18-letter words containing b, o, s, e
- open pandora's box — If someone or something opens Pandora's box or opens a Pandora's box, they do something that causes a lot of problems to appear that did not exist or were not known about before.
- oriental alabaster — alabaster (def 2).
- passive vocabulary — all the words, collectively, that a person can understand
- personal bodyguard — a person employed to protect a particular person
- petite bourgeoisie — the portion of the bourgeoisie having the least wealth and lowest social status; the lower middle class.
- prepositional verb — a combination of verb and preposition, often with idiomatic meaning, differing from other phrasal verbs in that an object must always follow the preposition, as take after in The children take after their mother.
- price on sb's head — If there is a price on someone 's head, an amount of money has been offered for the capture or killing of that person.
- prometheus unbound — a drama in verse (1820) by Shelley.
- protease inhibitor — a drug that inhibits the action of protease, especially any of a class of antiviral drugs that prevent the cleavage and replication of HIV proteins.
- pseudotuberculosis — an acute, sometimes fatal disease of rodents, birds, and other animals, including humans, caused by the bacterium Yersinia (Pasteurella) pseudotuberculosis, and characterized by the formation of nodules resembling those that result from tuberculosis.
- pulmonary embolism — the blockage of a pulmonary artery, often by a blood clot, that stops the flow of blood to the lungs and which can result in death if untreated
- rabbit's-foot fern — hare's-foot fern.
- range of stability — the angle to the perpendicular through which a vessel may be heeled without losing the ability to right itself.
- remains to be seen — If you say that it remains to be seen whether something will happen, you mean that nobody knows whether it will happen.
- reversionary bonus — a bonus added to the sum payable on death or at the maturity of a with-profits assurance policy
- rheims-douay bible — Douay Bible.
- ride a hobby horse — an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation: Her hobbies include stamp-collecting and woodcarving.
- rosebay willowherb — a perennial onagraceous plant, Chamerion (formerly Epilobium) angustifolium, that has spikes of deep pink flowers and is widespread in open places throughout N temperate regions
- row address strobe — (storage) (RAS) An input to a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) to indicate that the row address lines are valid.
- rub shoulders with — to mix with socially or associate with
- rubbish collection — the collection of domestic refuse for disposal
- safety-deposit box — a lockable metal box or drawer, especially in a bank vault, used for safely storing valuable papers, jewelry, etc.
- saint john's bread — carob (def 2).
- schofield barracks — a town on central Oahu, in central Hawaii.
- scottish blackface — a common breed of hardy mountain sheep having horns and a black face, kept chiefly on the mainland of Scotland
- second-degree burn — a burned place or area: a burn where fire had ripped through the forest.
- see the last of sb — not encounter sb anymore
- selective abortion — the aborting of particular embryos for medical or social reasons
- september holidays — a period of time in September when people do not have to go to school, college or work
- seven-league boots — mythical boots that allowed the wearer to travel seven leagues (a former unit of measurement), ie a great length, at each step
- shorthand notebook — a notebook used by a shorthand writer
- shrubby cinquefoil — a small shrub, Potentilla fruticosa, of the rose family, native to the Northern temperate region, having pinnate leaves and numerous, showy, bright-yellow flowers.
- simone de beauvoir — Simone [see-mawn] /siˈmɔn/ (Show IPA), (Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand) 1908–86, French playwright, novelist, and essayist.
- sindbad the sailor — (in The Arabian Nights' Entertainments), a wealthy citizen of Baghdad who relates the adventures of his seven wonderful voyages.
- sir george gilbert — Barbara Ann, 1928–2012, Canadian figure skater.
- slobodan milosevic — Slobodan [sloh-buh-dain] /ˈsloʊ bəˌdɛən/ (Show IPA), 1941–2006, Yugoslav and Serbian politician: president of Serbia 1989–97, president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1997–2000, accused of war crimes 2001.
- small pastern bone — the part of the foot of a horse, cow, etc., between the fetlock and the hoof.
- so much the better — You can say 'so much the better' or 'all the better' to indicate that it is desirable that a particular thing is used, done, or available.
- sodium bicarbonate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, in powder or granules, NaHCO 3 , usually prepared by the reaction of soda ash with carbon dioxide or obtained from the intermediate product of the Solvay process by purification: used chiefly in the manufacture of sodium salts, baking powder, and beverages, as a laboratory reagent, as a fire extinguisher, and in medicine as an antacid.
- sodium tetraborate — borax1 .
- software backplane — (programming, tool) A CASE framework from Atherton.
- southeast by south — a point on the compass 11°15′ south of southeast. Abbreviation: SEbS.
- southwest by south — a point on the compass 11°15′ south of southwest. Abbreviation: SWbS.
- stand-by generator — an electrical system which operates automatically in case the usual system malfunctions
- stationary bicycle — an exercise bike
- stick one's bib in — to interfere
- stomach sweetbread — sweetbread (def 1).
- stroustrup, bjarne — Bjarne Stroustrup
- subatomic particle — physics:
- subject complement — a word or a group of words, usually functioning as an adjective or noun, that is used in the predicate following a copula and describes or is identified with the subject of the sentence, as sleepy in The travelers became sleepy.