17-letter words containing b, i, o, d
- downwardly mobile — See under vertical mobility (def 1).
- downwardly-mobile — See under vertical mobility (def 1).
- drive-by download — an incidence of an unwanted program being automatically downloaded to a computer, often without the user's knowledge
- drive-by shooting — an incident in which a person, building, or vehicle is shot at by someone in a moving vehicle
- economic blockade — an embargo on trade with a country, esp one which prohibits receipt of exports from that country, with the intention of disrupting the country's economy
- electricity board — a company which supplies electricity
- embroidery thread — a thread used for embroidery
- examination board — an organization that sets and corrects exams
- eyelet embroidery — a piece of embroidery decorated with such work
- fine-toothed comb — a comb with fine, closely set teeth
- fluid lubrication — lubrication in which bearing surfaces are separated by an oil film sustained by the motion of the parts
- free-body diagram — A free-body diagram is a diagram of a structure in which all supports are replaced by forces.
- get into bed with — a piece of furniture upon which or within which a person sleeps, rests, or stays when not well.
- go by the wayside — to be put aside on account of something more urgent
- goldbeater's skin — the prepared outside membrane of the large intestine of the ox, used by goldbeaters to lay between the leaves of the metal while they beat it into gold leaf.
- gunboat diplomacy — diplomatic relations involving the use or threat of military force, especially by a powerful nation against a weaker one.
- hornblende schist — a variety of schist containing needles of hornblende that lie in parallel planes.
- household rubbish — the unwanted things and waste material produced in the running of a household, such as used paper, empty tins and bottles, and waste food
- hybrid fiber coax — (networking) (HFC) A kind of physical connection used in networks for audio, video, and data. DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) is used in Europe and DOCSIS is used in N America.
- i am bound to say — You can say 'I am bound to say' to introduce a statement expressing something that you find undesirable or unexpected.
- i beg your pardon — You say 'Pardon?' or 'I beg your pardon?' or, in American English, 'Pardon me?' when you want someone to repeat what they have just said because you have not heard or understood it.
- imitation doublet — a doublet formed entirely of glass.
- in broad daylight — openly, in full public view
- in double figures — An amount or number that is in single figures is between zero and nine. An amount or number that is in double figures is between ten and ninety-nine. You can also say, for example, that an amount or number is in three figures when it is between one hundred and nine hundred and ninety-nine.
- in double harness — in a harness for two animals pulling the same carriage, plow, etc.
- in the background — behind the focus of attention
- incubation period — the period between infection and the appearance of signs of a disease.
- inverted snobbery — the attitude of an inverted snob
- irreproducibility — The quality of not being reproducible.
- joachim du bellay — Joachim [French zhaw-a-keem] /French ʒɔ aˈkim/ (Show IPA), Bellay, Joachim du.
- job advertisement — an announcement in a newspaper, on television, or on a poster about a post of employment
- job-order costing — a method of cost accounting by which the total cost of a given unit or quantity is determined by computing the costs that go into making a product as it moves through the manufacturing process.
- lambda expression — (mathematics) A term in the lambda-calculus denoting an unnamed function (a "lambda abstraction"), a variable or a constant. The pure lambda-calculus has only functions and no constants.
- lambdoidal suture — the lambda-shaped seam or line of joining between the occipital and two parietal bones at the back part of the skull.
- learned borrowing — a word or other linguistic form borrowed from a classical language into a modern language.
- liberal democracy — a democracy based on the recognition of individual rights and freedoms, in which decisions from direct or representative processes prevail in many policy areas
- liberal democrats — (in Britain) a political party with centrist policies; established in 1988 as the Social and Liberal Democrats when the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party; renamed Liberal Democrats in 1989
- liberal education — an education based primarily on the liberal arts, emphasizing the development of intellectual abilities as opposed to the acquisition of professional skills.
- light dawns on sb — If light dawns on you, you begin to understand something after a period of not being able to understand it.
- lobster thermidor — a dish of cooked lobster meat placed back in the shell with a cream sauce, sprinkled with grated cheese and melted butter, and browned in the oven.
- loose-leaf binder — a hard cover with metal rings inside which is used to hold loose pieces of paper
- madiba generation — the generation born around 1994, when Nelson Mandela became the first president of a multiracial South Africa
- microdermabrasion — A cosmetic treatment in which the face is sprayed with exfoliant crystals to remove dead epidermal cells.
- mind-body problem — the problem of explaining the relation of the mind to the body.
- non-biodegradable — capable of decaying through the action of living organisms: biodegradable paper; biodegradable detergent.
- non-subordination — the act of placing in a lower rank or position: The refusal to allow women to be educated was part of society's subordination of women to men.
- not bat an eyelid — When something surprising or shocking happens, if someone doesn't bat an eyelid in British English, or doesn't bat an eye in American English, they remain calm and do not show any reaction.
- object identifier — (programming) (OID) Generally an implementation-specific integer or pointer that uniquely identifies an object.
- old contemptibles — the British expeditionary force to France in 1914
- old south arabian — a group of four closely related Semitic languages, having a writing system and used from about the eighth to the fifth centuries b.c. in the southern part of Arabia.