15-letter words containing b, a, t, r
- elaborated code — a way of talking which is explicit and does not assume that the listener shares the same assumptions and understandings as the speaker
- elastic rebound — a theory of earthquakes that envisages gradual deformation of the fault zone without fault slippage until friction is overcome, when the fault suddenly slips to produce the earthquake
- eleutherophobia — the fear of freedom
- elm bark beetle — the bark-boring beetle (Scolytus multistriatus) that feeds on the bark of elm trees and carries Dutch elm disease
- enfant terrible — If you describe someone as an enfant terrible, you mean that they are clever but unconventional, and often cause problems or embarrassment for their friends or families.
- enterobacterial — relating to enterobacteria
- enterobacterium — (microbiology) Any of very many gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae, many of which are pathogenic.
- eta abstraction — eta conversion
- ethyl carbamate — a colourless odourless crystalline ester that is used in the manufacture of pesticides, fungicides, and pharmaceuticals. Formula: CO(NH2)OC2H5
- executive board — administrative committee
- fabric softener — a substance added to fabrics during laundering to make them puffier and softer.
- false buckthorn — a spiny shrub or small tree, Bumelia lanuginosa, of the sapodilla family, native to the southern U.S., having gummy, milky sap and white, bell-shaped flowers and yielding a hard, light-brown wood.
- feather banding — decorative banding of veneer or inlay having the grain laid diagonally to the grain of the principal surface.
- fibrocartilages — Plural form of fibrocartilage.
- figurate number — a number having the property that the same number of equally spaced dots can be arranged in the shape of a regular geometrical figure.
- finger alphabet — a series of shapes made by the fingers that indicate letters of an alphabet and can be used in fingerspelling for the deaf
- flatbed scanner — a type of optical scanner having a flat, stationary surface on which a page is scanned by a moving head.
- flemish brabant — a province of central Belgium, formed in 1995 from the N part of Brabant province: densely populated and intensively farmed, with large industrial centres. Pop: 1 031 904 (2004 est). Area: 2106 sq km (813 sq miles)
- floral tributes — bunches or arrangements of flowers left as a memorial at the site of a fatal incident
- football ground — an area of land where football games are played
- football player — sportsperson: plays football
- forget about it — don't mention it, you're welcome
- four-ball match — a match, scored by holes, between two pairs of players, in which the four players tee off and the partners alternate in hitting the pair's ball having the better lie off the tee.
- francis turbine — a water turbine designed to produce high flow from a low head of pressure: used esp in hydroelectric power generation
- free-tailed bat — any of various small, swift, insect-eating bats of the family Molossidae, common in warm climates, having thick, leathery ears and a tail that projects well beyond the tail membrane.
- gamma ray burst — a short-lived, extremely luminous burst of gamma radiation from an unknown astronomical source, occurring at random positions in the sky several times a day. Abbreviation: GRB.
- gamma-ray burst — a short-lived, extremely luminous burst of gamma radiation from an unknown astronomical source, occurring at random positions in the sky several times a day. Abbreviation: GRB.
- garbage collect — garbage collection
- garboard strake — the first strake on each side of a keel.
- gastric balloon — an inflatable rubber bag placed in the stomach to reduce its capacity as an aid to losing weight
- giant water bug — any of various aquatic bugs, as of the family Belostomatidae (giant water bug)
- gibraltar board — a type of lining board with a cardboard surface and a gypsum core
- gilbert islands — a group of islands in the W Pacific: with Banaba, the Phoenix Islands, and three of the Line Islands they constitute the independent state of Kiribati; until 1975 they formed part of the British colony of Gilbert and Ellice Islands; achieved full independence in 1979. Pop: 82 902 (2005). Area: 295 sq km (114 sq miles)
- gladbach-rheydt — a former city in W Germany; now part of Mönchengladbach.
- globe artichoke — artichoke (defs 1, 2).
- go by the board — If something goes by the board, it is rejected or ignored, or is no longer possible.
- go for a burton — to be broken, useless, or lost
- grabber pointer — (operating system) A mouse pointer sprite in the shape of a small hand that closes when a mouse button is clicked, indicating that the object on the screen under the pointer has been selected.
- grafenberg spot — a patch of tissue in the front wall of the vagina, claimed to be erectile and highly erogenous.
- great barracuda — a large barracuda, Sphyraena barracuda, of Atlantic and western Pacific seas.
- great bear lake — a lake in NW Canada, in the Northwest Territories. 12,275 sq. mi. (31,792 sq. km).
- great rebellion — English Civil War.
- great south bay — an Atlantic Ocean inlet, between the S shore of Long Island and Fire Island and other barrier islands. 45 miles (72 km) long.
- green vegetable — a vegetable having green edible parts, as lettuce or broccoli.
- greenback party — a former political party, organized in 1874, opposed to the retirement or reduction of greenbacks and favoring their increase as the only paper currency.
- guaranteed bond — a bond issued by a corporation in which payment of the principal, interest, or both is guaranteed by another corporation.
- guns and butter — a symbol for the economic policy of a government insofar as spending is allocated for either military or social purposes
- gyrostabilizers — Plural form of gyrostabilizer.
- halting problem — The problem of determining in advance whether a particular program or algorithm will terminate or run forever. The halting problem is the canonical example of a provably unsolvable problem. Obviously any attempt to answer the question by actually executing the algorithm or simulating each step of its execution will only give an answer if the algorithm under consideration does terminate, otherwise the algorithm attempting to answer the question will itself run forever. Some special cases of the halting problem are partially solvable given sufficient resources. For example, if it is possible to record the complete state of the execution of the algorithm at each step and the current state is ever identical to some previous state then the algorithm is in a loop. This might require an arbitrary amount of storage however. Alternatively, if there are at most N possible different states then the algorithm can run for at most N steps without looping. A program analysis called termination analysis attempts to answer this question for limited kinds of input algorithm.
- harbour station — the part of a port where boats shelter or station