12-letter words containing b, e, u
- nonincumbent — a candidate or party in an election that does not already hold the position
- noninducible — to lead or move by persuasion or influence, as to some action or state of mind: to induce a person to buy a raffle ticket.
- nonturbulent — Not turbulent.
- not-a-number — (mathematics) (NaN) An IEEE floating point representation for the result of a numerical operation which cannot return a valid number value. A NaN can result from multiplying an infinity by a zero, or from subtracting one infinity from another [what else?]. NaN is encoded as a special bit pattern [what pattern?] which would otherwise represent a floating-point number. It is used to signal error returns where other mechanisms are not convenient, e.g. a hardware floating-point unit and to allow errors to propagate through a calculation. Similar bit patterns represent positive and negative overflow and underflow and the positive and negative infinities resulting from division by zero.
- nuclear bomb — atomic explosive
- number opera — an opera in which the arias, ensembles, recitatives, and other sections are clearly separated from one another.
- number plate — vehicle's registration panel
- numbers game — Also called numbers, numbers game, numbers racket. an illegal daily lottery in which money is wagered on the appearance of certain numbers in some statistical listing or tabulation published in a daily newspaper, racing form, etc.
- numbers pool — Also called numbers, numbers game, numbers racket. an illegal daily lottery in which money is wagered on the appearance of certain numbers in some statistical listing or tabulation published in a daily newspaper, racing form, etc.
- numerability — the fact of having the ability to be counted
- nuxi problem — (data, architecture) /nuk'see pro'bl*m/ The problem of transferring data between computers with differing byte order. The string "Unix" might look like "NUXI" on a machine with a different "byte sex" (e.g. when transferring data from a little-endian to a big-endian, or vice-versa). See also middle-endian, swab, and bytesexual.
- obdurateness — The characteristic of being obdurate; stubbornness.
- oberammergau — a village in S Germany, SW of Munich: famous for the passion play performed there every ten years.
- object value — (jargon) In industrial design, a measure of consumers' immediate desire for an object, even before they know or understand what it does. "Gassee may be nuts, but at least the BeBox has great object value."
- objet trouve — found object.
- obmutescence — persistent silence
- oboe d'amour — an oboe with a bulb-shaped bell that is pitched a minor third below the range of the conventional oboe and was much used in music of the Baroque period.
- obreptitious — having the characteristics of acquiring something by deceitful means
- obsequiously — characterized by or showing servile complaisance or deference; fawning: an obsequious bow.
- obstreperous — resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; unruly.
- obtuse angle — an angle greater than 90° but less than 180°.
- of substance — wealthy
- ohio buckeye — See under buckeye (def 1).
- ombudsperson — ombudsman (def 2).
- on your bike — away you go
- opera bouffe — a comic opera, especially of farcical character.
- order number — a number associated with a purchase or merchandise order
- orion nebula — a luminous nebula in the constellation Orion, in the center of Orion's sword.
- out at elbow — ragged or impoverished
- outnumbering — Present participle of outnumber.
- over-trouble — to disturb the mental calm and contentment of; worry; distress; agitate.
- overabundant — an excessive amount or abundance; surfeit: an overabundance of sugar in the diet.
- overbuilding — Present participle of overbuild.
- overburdened — Excessively burdened.
- oversubtlety — the quality of being too subtle
- pan scrubber — a rough sponge, often made of steel wool, used for scrubbing saucepans, frying pans, etc
- pause button — a button on a video or music player which can be pressed to temporarily stop the playing of the recording
- peacock blue — a lustrous greenish blue, as of certain peacock feathers.
- pearl button — a button (as for fastening a shirt, blouse, etc) made of pearl or mother-of-pearl
- perambulator — baby carriage.
- perturbation — the act of perturbing.
- perturbative — having a tendency to perturb; disturbing.
- peterborough — a city in Cambridgeshire, in central England.
- petit beurre — a small, usually oblong butter cookie.
- petrobrusian — a member of a 12th-century sect in S France that rejected the Mass, infant baptism, prayers for the dead, sacerdotalism, the veneration of the cross, and the building of churches.
- petrobutanol — butyl alcohol.
- phone number — of individual, business
- picture book — a book consisting mainly or entirely of pictures, especially one for children who have not yet learned to read.
- picture tube — a cathode-ray tube with a screen at one end on which images are reproduced.
- pilot burner — pilot light (def 1).