14-letter words containing b, r, a, n
- basic training — Basic training is the training that someone receives when they first join the armed forces.
- basque country — Theregion comprising three provinces in N Spain, on the Bay of Biscay, inhabited by Basques: 2,803 sq mi (7,260 sq km); pop. 2,104,000
- basso profundo — (esp in operatic solo singing) a singer with a very deep bass voice
- bastard indigo — a bushy shrub, Amorpha fruticosa, of the legume family, native to North America, having elongated clusters of dull purplish or bluish flowers.
- bastardisation — Alternative form of bastardization.
- bastardization — the act of bastardizing
- basting thread — inexpensive, loosely twisted thread that can be easily pulled out when permanent stitching is in place
- bathing trunks — Bathing trunks are shorts that a man wears when he goes swimming.
- battered woman — See under battered woman syndrome.
- battered-women — the array of physical and psychological injuries exhibited by women (battered women or battered wives) who have been beaten repeatedly or otherwise abused by their partners or spouses.
- battle lantern — a portable, battery-operated light for emergency use aboard a warship.
- bavarian cream — a cold dessert consisting of a rich custard set with gelatine and flavoured in various ways
- bayonet charge — a charge by riflemen with fixed bayonets
- bazillionaires — Plural form of bazillionaire.
- be gagging for — to be very eager to have or do something
- be in bad odor — to be in ill repute
- be in the wars — If someone has been in the wars, they have been injured, for example in a fight or in an accident.
- bean bag chair — a small cloth bag filled with dried beans, as for tossing in various children's games.
- bean-bag chair — a small cloth bag filled with dried beans, as for tossing in various children's games.
- beard-stroking — deep thought
- bearded darnel — a grass, Lolium tementulum, related to rye, having bristles on the seed head and bearing seeds that yield a narcotic poison.
- bearded dragon — a large Australian lizard, Amphibolurus barbatus, with an erectile frill around the neck
- bearer channel — (communications) Originally, a channel suited for carrying one voice-grade connection. Typically a DS0 channel. Compare data channel. (1997-03-7)
- bedraggledness — The state or condition of being bedraggled.
- bedside manner — A doctor's bedside manner is the way in which they talk to their patients.
- benday process — a process for adding tone or shading, as in reproducing drawings, by the overlay on the plate of patterns, as of dots
- benzanthracene — a carcinogenic hydrocarbon
- berkner island — an island in Antarctica, in the S Weddell Sea, between the Ronne Ice Shelf and the Filchner Ice Shelf.
- bertrand meyer — The author of the Eiffel Language and many articles on object-oriented software techniques.
- beta geminorum — Pollux
- beta reduction — [lambda-calculus] The application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. A copy of the body of the lambda abstraction is made and occurrences of the bound variable being replaced by the argument. E.g. (\ x . x+1) 4 --> 4+1 Beta reduction is the only kind of reduction in the pure lambda-calculus. The opposite of beta reduction is beta abstraction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion. See also name capture.
- beta-endorphin — a potent endorphin released by the anterior pituitary gland in response to pain, trauma, exercise, or other forms of stress.
- betray oneself — to reveal one's true character, intentions, etc
- betterment tax — a tax on an increase in the value of property effected by improvement
- beveridge plan — the plan for comprehensive social insurance, proposed by Sir William Beveridge in Great Britain in 1941.
- beyond compare — If you describe something as beyond compare, you mean that it is extremely good or extremely great.
- beyond measure — If you say that something has changed or that it has affected you beyond measure, you are emphasizing that it has done this to a great extent.
- bib and tucker — an outfit of clothes (esp in the phrase best bib and tucker)
- bicycle-racing — the act or sport of riding or traveling by bicycle, motorcycle, etc.
- bidding prayer — the formal petitionary prayer, said especially in the Anglican Church immediately before the sermon.
- bildungsromane — a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist.
- binary counter — (electronics, hardware) A digital circuit which has a clock input and a number of count outputs which give the number of clock cycles. The output may change either on rising or falling clock edges. The circuit may also have a reset input which sets all outputs to zero when asserted. The counter may be either a synchronous counter or a ripple counter.
- binary fission — asexual reproduction in unicellular organisms by division into two daughter cells
- binary package — (software) An archive file that contains all files and directories that must be installed in order to make a working installation of the program(s) included in the package, and the maintainer scripts necessary for the installation. A binary package is usually specific to a certain platform, in contrast to a source package.
- binding rafter — a timber for supporting rafters between their extremities, as a purlin.
- binding strake — a very strong, heavy strake of planking, especially one next to a sheer strake.
- bioaeronautics — the use of aircraft in the discovery, development, and protection of natural and biological resources
- biodegradation — to decay and become absorbed by the environment: toys that will biodegrade when they're discarded.
- bioinformatics — the branch of information science concerned with large databases of biochemical or pharmaceutical information
- bioregionalism — the conviction that environmental and social policies should be determined by the bioregion rather than economics or politics