16-letter words containing b, o, u, s
- nondurable goods — goods that remain usable for, or must be replaced within, a relatively short period of time, as food, apparel, or fabrics
- obsequent stream — a stream flowing in a direction opposite to that of the dip of the local strata.
- obstreperousness — resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; unruly.
- obstructionistic — a person who deliberately delays or prevents progress.
- obtuse bisectrix — See under bisectrix (def 1).
- october surprise — a major event, occurring shortly before a presidential election, which influences the result
- oversubscription — to subscribe for more of than is available, expected, or required: The charity drive was oversubscribed by several thousand dollars.
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- pre-subscription — a sum of money given or pledged as a contribution, payment, investment, etc.
- prometheus bound — a tragedy (c457 b.c.) by Aeschylus.
- public ownership — ownership by the state; nationalization
- public relations — (used with a plural verb) the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.
- public schoolboy — a boy attending a public school, or a man who attended one
- public transport — fare-paying travel
- publishing house — a company that publishes books, pamphlets, engravings, or the like: a venerable publishing house in Boston.
- put in mothballs — to postpone work on (a project, activity, etc)
- questionableness — The state or condition of being questionable; dubiousness.
- rambunctiousness — difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
- reasonable doubt — law: grounds for believing sb is innocent
- rectus abdominis — a long flat muscle that extends along the whole length of both sides of the abdomen. It flexes the vertebral column, particularly the lumbar portion; it also tenses the anterior abdominal wall and assists in compressing the abdominal contents
- redistributional — a distribution performed again or anew.
- reserve buoyancy — the difference between the volume of a hull below the designed waterline and the volume of the hull below the lowest opening incapable of being made watertight.
- robin's-egg blue — a pale green to a light greenish-blue color.
- santiago de cuba — a region in Ecuador, E of the Andes: the border long disputed by Peru.
- scarborough lily — a plant, Vallota speciosa, of the amaryllis family, native to southern Africa, having clusters of funnel-shaped, scarlet flowers.
- sebaceous glands — any of the cutaneous glands that secrete oily matter for lubricating hair and skin.
- self-lubrication — the process of becoming lubricated without external factors
- self-subjugation — the act, fact, or process of subjugating, or bringing under control; enslavement: The subjugation of the American Indians happened across the country.
- slubberdegullion — a slovenly or worthless person
- sodium bisulfate — a colorless crystalline compound, NaHSO 4 , soluble in water: used in dyeing, in the manufacture of cement, paper, soap, and an acid-type cleaner.
- sodium bisulfite — Sodium bisulfite is a crystalline compound used as an antioxidant and stabilizing agent.
- sodium carbonate — Also called soda ash. an anhydrous, grayish-white, odorless, water-soluble powder, Na 2 CO 3 , usually obtained by the Solvay process and containing about 1 percent of impurities consisting of sulfates, chlorides, and bicarbonates of sodium: used in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, soaps, paper, petroleum products, sodium salts, as a cleanser, for bleaching, and in water treatment.
- sodium perborate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, NaBO 2 ⋅3H 2 O or NaBO 3 ⋅4H 2 O, used chiefly as a bleaching agent and antiseptic.
- soft brown sugar — a type of moist sugar made by coating white sugar with dark molasses
- sounding balloon — a balloon carrying instruments aloft to make atmospheric measurements, especially a radiosonde balloon.
- south burlington — a town in NW Vermont.
- south sea bubble — the financial crash that occurred in 1720 after the South Sea Company had taken over the national debt in return for a monopoly of trade with the South Seas, causing feverish speculation in their stocks
- southerly buster — a sudden violent cold wind on the SE coast of Australia causing a rapid drop in temperature
- southern baptist — a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, founded in Augusta, Georgia, in 1845, that is strictly Calvinistic and active in religious publishing and education.
- sub-postmistress — (in Britain) a woman who runs a sub-post office
- subcartilaginous — partially or incompletely cartilaginous.
- subconsciousness — existing or operating in the mind beneath or beyond consciousness: the subconscious self. Compare preconscious, unconscious.
- subjectification — to make subjective.
- subordinationism — the doctrine that the first person of the Holy Trinity is superior to the second, and the second superior to the third.
- subsistence crop — a food plant which is grown by a farmer for consumption by himself and his family, leaving little or nothing to be marketed
- subtropical high — one of several highs, as the Azores and Pacific highs, that prevail over the oceans at latitudes of about 30 degrees N and S. Also called subtropical anticyclone. Compare high (def 37).
- sulfocarbanilide — thiocarbanilide.
- swamp buttonwood — the buttonbush.
- teutoburg forest — region of low, forested mountains, mostly in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: highest point, c. 1,500 ft (457 m)
- the boys in blue — The police are sometimes referred to as the boys in blue.