16-letter words containing b, r, y, o
- burkitt lymphoma — a rare type of tumour of the white blood cells, occurring mainly in Africa and associated with infection by Epstein-Barr virus
- burrowing blenny — graveldiver.
- butterfly ballot — a ballot paper in the form of two leaves extending from a central spine
- butterfly flower — Also called Jerusalem date. a shrub or small tree, Bauhinia monandra, of French Guiana, having clusters of pink, purple-streaked flowers.
- butterfly orchid — an orchid (Oncidium papilio) with reddish flowers, native to South America
- butterfly stroke — a swimming stroke in which the arms are plunged forward together in large circular movements
- buying behaviour — the behaviours displayed by consumers when they purchase things, such as preferences, price points, etc
- by hook or crook — by any means
- by word of mouth — orally rather than by written means
- bypass capacitor — a capacitor which provides a low-impedance path for alternating current while not passing any direct current
- bypass operation — an operation involving redirection of blood flow, either to avoid a diseased blood vessel or in order to perform heart surgery
- cabbage root fly — a dipterous fly, Erioischia brassicae, whose larvae feed on the roots and stems of cabbages and other brassicas: family Muscidae (houseflies, etc)
- carboxylesterase — (enzyme) Any enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of a carboxylic ester.
- carboxypeptidase — any of several digestive enzymes that catalyze the removal of an amino acid from the end of a peptide chain having a free carbonyl group.
- cathode ray tube — (hardware) (CRT) An electrical device for displaying images by exciting phosphor dots with a scanned electron beam. CRTs are found in computer VDUs and monitors, televisions and oscilloscopes. The first commercially practical CRT was perfected on 29 January 1901 by Allen B DuMont. A large glass envelope containing a negative electrode (the cathode) emits electrons (formerly called "cathode rays") when heated, as in a vacuum tube. The electrons are accelerated across a large voltage gradient toward the flat surface of the tube (the screen) which is covered with phosphor. When an electron strikes the phosphor, light is emitted. The electron beam is deflected by electromagnetic coils around the outside of the tube so that it scans across the screen, usually in horizontal stripes. This scan pattern is known as a raster. By controlling the current in the beam, the brightness at any particular point (roughly a "pixel") can be varied. Different phosphors have different "persistence" - the length of time for which they glow after being struck by electrons. If the scanning is done fast enough, the eye sees a steady image, due to both the persistence of the phospor and of the eye itself. CRTs also differ in their dot pitch, which determines their spatial resolution, and in whether they use interlace or not.
- cathode-ray tube — A cathode-ray tube is a device in televisions and computer terminals which sends an image onto the screen.
- chernobyl packet — (networking) /cher-noh'b*l pak'*t/ A network packet that induces a broadcast storm and/or network meltdown, named in memory of the April 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl in Ukraine. The typical scenario involves an IP Ethernet datagram that passes through a gateway with both source and destination Ethernet address and IP address set as the respective broadcast addresses for the subnetworks being gated between. Compare Christmas tree packet.
- chiclet keyboard — (hardware, abuse) A keyboard with a small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like pieces of Chiclets chewing gum. Used especially to describe the original IBM PCjr keyboard. Vendors unanimously liked these because they were cheap, and a lot of early portable and laptop computers were launched with them. Customers rejected the idea with almost equal unanimity, and chiclets are not often seen on anything larger than a digital watch any more.
- city of aberdeen — a council area in NE Scotland, established in 1996. Pop: 206 600 (2003 est). Area: 186 sq km (72 sq miles)
- commensurability — The quality of being commensurable or commensurate.
- constructability — Alternative form of constructibility.
- constructibility — The condition of being constructible.
- copyright symbol — (character, legal) "©" The internationally recognised symbol required to introduce a copyright notice, a letter C with a circle around it. This can be encoded in ISO 8859-1 as character code decimal 169, hexadecimal A9, in HTML as ©, © or ©. A "c" in parentheses: "(c)" is sometimes used in documents stored in a coded character set such as ASCII that does not include the C in a circle, but this has no legal meaning.
- crossbow archery — the sport of shooting with a crossbow
- cuban royal palm — a feather palm, Roystonea regia, of tropical America, having a trunk that is swollen in the middle, drooping leaves from 10 to 15 feet (3 to 5 meters) long, and small, round fruit.
- cut and blow-dry — a hairdressing procedure in which the customer's hair is cut and blow-dried
- cyanogen bromide — a colorless, slightly water-soluble, poisonous, volatile, crystalline solid, BrCN, used chiefly as a fumigant and a pesticide.
- cytotrophoblasts — Plural form of cytotrophoblast.
- daylight robbery — If someone charges you a great deal of money for something and you think this is unfair or unreasonable, you can refer to this as daylight robbery.
- dehydroascorbate — (organic compound) Any salt or ester of dehydroascorbic acid.
- demolition derby — a competition in which contestants drive old cars into each other until there is only one car left running
- deoxyribonucleic — (genetics) Of or pertaining to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or its derivatives.
- dichlorobiphenyl — (organic compound) Either of twelve isomers of the polychlorinated biphenyl containing two chlorine atoms.
- diethyl carbinol — a colorless, liquid isomer of amyl alcohol, (CH3CH2)2CHOH, used in drugs and as a solvent
- dimethylcarbinol — isopropyl alcohol.
- distributionally — In a distributional manner.
- 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.
- drugstore cowboy — a young man who loafs around drugstores or on street corners.
- ebony spleenwort — a fern, Asplenium platyneuron, of woody areas of North America, having ladderlike leaves and shiny, dark brown stems.
- 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
- erymanthian boar — a wild boar that ravaged the district around Mount Erymanthus: captured by Hercules as his fourth labour
- erythroblastosis — A medical condition in which erythroblasts are abnormally found in the blood.
- eyebrow tweezers — small tweezers for plucking hairs out of your eyebrows
- fertility symbol — an object, esp a phallic symbol, used in fertility-cult ceremonies to symbolize regeneration
- flashbulb memory — the clear recollections that a person may have of the circumstances associated with a dramatic event
- frontal lobotomy — Surgery. a psychosurgical procedure in which the frontal lobes are separated from the rest of the brain by cutting the connecting nerve fibers.
- 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.
- hexahydrobenzene — cyclohexane.
- honeymoon bridge — any of several varieties of bridge for two players.
- huyton-with-roby — an urban district in Merseyside, NW England, E of Liverpool.