17-letter words containing b, o, r, e
- baseboard heating — a heating system by pipes, through which steam or hot water circulates, near the base of the walls of rooms
- battle of britain — (in World War II) the series of aerial combats that took place between British and German aircraft during the autumn of 1940 and that included the severe bombardment of British cities.
- bbc microcomputer — A series of 6502-based personal computers launched by Acorn Computers Ltd. in January 1982, for use in the British Broadcasting Corporation's educational programmes on computing. The computers are noted for their reliability (many are still in active service in 1994) and both hardware and software were designed for easy expansion. The 6502-based computers were succeeded in 1987 by the Acorn Archimedes family.
- be a box of birds — to be very well indeed
- be on tenterhooks — If you are on tenterhooks, you are very nervous and excited because you are wondering what is going to happen in a particular situation.
- be on the rebound — If you say that someone is on the rebound, you mean that they have just ended a relationship with a girlfriend or boyfriend. This often makes them do things they would not normally do.
- be over sb's head — If something such as an idea, joke, or comment goes over someone's head, it is too difficult for them to understand.
- be over the limit — If someone is over the limit, they have drunk more alcohol than they are legally allowed to when driving a vehicle.
- be well rid of sb — If you say that someone is well rid of someone, you think it is good that the person has gone because you did not like them or you think they caused a lot of problems.
- be your own woman — If you say that a woman is her own woman, you approve of the fact that she makes her plans and decisions herself, and does not depend on other people.
- beardmore glacier — one of the largest glaciers, in central Antarctica. About 125 miles (200 km) long.
- beat a dead horse — to argue an issue that is already settled
- beat one's brains — to try hard to remember, understand, or solve something
- beat one's breast — to display guilt and remorse publicly or ostentatiously
- beat the drum for — to attempt to arouse interest in
- before one's time — prematurely
- behaviour therapy — any of various means of treating psychological disorders, such as desensitization, aversion therapy, and instrumental conditioning, that depend on the patient systematically learning new modes of behaviour
- believe it or not — You can use believe it or not to emphasize that what you have just said is surprising.
- bell laboratories — One of AT&T's research sites, in Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA. It was the birthplace of the transistor, Unix, C and C++ and the current home of research on Plan 9 and ODE.
- bellflower family — the plant family Campanulaceae, characterized by chiefly herbaceous plants having simple, alternate leaves and solitary or clustered flowers with a bell-shaped, five-lobed, often blue or purple corolla, and including the harebell, Canterbury bells, and balloon flower.
- benefit of clergy — sanction by the church
- benoit mandelbrot — (person) /ben'wa man'dl-bro/ Benoit B. Mandelbrot. The IBM scientist who wrote several original books on fractals and gave his name to the set he was discovered, the Mandelbrot set and coined the term "fractal" in 1975 from the Latin fractus or "to break".
- between ourselves — in confidence; as a secret
- between two fires — between two attacks; shot at, criticized, etc. from both sides
- beyond comparison — outstanding, without equal
- beyond redemption — If you say that someone or something is beyond redemption, you mean that they are so bad it is unlikely that anything can be done to improve them.
- bicycle motocross — a bicycle race over a rough cross-country course, usually consisting of jumps, obstacles, and turns. Abbreviation: BMX.
- bill of adventure — a certificate made out by a merchant to show that goods handled by him and his agents are the property of another party at whose risk the dealing is done
- bill of attainder — (formerly) a legislative act finding a person guilty without trial of treason or felony and declaring him attainted
- billeting officer — an officer who is responsible for billeting
- bioelectrogenesis — the production of electricity by organisms.
- biological father — the man whose semen fertilized the ovum from which a child was born
- biological marker — a substance, physiological characteristic, gene, etc that indicates, or may indicate, the presence of disease, a physiological abnormality or a psychological condition
- biological mother — the mother who gave birth to a child
- biological parent — a parent who has conceived (biological mother) or sired (biological father) rather than adopted a child and whose genes are therefore transmitted to the child.
- biopharmaceutical — of or relating to drugs produced using biotechnology
- bitter almond oil — almond oil (def 2).
- bitter-almond-oil — Also called sweet almond oil, expressed almond oil. a colorless to pale yellow fatty oil expressed from the seeds of the sweet almond, used in preparing perfumes and confections.
- bjarne stroustrup — (person) The father of C++ and author of the C++ bible.
- black forest cake — a torte consisting typically of thin layers of chocolate cake spread with alternating layers of chocolate, cherry, and whipped-cream filling and covered with whipped cream
- blackboard jungle — a school or school system characterized by lack of discipline and by juvenile delinquency.
- blackpoll warbler — a North American warbler, Dendroica striata, the adult male of which has the top of the head black.
- blank endorsement — an endorsement on a bill of exchange, cheque, etc, naming no payee and thus making the endorsed sum payable to the bearer
- blood and thunder — A blood and thunder performer or performance is very loud and emotional.
- blood cholesterol — a measurement of the amount of cholesterol in someone's blood
- blood-and-thunder — sensationalism, violence, or exaggerated melodrama: a movie full of blood and thunder.
- blood-drop emlets — a Chilean scrophulariaceous plant, Mimulus luteus, naturalized in Europe, having red-spotted yellow flowers
- blowout preventer — A blowout preventer is a valve that can be closed when there is uncontrolled flow of fluids.
- blue dog democrat — a fiscally conservative member of the Democratic Party
- blue dot syndrome — (graphics, jargon) The inability to display an image file or text embedded in an image file on your monitor.