16-letter words containing b, r, o, d
- division algebra — a linear algebra in which each element of the vector space has a multiplicative inverse.
- dorr's rebellion — an insurrection in Rhode Island (1842) that grew out of dissatisfaction with the existing state constitution, which restricted suffrage to landholders or their eldest sons.
- double centering — a method of extending a survey line by taking the average of two foresights, one with the telescope direct and one with it inverted, made each time by transiting the telescope after a backsight.
- double monastery — a religious community of both men and women who live in separate establishments under the same superior and who worship in a common church.
- double precision — using twice the normal amount of storage, as two words rather than one, to represent a number.
- double solitaire — a game of solitaire for two persons, each player usually having a pack and layout but pooling foundations with the opponent.
- double-barrelled — A double-barrelled gun has two barrels.
- double-breasting — the practice of employing nonunion workers, especially in a separate division, to supplement the work of higher-paid union workers.
- draw the longbow — to exaggerate in telling something
- drinking problem — If someone is said to have a drink problem, they are thought to drink too much alcohol
- drop a bombshell — If someone drops a bombshell, they give you a sudden piece of bad or unexpected news.
- drugstore cowboy — a young man who loafs around drugstores or on street corners.
- edinburgh prolog — Prolog dialect which eventually developed into the standard, as opposed to Marseille Prolog. (The difference is largely syntax.) Clocksin & Mellish describe Edinburgh Prolog. Version: C-Prolog.
- embarkation card — an official document that allows travellers to leave a country by boarding a ship or plane
- embroidery frame — a frame in the form of a pair of (usually circular) rings, designed to keep the fabric taut while an embroiderer works on it
- equidistribution — An equal distribution.
- false beechdrops — either of two parasitic or saprophytic plants of the genus Monotropa, especially the tawny or reddish M. hypopithys (false beechdrops) of eastern North America.
- feedback control — (electronics) A control system which monitors its effect on the system it is controlling and modifies its output accordingly. For example, a thermostat has two inputs: the desired temperature and the current temperature (the latter is the feedback). The output of the thermostat changes so as to try to equalise the two inputs. Computer disk drives use feedback control to position the read/write heads accurately on a recording track. Complex systems such as the human body contain many feedback systems that interact with each other; the homeostasis mechanisms that control body temperature and acidity are good examples.
- flamborough head — a chalk promontory in NE England, on the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire
- flat-bed plotter — a mechanized drafting device, usually computer driven, incorporating a moving pen whose horizontal and vertical range in two dimensions is limited only by the size of the bed of the device.
- flatheaded borer — the larva of a metallic wood-boring beetle, having an expanded and flattened anterior end.
- forbid the banns — to raise an objection to a marriage announced in this way
- forbush decrease — the sudden decrease in the intensity of cosmic rays after an increase in solar activity.
- forced vibration — Forced vibration is a type of vibration in which a force is repeatedly applied to a mechanical system.
- four-deal bridge — a version of bridge in which four hands only are played, the players then cutting for new partners
- four-masted brig — jackass bark (def 2).
- fraises des bois — wild strawberries
- freeboard length — the length of a vessel, measured on the summer load line from the fore side of the stem to some part of the stern, usually the after side of the rudderpost.
- garbage disposal — A garbage disposal or a garbage disposal unit is a small machine in the kitchen sink that breaks down waste matter so that it does not block the sink.
- ground substance — Also called matrix. the homogeneous substance in which the fibers and cells of connective tissue are embedded.
- hamadryas baboon — a baboon, Papio (Comopithecus) hamadryas, of Ethiopia, the male of which has a mantle of long, dark hair about the head and shoulders: held sacred by the ancient Egyptians.
- hanging wardrobe — a wardrobe containing a rail with a large amount of space underneath, so that clothes can be hung on hangers placed onto the rail
- have been around — be experienced
- herringbone bond — a brickwork bond in which the exposed brickwork is bonded to the heart of the wall by concealed courses of bricks laid diagonally to the faces of the wall in a herringbone pattern, with the end of each brick butting against the side of the adjoining brick; a form of raking bond.
- hexahydrobenzene — cyclohexane.
- hold a brief for — to argue for; champion
- honeymoon bridge — any of several varieties of bridge for two players.
- horseback riding — activity: riding a horse
- horsehead nebula — a dark nebula in the constellation Orion, composed of opaque cosmic dust and resembling the head of a horse.
- hot and bothered — having or giving off heat; having a high temperature: a hot fire; hot coffee.
- hot buttered rum — a drink made with rum, hot water, and sugar, served with a lump of butter in a mug.
- humboldt current — a cold Pacific Ocean current flowing N along the coasts of Chile and Peru.
- hummingbird moth — hawk moth.
- hyaloid membrane — the delicate, pellucid, and nearly structureless membrane enclosing the vitreous humor of the eye.
- hydration number — the number of molecules of water with which an ion can combine in an aqueous solution of given concentration.
- hydrobromic acid — a colorless or faintly yellow corrosive liquid, HBr, an aqueous solution of hydrogen bromide.
- hydrogen bromide — a colorless gas, HBr, having a pungent odor: the anhydride of hydrobromic acid.
- in a brown study — in a reverie or daydream
- inboard-outboard — Also, outdrive, stern-drive. (of a motorboat) having an inboard engine connected to a maneuverable outboard drive-shaft unit.
- incorporated bar — (in some states) a system of bar associations to which all lawyers are required to belong.