16-letter words containing b, r, i, s, u
- lumberjack shirt — a thick checked shirt, as worn by lumberjacks
- murasaki shikibu — Lady, 978?–1031? Japanese poet and novelist.
- nash equilibrium — (in game theory) a stable state of a system involving the interaction of two or more players in which no player can gain by a unilateral change of strategy if the strategies of the other players remain unchanged
- neuroborreliosis — A disorder of the central nervous system caused by a spirochete of the genus Borrelia.
- nitrous bacteria — bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrites in the soil
- obstructionistic — a person who deliberately delays or prevents progress.
- obtuse bisectrix — See under bisectrix (def 1).
- october surprise — a major event, occurring shortly before a presidential election, which influences the result
- oversubscription — to subscribe for more of than is available, expected, or required: The charity drive was oversubscribed by several thousand dollars.
- paint-by-numbers — formulaic; showing no original thought or creativity
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- pre-subscription — a sum of money given or pledged as a contribution, payment, investment, etc.
- public ownership — ownership by the state; nationalization
- public relations — (used with a plural verb) the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.
- public transport — fare-paying travel
- put sb/sth first — If you put someone or something first, you treat or consider them as more important than anything else.
- rambunctiousness — difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
- rectus abdominis — a long flat muscle that extends along the whole length of both sides of the abdomen. It flexes the vertebral column, particularly the lumbar portion; it also tenses the anterior abdominal wall and assists in compressing the abdominal contents
- redistributional — a distribution performed again or anew.
- rich tea biscuit — any of various semisweet biscuits
- robin's-egg blue — a pale green to a light greenish-blue color.
- saint petersburg — Also called Russian Empire. Russian Rossiya. a former empire in E Europe and N and W Asia: overthrown by the Russian Revolution 1917. Capital: St. Petersburg (1703–1917).
- scarborough lily — a plant, Vallota speciosa, of the amaryllis family, native to southern Africa, having clusters of funnel-shaped, scarlet flowers.
- schaumburg-lippe — a former state in NW Germany.
- security blanket — a blanket or other familiar item carried especially by a young child to provide reassurance and a feeling of psychological security.
- self-lubricating — to apply some oily or greasy substance to (a machine, parts of a mechanism, etc.) in order to diminish friction; oil or grease (something).
- self-lubrication — the process of becoming lubricated without external factors
- semisubterranean — half below the surface of the ground: the semisubterranean houses of some Indian tribes.
- slubberdegullion — a slovenly or worthless person
- sodium carbonate — Also called soda ash. an anhydrous, grayish-white, odorless, water-soluble powder, Na 2 CO 3 , usually obtained by the Solvay process and containing about 1 percent of impurities consisting of sulfates, chlorides, and bicarbonates of sodium: used in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, soaps, paper, petroleum products, sodium salts, as a cleanser, for bleaching, and in water treatment.
- sodium perborate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, NaBO 2 ⋅3H 2 O or NaBO 3 ⋅4H 2 O, used chiefly as a bleaching agent and antiseptic.
- south burlington — a town in NW Vermont.
- southern baptist — a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, founded in Augusta, Georgia, in 1845, that is strictly Calvinistic and active in religious publishing and education.
- sub-postmistress — (in Britain) a woman who runs a sub-post office
- subcartilaginous — partially or incompletely cartilaginous.
- submarine chaser — a small patrol vessel, 100–200 feet (30–60 meters) long, designed for military operations against submarines.
- subordinationism — the doctrine that the first person of the Holy Trinity is superior to the second, and the second superior to the third.
- subsistence crop — a food plant which is grown by a farmer for consumption by himself and his family, leaving little or nothing to be marketed
- substantia nigra — a deeply pigmented area of the midbrain containing dopamine-producing nerve cells.
- substantive rank — a permanent rank in the armed services obtained by length of service, selection, etc
- subtropical high — one of several highs, as the Azores and Pacific highs, that prevail over the oceans at latitudes of about 30 degrees N and S. Also called subtropical anticyclone. Compare high (def 37).
- sulfocarbanilide — thiocarbanilide.
- superserviceable — overly disposed to be of service; officious.
- synthetic rubber — any of several substances similar to natural rubber in properties and uses, produced by the polymerization of an unsaturated hydrocarbon, as butylene or isoprene, or by the copolymerization of such hydrocarbons with styrene, butadiene, or the like.
- take by surprise — to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness: Her beauty surprised me.
- tertiary bursary — a noncompetitive award granted to all pupils who have passed a university entrance examination
- the public purse — money from or controlled by the government
- the subsidiariat — a collective term for the news sources that would not survive without being subsidized directly (by a government, etc), or indirectly (through sharing a parent company with another more profitable revenue source)
- tobacco industry — business of selling smoking products
- touring bindings — specialised ski bindings with releasable locked down heels that can be used for ski touring and backcountry skiing