17-letter words containing b, r, a, n
- half-breadth plan — a diagrammatic plan of one half of the hull of a vessel divided lengthwise amidships, showing water lines, stations, diagonals, and bow and buttock lines.
- harvey wallbanger — a screwdriver cocktail topped with Galliano.
- have a bearing on — If something has a bearing on a situation or event, it is relevant to it.
- have it in for sb — If someone has it in for you, they dislike you and try to cause problems for you.
- have on the brain — If someone has something on the brain, they keep thinking about it.
- headline-grabbing — A headline-grabbing statement or activity is one that is intended to attract a lot of attention, especially from the media.
- heartbreakingness — The state or quality of being heartbreaking.
- henry cabot lodge — Henry Cabot, 1850–1924, U.S. public servant and author: senator 1893–1924.
- high-carbon steel — steel containing between 0.5 and 1.5 per cent carbon
- histamine blocker — any of various substances that act at a specific receptor site to block certain actions of histamine.
- hold one's breath — If you say that someone is holding their breath, you mean that they are waiting anxiously or excitedly for something to happen.
- hold sb to ransom — If you say that someone is holding you to ransom in British English, or holding you for ransom in American English, you mean that they are using their power to try to force you to do something which you do not want to do.
- honorable mention — a citation conferred on a contestant, exhibit, etc., having exceptional merit though not winning a top honor or prize.
- hottentot's bread — elephant's-foot.
- hydrofluorocarbon — Any of a class of partly chlorinated and fluorinated hydrocarbons, used as an alternative to chlorofluorocarbons in foam production, refrigeration, and other processes.
- hyperbolic secant — a hyperbolic function that is the reciprocal of cosh; sech
- i beg your pardon — You say 'Pardon?' or 'I beg your pardon?' or, in American English, 'Pardon me?' when you want someone to repeat what they have just said because you have not heard or understood it.
- iambic pentameter — a verse line consisting of five metrical iambs
- iberian peninsula — Also called Iberian Peninsula. a peninsula in SW Europe, comprising Spain and Portugal.
- impracticableness — The state of being impracticable; impracticability.
- impressionability — easily impressed or influenced; susceptible: an impressionable youngster.
- in broad daylight — openly, in full public view
- in double harness — in a harness for two animals pulling the same carriage, plow, etc.
- in the background — behind the focus of attention
- inalienable right — right that cannot be taken away
- incubation period — the period between infection and the appearance of signs of a disease.
- indecipherability — Quality of being indecipherable.
- indescribableness — The quality of being indescribable.
- indian paintbrush — any of several semiparasitic plants belonging to the genus Castilleja, of the figwort family, as C. linariaefolia, of the western U.S.: the state flower of Wyoming.
- indian strawberry — a plant, Duchesnea indica, of the rose family, native to India, having yellow flowers and inedible fruit resembling strawberries.
- inertial observer — a hypothetical observer who is not accelerated with respect to an inertial system. Newton's laws of motion and the special theory of relativity apply to the measurements which would be made by such observers
- insectivorous bat — any bat of the suborder Microchiroptera, typically having large ears and feeding on insects. The group includes common bats (Myotis species), vampire bats, etc
- instance variable — (programming) In object-oriented programming, one of the variables of a class template which may have a different value for each object of that class. Instance variables hold the state of an object.
- insupportableness — The state of being insupportable; insufferableness.
- insurmountability — incapable of being surmounted, passed over, or overcome; insuperable: an insurmountable obstacle.
- interdental brush — a small brush that is used to clean between the teeth
- interlibrary loan — a system by which one library obtains a work for a user by borrowing it from another library.
- internet backbone — (communications, networking) High-speed networks that carry Internet traffic. These communications networks are provided by companies such as AT&T, GTE, IBM, MCI, Netcom, Sprint, UUNET and consist of high-speed links in the T1, T3, OC1 and OC3 ranges. The backbones carry Internet traffic around the world and meet at Network Access Points (NAPs). The topology of the "backbone" and its interconnections may once have resembled a spine with ribs connected along its length but is now almost certainly more like a fishing net wrapped around the world with many circular paths.
- intertranslatable — to turn from one language into another or from a foreign language into one's own: to translate Spanish.
- into one's barrow — suited to one's interests or desires
- intransitive verb — a verb that indicates a complete action without being accompanied by a direct object, as sit or lie, and, in English, that does not form a passive.
- investment banker — an executive in an investment bank
- invincible armada — Armada.
- irrational number — a number that cannot be exactly expressed as a ratio of two integers.
- irreconcilability — incapable of being brought into harmony or adjustment; incompatible: irreconcilable differences.
- irrecoverableness — The quality of being irrecoverable.
- ivan the terrible — ("Ivan the Terrible") 1530–84, first czar of Russia 1547–84.
- japanese barberry — a thorny barberry, Berberis thunbergii, of Japan, having yellow flowers and bearing bright-red fruit, grown as a hedge plant.
- job advertisement — an announcement in a newspaper, on television, or on a poster about a post of employment
- john of salisbury — c1115–80, English prelate and scholar.