert viewers that footage being broadcast is from an earlier time and is not happening now
- lick observatory — the astronomical observatory of the University of California, situated on Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California, and having a 120-inch (3-meter) reflecting telescope and a 36-inch (91-cm) refracting telescope.
- lumberjack shirt — a thick checked shirt, as worn by lumberjacks
- magnetic bearing — the bearing of a point relative to that of the nearest magnetic pole.
- megakaryoblastic — (cytology) Of or pertaining to a megakaryoblast.
- mountain climber — someone who climbs or walks up mountains
- multi-way branch — switch statement
- multituberculate — a rodentlike mammal of the extinct order Multituberculata, which lived from the late Jurassic Period to the Oligocene Epoch, reaching the size of a woodchuck and having molars with two or three rows of simple pointed cusps.
- nitrogen balance — the difference between the amount of nitrogen taken in and the amount excreted or lost: used to evaluate nutritional balance.
- nitrous bacteria — bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrites in the soil
- non-bureaucratic — of, relating to, or characteristic of a bureaucrat or a bureaucracy; arbitrary and routine.
- objective danger — a danger, such as a stone fall or avalanche, to which climbing skill is irrelevant
- observation deck — an area on a high building that is surrounded with railings or fencing and which provides panoramic views
- orbital velocity — the minimum velocity at which a body must move to maintain a given orbit.
- overexcitability — to excite too much.
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- pocket billiards — pool2 (def 1).
- public relations — (used with a plural verb) the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.
- public transport — fare-paying travel
- rambunctiousness — difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
- reaction chamber — the chamber in a rocket engine in which the reaction or combustion of fuel occurs
- reaction turbine — a turbine driven by the reactive force of a fluid passing through the rotor blades.
- rectus abdominis — a long flat muscle that extends along the whole length of both sides of the abdomen. It flexes the vertebral column, particularly the lumbar portion; it also tenses the anterior abdominal wall and assists in compressing the abdominal contents
- republican party — one of the two major political parties in the U.S.: originated 1854–56.
- rich tea biscuit — any of various semisweet biscuits
- right about face — Military. a command, given to a soldier or soldiers at attention, to turn the body about toward the right so as to face in the opposite direction. the act of so turning in a prescribed military manner.
- roundabout chair — corner chair.
- sabattier effect — the alteration of the image tones of a photographic print by briefly reexposing the negative after it has been partially developed.
- security blanket — a blanket or other familiar item carried especially by a young child to provide reassurance and a feeling of psychological security.
- self-lubricating — to apply some oily or greasy substance to (a machine, parts of a mechanism, etc.) in order to diminish friction; oil or grease (something).
- self-lubrication — the process of becoming lubricated without external factors
- sodium carbonate — Also called soda ash. an anhydrous, grayish-white, odorless, water-soluble powder, Na 2 CO 3 , usually obtained by the Solvay process and containing about 1 percent of impurities consisting of sulfates, chlorides, and bicarbonates of sodium: used in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, soaps, paper, petroleum products, sodium salts, as a cleanser, for bleaching, and in water treatment.
- strict liability — responsibility for damage or loss regardless of intention or culpability
- strike a balance — compromise
- subcartilaginous — partially or incompletely cartilaginous.
- subtropical high — one of several highs, as the Azores and Pacific highs, that prevail over the oceans at latitudes of about 30 degrees N and S. Also called subtropical anticyclone. Compare high (def 37).
- thrombocytopenia — an abnormal decrease in the number of blood platelets.
- to break the ice — If you break the ice at a party or meeting, or in a new situation, you say or do something to make people feel relaxed and comfortable.
- tobacco industry — business of selling smoking products