14-letter words containing b, a
- bat the breeze — a wind or current of air, especially a light or moderate one.
- bateleur eagle — an African crested bird of prey, Terathopius ecaudatus, with a short tail and long wings: subfamily Circaetinae, family Accipitridae (hawks, etc)
- batement light — a compartment of a window with tracery, the bottom of which is formed by the arched head of a compartment or compartments below.
- bathing beauty — an attractive girl in a swimming costume
- bathing trunks — Bathing trunks are shorts that a man wears when he goes swimming.
- bathygraphical — (of a maps) representing the contours of the seabed
- batrachophobia — fear of amphibians
- batrachophobic — relating to the fear of toads and frogs
- batten disease — a rare hereditary disease in which lipids accumulate in the nervous system, leading to mental deterioration, loss of mobility, and blindness that start in early childhood
- battered woman — See under battered woman syndrome.
- battered-women — the array of physical and psychological injuries exhibited by women (battered women or battered wives) who have been beaten repeatedly or otherwise abused by their partners or spouses.
- battery backup — A battery backup is a system in some power supplies that switches between a main power source and a battery.
- batting helmet — a rigid plastic cap with a sidepiece extending down over the ear, worn for protection while batting
- battle cruiser — A battle cruiser is a large fast warship that is lighter than a battleship and moves more easily.
- battle fatigue — Battle fatigue is a mental condition of anxiety and depression caused by the stress of fighting in a war.
- battle lantern — a portable, battery-operated light for emergency use aboard a warship.
- 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.
- battle-scarred — adversely affected from the experience of battle, or some other traumatic experience
- batwing sleeve — a sleeve of a garment with a deep armhole and a tight wrist
- bavarian cream — a cold dessert consisting of a rich custard set with gelatine and flavoured in various ways
- bay psalm book — a translation of the Psalms by John Eliot and others: the first book published (1640) in America.
- 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 charge — a charge by riflemen with fixed bayonets
- bayonet socket — a socket for a bayonet fitting
- bazillionaires — Plural form of bazillionaire.
- be gagging for — to be very eager to have or do something
- be in bad odor — to be in ill repute
- be in the wars — If someone has been in the wars, they have been injured, for example in a fight or in an accident.
- be in the wash — If you say that something such as an item of clothing is in the wash, you mean that it is being washed, is waiting to be washed, or has just been washed and should therefore not be worn or used.
- be on the ball — to be alert; be efficient
- beach barbecue — a barbecue on a beach
- beach umbrella — a large umbrella used as a sunshade on the beach
- beach wormwood — a composite plant, Artemisia stellerana, having yellow flowers and deeply lobed leaves covered with dense white fuzz.
- bead lightning — lightning in which the intensity appears to vary along the path and which thus resembles a string of beads.
- bean bag chair — a small cloth bag filled with dried beans, as for tossing in various children's games.
- bean-bag chair — a small cloth bag filled with dried beans, as for tossing in various children's games.
- beard-stroking — deep thought
- bearded collie — a medium-sized breed of dog having a profuse long straight coat, usually grey or fawn and often with white on the head, legs, and chest, a long tail, and a distinctive beard
- bearded darnel — a grass, Lolium tementulum, related to rye, having bristles on the seed head and bearing seeds that yield a narcotic poison.
- bearded dragon — a large Australian lizard, Amphibolurus barbatus, with an erectile frill around the neck
- bearded lizard — a large Australian lizard, Amphibolurus barbatus, with an erectile frill around the neck
- bearer channel — (communications) Originally, a channel suited for carrying one voice-grade connection. Typically a DS0 channel. Compare data channel. (1997-03-7)
- beat a retreat — to withdraw or depart in haste
- beaten biscuit — a hard, unleavened biscuit, made to rise by pounding and folding the dough.
- 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
- beautification — Making beautiful, beautifying, improving the appearance of something.
- beauty contest — A beauty contest is a competition in which young women are judged to decide which one is the most beautiful.
- beauty culture — the skill or occupation of a beautician
- beauty pageant — A beauty pageant is the same as a beauty contest.