17-letter words containing b, o
- publicity officer — a person who is employed to get publicity for an organization, or to provide information about it
- purple chokeberry — See under chokeberry (def 1).
- purple shore crab — any of numerous crabs that live along the shoreline between the tidemarks, as Hemigrapsus nudus (purple shore crab) of the Pacific coast of North America.
- push the boat out — to celebrate, esp lavishly and expensively
- put the kibosh on — nonsense.
- rack one's brains — to strain in mental effort, esp to remember something or to find the solution to a problem
- rainbow coalition — a political grouping together by several minority parties
- recoverable error — a program error that can be corrected and does not cause the program to fail or irretrievably lose data.
- redistributionist — a person who believes in, advocates, or supports income redistribution.
- reflection nebula — a cloud of interstellar gas and dust that reflects the light of neighboring stars.
- republic of china — People's Republic of, a country in E Asia. 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). Capital: Beijing.
- republic of korea — a former country in E Asia, on a peninsula SE of Manchuria and between the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea: a kingdom prior to 1910; under Japanese rule 1910–45; now divided at 38° N into North Korea and South Korea. Compare Korean War.
- republic of palau — a republic comprising a group of islands in the W Pacific, in the W Caroline Islands; administratively part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands 1947–87; entered into an agreement of free association with the US (1980); became fully independent in 1994. Chief island: Babelthuap. Capital: Ngerulmud on Babelthuap (functions moved from Koror in 2006). Pop: 21 108 (2013 est). Area: 476 sq km (184 sq miles)
- republic of yemen — Republic of, a country in S Arabia, formed in 1990 by the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. 207,000 sq. mi. (536,130 sq. km). Capital: Aden.
- republic-of-china — People's Republic of, a country in E Asia. 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). Capital: Beijing.
- rhinoceros beetle — any of several scarabaeid beetles, especially of the genus Dynastes, which comprises the largest beetles, characterized by one or more horns on the head and prothorax.
- rhode island bent — a European pasture grass, Agrostis tenuis, naturalized in North America, having red flower clusters.
- ribbon microphone — a microphone that utilizes a metal ribbon suspended in a magnetic field.
- ribonucleoprotein — a substance composed of RNA in close association with protein; a nucleoprotein containing RNA. Abbreviation: RNP.
- right off the bat — Sports. the wooden club used in certain games, as baseball and cricket, to strike the ball. a racket, especially one used in badminton or table tennis. a whip used by a jockey. the act of using a club or racket in a game. the right or turn to use a club or racket.
- rock of gibraltar — a British crown colony comprising a fortress and seaport located on a narrow promontory near the S tip of Spain. 1.875 sq. mi. (5 sq. km).
- roseate spoonbill — a tropical New World spoonbill, Ajaia ajaja, having rose-colored plumage and a bare head.
- rub the wrong way — to subject the surface of (a thing or person) to pressure and friction, as in cleaning, smoothing, polishing, coating, massaging, or soothing: to rub a table top with wax polish; to rub the entire back area.
- rubber plantation — an estate in a tropical country where rubber trees are grown on a large scale
- russborough house — a mansion near Blessington in Co Wicklow, Republic of Ireland: built by Richard Castle and Francis Bindon for the 1st Earl of Miltown from 1740
- rybinsk reservoir — a vast water reservoir in W central Russia on the River Volga and its tributaries Sheksna and Mologa, formed by Rybinsk Hydroelectric Station dam
- sable island pony — a variety of wild pony found on Sable Island, Nova Scotia
- saint bonaventure — Saint ("the Seraphic Doctor") 1221–74, Italian scholastic theologian.
- san francisco bay — a bay in W California: the harbor of San Francisco; connected with the Pacific by the Golden Gate strait. 50 miles (80 km) long; 3–12 miles (5–19 km) wide.
- sanctions-busting — the deliberate disregarding of sanctions that are in force against a state, organization, etc
- sandro botticelli — Sandro [san-droh,, sahn-;; Italian sahn-draw] /ˈsæn droʊ,, ˈsɑn-;; Italian ˈsɑn drɔ/ (Show IPA), (Alessandro di Mariano dei Filipepi) 1444?–1510, Italian painter.
- save one's breath — the air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.
- saxe-coburg-gotha — a member of the present British royal family, from the establishment of the house in 1901 until 1917 when the family name was changed to Windsor.
- sb could do worse — If you tell someone that they could do worse than do a particular thing, you are advising them that it would be quite a good thing to do.
- second balkan war — Balkan War (def 2).
- secondary battery — storage battery.
- secondary boycott — a boycott by union members against their employer in order to induce the employer to bring pressure on another company involved in a labor dispute with the union.
- secondary rainbow — a faint rainbow formed by light rays that undergo two internal reflections in drops of rain, appearing above the primary rainbow and having its colors in the opposite order.
- self-incompatible — not capable of self-pollination.
- semi-biographical — of or relating to a person's life: He's gathering biographical data for his book on Milton.
- shake one's booty — to dance
- shopping bag lady — bag lady (def 1).
- shopping-bag lady — bag lady (def 1).
- show sb the ropes — If you show someone the ropes, you show them how to do a particular job or task.
- sinbad the sailor — a merchant in The Arabian Nights who makes seven adventurous voyages
- six-speed gearbox — a gearbox containing a system of six gears
- sleeping problems — difficulties in getting to sleep or in staying asleep
- slowly but surely — If you say that something is happening slowly but surely, you mean that it is happening gradually but it is definitely happening.
- smokeless tobacco — snuff1 (def 9).
- sodium bichromate — a red or orange crystalline, water-soluble solid, Na 2 Cr 2 O 7 ⋅2H 2 O, used as an oxidizing agent in the manufacture of dyes and inks, as a corrosion inhibitor, a mordant, a laboratory reagent, in the tanning of leather, and in electroplating.