15-letter words containing b, r, a, n, s
- bioastronautics — the study of the effects of space flight on living organisms
- black snakeroot — a tall bugbane, Cimicifuga racemosa, of the buttercup family, of eastern North America, having thin, tapering, toothed or deeply cut leaflets and branched clusters of small, white flowers.
- blasting powder — a form of gunpowder made with sodium nitrate instead of saltpeter, used chiefly for blasting rock, ore, etc.
- boa constrictor — A boa constrictor is a large snake that kills animals by wrapping itself round their bodies and squeezing them to death. Boa constrictors are found mainly in South and Central America and the West Indies.
- boarding school — A boarding school is a school which some or all of the pupils live in during the school term. Compare day school.
- bohemian forest — a mountain range between the SW Czech Republic and SE Germany. Highest peak: Arber, 1457 m (4780 ft)
- borderline case — a person or thing that is not clearly classifiable as something
- boston marriage — (especially in 19th-century New England) an intimate friendship between two women often maintaining a household together.
- boston massacre — an outbreak (1770) in Boston against British troops, in which a few citizens were killed
- brachistochrone — the curve between two points through which a body moves under the force of gravity in a shorter time than for any other curve; the path of quickest descent
- bragging rights — notional privileges that are gained by defeating a close rival
- branching rules — rules that are used to break down a complex problem into several smaller problems
- branchiostegous — branchiostegal.
- brand awareness — the extent to which consumers are aware of a particular product or service
- brand extension — the practice of using a well-known brand name to promote new products or services in unrelated fields
- break statement — (programming) A statement in the C programming language that transfers control out of the innermost enclosing switch, while, do, or for statement. The statement also exists in languages derived from C, such as C++ and Java.
- breaking strain — the amount of strain that, if applied to a particular material, will cause it to break
- breathing space — A breathing space is a short period of time between two activities in which you can recover from the first activity and prepare for the second one.
- breeding season — the time of year during which animals breed
- brillat-savarin — Anthelme (ɑ̃tɛlm). 1755–1826, French lawyer and gourmet; author of Physiologie du Goût (1825)
- bristol channel — an inlet of the Atlantic, between S Wales and SW England, merging into the Severn estuary. Length: about 137 km (85 miles)
- bristol fashion — clean and neat, with newly painted and scrubbed surfaces, brass polished, etc
- bronchial tubes — the bronchi or their smaller divisions
- bronze diabetes — hemochromatosis.
- brother-in-arms — a fellow soldier or comrade in a shared struggle
- brown-and-serve — requiring only a brief period of browning, as in an oven, before being ready to serve: brown-and-serve rolls.
- brunner's gland — any of the glands in the submucosal layer of the duodenum, secreting an alkaline fluid into the small intestine.
- buckinghamshire — a county in SE central England, containing the Vale of Aylesbury and parts of the Chiltern Hills: the geographic and ceremonial county includes Milton Keynes, which became an independent unitary authority in 1997. Administrative centre: Aylesbury. Pop (excluding Milton Keynes): 478 000 (2003 est). Area (excluding Milton Keynes): 1568 sq km (605 sq miles)
- building trades — the trades and professions concerned with the creation and finishing of buildings, such as carpenters, plasterers, masons, electricians, etc.
- bulimia nervosa — a disorder characterized by compulsive overeating followed by vomiting: sometimes associated with anxiety about gaining weight
- bullnose header — bull header (def 1).
- bullnose-header — Also called bullnose header. a brick having one of the edges across its width rounded for laying as a header in a sill or the like.
- bureau of mines — a division of the Department of the Interior, created in 1910, that studies the nation's mineral resources and inspects mines.
- burt l standish — Burt L. pseudonym of Gilbert Patten.
- butler's pantry — a pantry in a large house where crockery, glassware, cutlery, etc is kept
- butter-and-eggs — any of various plants, such as toadflax, the flowers of which are of two shades of yellow
- cabinet scraper — a scraper used in preparing a wood surface for sanding.
- carry one's bat — (of an opening batsman) to reach the end of an innings without being dismissed
- cartesian doubt — willful suspension of all interpretations of experience that are not absolutely certain: used as a method of deriving, by elimination of such uncertainties, axioms upon which to base theories.
- cartier-bresson — Henri (ɑ̃ri). 1908–2004, French photographer
- chamber counsel — a counsel who advises in private and does not plead in court
- chromosome band — any of the transverse bands that appear on a chromosome after staining. The banding pattern is unique to each type of chromosome, allowing characterization
- clumber spaniel — a type of thickset spaniel having a broad heavy head
- combat neurosis — battle fatigue.
- comfortableness — (of clothing, furniture, etc.) producing or affording physical comfort, support, or ease: a comfortable chair; comfortable shoes.
- conformableness — The state or quality of being conformable.
- controller bias — In a control loop, the controller bias is a constant amount added to or subtracted from the action that a controller would normally take with a particular gain.
- corona borealis — a small compact constellation in the N hemisphere lying between Boötes and Hercules
- coronary bypass — the surgical bypass of a narrowed or blocked coronary artery by grafting a section of a healthy blood vessel taken from another part of the patient's body
- counterbalances — Plural form of counterbalance.