20-letter words containing b, r, a, t

semiautobiographical — pertaining to or being a fictionalized account of an author's own life.
set the ball rolling — to open or initiate (an action, discussion, movement, etc)
shibah asar betammuz — Shivah Asar Betammuz.
shivah asar betammuz — a Jewish fast day observed on the 17th day of Tammuz in memory of the breach of the walls of Jerusalem by the Romans in a.d. 70.
short back and sides — If a man has a short back and sides, his hair is cut very short at the back and sides with slightly thicker, longer hair on the top of the head.
special boat service — a unit of the Royal Marines specializing in reconnaissance and sabotage
spectroscopic binary — a binary star having components that are not sufficiently separated to be resolved by a telescope, known to be a binary only bythe variations in wavelength of emitted light that are detected by a spectroscope.
spherical aberration — variation in focal length of a lens or mirror from center to edge, due to its spherical shape.
splice the mainbrace — to issue and partake of an extra allocation of alcoholic spirits
spontaneous abortion — miscarriage (def 1).
spontaneous-abortion — Also called voluntary abortion. the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy.
spotted crane's-bill — the American wild geranium, Geranium maculatum.
standard book number — International Standard Book Number. Abbreviation: SBN.
star spangled banner — Stars and Stripes.
star-spangled banner — Stars and Stripes.
stare sb in the face — If a situation or the answer to a problem is staring you in the face, it is very obvious, although you may not be immediately aware of it.
ste. anne de beaupre — a village in S Quebec, in SE Canada, on the St. Lawrence, NE of Quebec: Roman Catholic shrine.
step into the breach — If you step into the breach, you do a job or task which someone else was supposed to do or has done in the past, because they are suddenly unable to do it.
straight-cut tobacco — tobacco that is cut in such a way that it will lie flat.
strawberry-raspberry — an arching, prickly, Japanese plant, Rubus illecebrosus, of the rose family, having an herbaceous stem, white, fragrant flowers, and large, edible, scarlet fruit.
subscription library — a commercial lending library
switchboard operator — a person who operates an installation in a telephone exchange, office, hotel, etc, at which the interconnection of telephone lines is manually controlled
television broadcast — sth shown on tv
tetrahydrocannabinol — a compound, C 21 H 30 O 2 , that is the physiologically active component in cannabis preparations (marijuana, hashish, etc.) derived from the Indian hemp plant or produced synthetically. Abbreviation: THC.
the butterfat cheque — the total annual cash return for operations on a dairy farm
the canterbury tales — an uncompleted sequence of tales by Chaucer, written for the most part after 1387.
therapeutic abortion — abortion performed when a woman's pregnancy endangers her health.
to be a warning shot — to be a warning
to be at loggerheads — to be in conflict
to be walking on air — If you say that you are walking on air or floating on air, you mean that you feel extremely happy about something.
to bear the brunt of — To bear the brunt or take the brunt of something unpleasant means to suffer the main part or force of it.
to beat one's breast — If you say that someone beats their breast, you are emphasizing that they are very angry or upset about something, or that they are pretending to be very angry or upset about it.
to bring up the rear — If a person or vehicle is bringing up the rear, they are the last person or vehicle in a moving line of them.
to burst into flames — If something bursts into flames or bursts into flame, it suddenly starts burning strongly.
to catch your breath — If something makes you catch your breath, it makes you take a short breath of air, usually because it shocks you.
to disturb the peace — If someone is accused of disturbing the peace, they are accused of behaving in a noisy and offensive way in public.
to get your bearings — to find out where one is or to find out what one should do next
to get your own back — If you get your own back on someone, you have your revenge on them because of something bad that they have done to you.
to have it in for sb — If someone has it in for you, they do not like you and they want to make life difficult for you.
to keep your balance — If you keep your balance, for example, when standing in a moving vehicle, you remain steady and do not fall over. If you lose your balance, you become unsteady and fall over.
to scrape the barrel — If you say that someone is scraping the barrel, or scraping the bottom of the barrel, you disapprove of the fact that they are using or doing something of extremely poor quality.
to take years off sb — if you say that something such as an experience or a way of dressing has taken years off someone, you mean that it has made them look or feel much younger
to waste your breath — If someone says you are wasting your breath, they mean that the person you are talking to will not take any notice and so there is no point saying anything to them.
tobacco mosaic virus — a retrovirus causing mosaic disease in members of the nightshade family. Abbreviation: TMV.
toothbrush moustache — a short narrow moustache, resembling the filaments of a toothbrush
travelling-wave tube — an electronic tube in which an electron beam interacts with a distributed high-frequency magnetic field so that energy is transferred from the beam to the field
tribromoacetaldehyde — bromal.
tropical disturbance — a very weak, or incipient, tropical cyclone.
trustee savings bank — a British financial institution which offered savings facilities for small investors and was managed by unpaid trustees. Depositors had no voting rights and no say in financial or managerial matters. The bank is now a public limited company with the same rights and services as other banks and only retains the title in the abbreviated form TSB.
tubing head pressure — The tubing head pressure is the pressure on the tubing, which is measured at the wellhead.

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