14-letter words containing b, a, l, i
- biogeochemical — of or relating to biogeochemistry
- bioregionalism — the conviction that environmental and social policies should be determined by the bioregion rather than economics or politics
- bioregionalist — someone who believes in bioregionalism
- biostatistical — relating to biostatistics
- bipolarisation — the act of bipolarising
- bipolarization — the action of rendering something bipolar
- birdcage clock — lantern clock.
- biscuit barrel — an airtight container of circular section equipped with a lid and used for storing biscuits
- bitmap display — (hardware) A computer output device where each pixel displayed on the monitor screen corresponds directly to one or more bits in the computer's video memory. Such a display can be updated extremely rapidly since changing a pixel involves only a single processor write to memory compared with a terminal or VDU connected via a serial line where the speed of the serial line limits the speed at which the display can be changed. Most modern personal computers and workstations have bitmap displays, allowing the efficient use of graphical user interfaces, interactive graphics and a choice of on-screen fonts. Some more expensive systems still delegate graphics operations to dedicated hardware such as graphics accelerators. The bitmap display might be traced back to the earliest days of computing when the Manchester University Mark I(?) computer, developed by F.C. Williams and T. Kilburn shortly after the Second World War. This used a storage tube as its working memory. Phosphor dots were used to store single bits of data which could be read by the user and interpreted as binary numbers.
- black as night — totally dark
- black bindweed — a twining polygonaceous European plant, Polygonum convolvulus, with heart-shaped leaves and triangular black seed pods
- black blizzard — a dust storm.
- black diamonds — carbonado1 .
- black selenium — an allotropic form of selenium occurring as a black, amorphous, water-insoluble, light-sensitive powder: used chiefly in photoelectric cells.
- black skipjack — a small spotted tuna, Euthynnus yaito, of Indo-Pacific seas
- black squirrel — a fox squirrel or gray squirrel in that color phase in which the fur is black.
- blacktip shark — a widely distributed sand shark, Charcharinus limbatus, having fins that appear to have been dipped in ink, inhabiting shallow waters of warm seas.
- bladder ketmia — plant with pale yellow flowers
- bladder ketmie — flower-of-an-hour
- blade-shearing — the shearing of sheep using hand shears
- blanket finish — a finish so close that a blanket would cover all the contestants involved
- blanket stitch — a strong reinforcing stitch for the edges of blankets and other thick material
- blanket-stitch — a basic sewing stitch in which widely spaced, interlocking loops, or purls, are formed, used for cutwork, as a decorative finish for edges, etc.
- blantyre-limbe — a city in S Malawi: largest city in the country; formed in 1956 from the adjoining towns of Blantyre and Limbe. Pop: 647 000 (2005 est)
- blaxploitation — a genre of films featuring Black stereotypes
- bleeding heart — If you describe someone as a bleeding heart, you are criticizing them for being sympathetic towards people who are poor and suffering, without doing anything practical to help.
- blended family — a social unit consisting of two previously married parents and the children of their former marriages
- blind as a bat — having extremely poor eyesight
- blind staggers — the staggers
- blind stamping — an impression on a book cover without using colour or gold leaf
- blister-packed — presented in a blister pack
- block capitals — Block capitals are simple capital letters that are not decorated in any way.
- block faulting — the process by which tensional forces in the earth's crust cause large bodies of rock to founder.
- block mountain — a mountain produced by faulting and the uplifting of large blocks of rock
- block sampling — the selection of a corpus for statistical literary analysis by random selection of a starting point and consideration of the continuous passage following it
- blood relation — A blood relation or blood relative is someone who is related to you by birth rather than by marriage.
- blotting paper — Blotting paper is thick soft paper that you use for soaking up and drying ink on a piece of paper.
- blue dandelion — chicory (def 1).
- blue mountains — a mountain range in the US, in NE Oregon and SE Washington. Highest peak: Rock Creek Butte, 2773 m (9097 ft)
- bobo-dioulasso — a city in W Burkina Faso. Pop: 396 000 (2005 est)
- body beautiful — a beautiful body
- bolshoi ballet — a ballet company founded in Moscow in 1776.
- bone porcelain — bone china.
- bony labyrinth — an intricate combination of paths or passages in which it is difficult to find one's way or to reach the exit. Synonyms: maze, network, web.
- bottle gentian — closed gentian.
- bottling plant — a factory where drinks are bottled
- bound variable — (in the functional calculus) a variable occurring in a quantifier and in a sentential function within the scope of the quantifier.
- bowling crease — a line marked at the wicket, over which a bowler must not advance fully before delivering the ball
- brachycephalic — having a head nearly as broad from side to side as from front to back, esp one with a cephalic index over 80
- brachydactylia — abnormal shortness of the fingers and toes.