16-letter words containing b, a, h, s
- smooth breathing — a symbol (') used in the writing of Greek to indicate that the initial vowel over which it is placed is unaspirated.
- south sea bubble — the financial crash that occurred in 1720 after the South Sea Company had taken over the national debt in return for a monopoly of trade with the South Seas, causing feverish speculation in their stocks
- southern baptist — a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, founded in Augusta, Georgia, in 1845, that is strictly Calvinistic and active in religious publishing and education.
- spanish bluebell — a bulbous plant, Endymion hispanicus, of the lily family, native to Spain and Portugal, having blue, white, or pink, bell-shaped flowers.
- st. john's-bread — carob (def 2).
- stab in the back — to pierce or wound with or as if with a pointed weapon: She stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork.
- steamboat gothic — a florid architectural style suggesting the gingerbread-decorated construction of river boats of the Victorian period.
- sth rings a bell — If you say that something rings a bell, you mean that it reminds you of something, but you cannot remember exactly what it is.
- strawberry shrub — Carolina allspice
- stretcher bearer — a person who helps to carry a stretcher, esp in wartime
- stretcher-bearer — a person who helps carry a stretcher, as in removing wounded from a battlefield.
- stroboradiograph — a stroboscopic radiograph.
- submarine chaser — a small patrol vessel, 100–200 feet (30–60 meters) long, designed for military operations against submarines.
- 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).
- take the biscuit — Take the biscuit means the same as take the cake.
- that's as may be — even so
- the amazon basin — the catchment area of the River Amazon
- the barren lands — a region of tundra in N Canada, extending westwards from Hudson Bay: sparsely inhabited, chiefly by Inuit
- the beaver state — a name for the state of Oregon
- the best part of — most of
- the black forest — a hilly wooded region of SW Germany, in Baden-Württemberg: a popular resort area
- the easter bunny — the rabbit that brings Easter eggs
- the eastern bloc — (formerly) the Soviet bloc
- the great gatsby — a novel (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
- the red brigades — a group of urban guerrillas, based in Italy, who kidnapped and murdered the former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro (1916–78) in 1978
- the subsidiariat — a collective term for the news sources that would not survive without being subsidized directly (by a government, etc), or indirectly (through sharing a parent company with another more profitable revenue source)
- the unobservable — something that cannot be observed
- the war-disabled — those people who have been disabled by war
- the wheel blacks — the international wheelchair rugby football team of New Zealand
- thumbnail sketch — small preliminary drawing
- tibetan buddhism — the form of Mahayana Buddhism that developed and is practiced primarily in Tibet and some nearby nations: its spiritual leader is the Dalai Lama
- to cut both ways — If you say that something cuts both ways, you mean that it can have two opposite effects, or can have both good and bad effects.
- to miss the boat — If you say that someone has missed the boat, you mean that they have missed an opportunity and may not get another.
- to pass the buck — If you pass the buck, you refuse to accept responsibility for something, and say that someone else is responsible.
- tread the boards — to set down the foot or feet in walking; step; walk.
- typhoid bacillus — the bacterium Salmonella typhosa, causing typhoid fever.
- unaccomplishable — to bring to its goal or conclusion; carry out; perform; finish: to accomplish one's mission.
- well-established — permanently founded; settled; firmly set: a well-established business; a well-established habit.
- whatever sb does — You say whatever you do when giving advice or warning someone about something.
- witches' sabbath — Sabbat.
- yah-boo politics — adversarial politics in which politicians constantly deride their opponents and dismiss everything suggested by them