17-letter words containing b, u, c, o
- pitot-static tube — a device combining a Pitot tube with a static tube: used to measure airspeed.
- portable computer — (computer) (Commonly, "laptop") A portable personal computer you can carry with one hand. Some laptops run so hot that it would be quite uncomforable to actually use them on your lap for long. The term "notebook" is often used to describe these, though it also implies a low weight (less than 2kg). A "luggable" is one you could carry in one hand but is so heavy you wouldn't want to. One that can by easily operated while held in one hand is a "palmtop". The computer considered by most historians to be the first true portable computer was the Osborne 1 but see the link below for other contenders.
- postbaccalaureate — bachelor's degree.
- probability curve — a curve that describes the distribution of probability over the values of a random variable.
- product liability — the responsibility of a manufacturer for injury or loss caused by its product.
- production number — a specialty number or routine, usually performed by the entire cast consisting of musicians, singers, dancers, stars, etc., of a musical comedy, vaudeville show, or the like.
- pseudo-biological — pertaining to biology.
- public accountant — an accountant whose services are available to the public at large, in contrast to one employed on a full-time basis by a company.
- public prosecutor — an officer charged with the conduct of criminal prosecution in the interest of the public.
- public television — a type of noncommercial, usually educational, television programming funded by the government, grants, viewers, and corporations. Compare educational television.
- publicity officer — a person who is employed to get publicity for an organization, or to provide information about it
- purple chokeberry — See under chokeberry (def 1).
- purple shore crab — any of numerous crabs that live along the shoreline between the tidemarks, as Hemigrapsus nudus (purple shore crab) of the Pacific coast of North America.
- reflection nebula — a cloud of interstellar gas and dust that reflects the light of neighboring stars.
- republic of china — People's Republic of, a country in E Asia. 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). Capital: Beijing.
- republic of korea — a former country in E Asia, on a peninsula SE of Manchuria and between the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea: a kingdom prior to 1910; under Japanese rule 1910–45; now divided at 38° N into North Korea and South Korea. Compare Korean War.
- republic of palau — a republic comprising a group of islands in the W Pacific, in the W Caroline Islands; administratively part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands 1947–87; entered into an agreement of free association with the US (1980); became fully independent in 1994. Chief island: Babelthuap. Capital: Ngerulmud on Babelthuap (functions moved from Koror in 2006). Pop: 21 108 (2013 est). Area: 476 sq km (184 sq miles)
- republic of yemen — Republic of, a country in S Arabia, formed in 1990 by the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. 207,000 sq. mi. (536,130 sq. km). Capital: Aden.
- republic-of-china — People's Republic of, a country in E Asia. 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). Capital: Beijing.
- ribonucleoprotein — a substance composed of RNA in close association with protein; a nucleoprotein containing RNA. Abbreviation: RNP.
- sanctions-busting — the deliberate disregarding of sanctions that are in force against a state, organization, etc
- saxe-coburg-gotha — a member of the present British royal family, from the establishment of the house in 1901 until 1917 when the family name was changed to Windsor.
- sb could do worse — If you tell someone that they could do worse than do a particular thing, you are advising them that it would be quite a good thing to do.
- sodium bichromate — a red or orange crystalline, water-soluble solid, Na 2 Cr 2 O 7 ⋅2H 2 O, used as an oxidizing agent in the manufacture of dyes and inks, as a corrosion inhibitor, a mordant, a laboratory reagent, in the tanning of leather, and in electroplating.
- stockbroker tudor — a modern style of architecture popular in affluent suburban areas that is imitative of Tudor architecture
- subclavian groove — either of two grooves in the first rib, one for the main artery (subclavian artery) and the other for the main vein (subclavian vein) of the arm
- subject catalogue — a catalogue with entries arranged by subject in a classified sequence
- subscription rate — the price charged for a subscription
- subtractive color — cyan, yellow, or magenta, as used in the subtractive process of color photography.
- sunday observance — the fact of keeping Sunday as a special day when people go to church
- symbolic language — a specialized language dependent upon the use of symbols for communication and created for the purpose of achieving greater exactitude, as in symbolic logic or mathematics.
- synchronous orbit — an orbit in which the orbital period of a satellite is identical to the spin period of the central body
- the black country — the formerly heavily industrialized region of central England, northwest of Birmingham
- the carboniferous — the Carboniferous period or rock system
- torricellian tube — a vertical glass tube partly evacuated and partly filled with mercury, the height of which is used as a measure of atmospheric pressure
- triboluminescence — luminescence produced by friction, usually within a crystalline substance.
- trouble came back — (jargon) (TCB) An IBM term for an intermittent or difficult-to-reproduce problem that has failed to respond to neglect or shotgun debugging. Compare heisenbug.
- turbosupercharger — (formerly) a turbocharger.
- ultramicrobalance — a balance for weighing precisely, to a hundredth of a microgram or less, minute quantities of material.
- uncle tom's cabin — an antislavery novel (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
- uncomfortableness — causing discomfort or distress; painful; irritating.
- unreconstructible — not capable of being reconstructed.
- wearable computer — a small computer that is worn or carried on the body; a wearable computing device: a wrist-worn wearable computer with a head-mounted display.
- working substance — a substance, usually a fluid, that undergoes changes in pressure, temperature, volume, or form as part of a process for accomplishing work.
- zero-coupon bonds — Zero-coupon bonds are bonds with no coupons that do not pay interest, and are sold at a large discount from their face value.