15-letter words containing b, u, e, n
- beat oneself up — to reproach oneself
- beat the bounds — (formerly) to define the boundaries of a parish by making a procession around them and hitting the ground with rods
- beginner's luck — the initial good fortune or success commonly supposed to come to a person who has recently taken up a new pursuit, as a sport or game: Catching a large trout the first time you go fishing is simply beginner's luck.
- benevolent fund — a charitable organization
- benzyl butyrate — a liquid, C 11 H 14 O 2 , having a fruitlike odor, used as a plasticizer and in flavoring.
- benzyl fluoride — a colorless liquid, C 7 H 7 F, used in organic synthesis.
- bernoulli trial — one of a sequence of independent experiments each of which has the same probability of success, such as successive throws of a die, the outcome of which is described by a binomial distribution
- bessel function — one of several transcendental functions, usually represented as power series, that are solutions to a group of related differential equations.
- beurre noisette — a sauce of butter cooked until golden or nut brown, sometimes flavored with capers, vinegar, herbs, etc.
- beyond question — a sentence in an interrogative form, addressed to someone in order to get information in reply.
- bicycle touring — the activity of touring on a bicycle
- bioluminescence — the production of light by living organisms as a result of the oxidation of a light-producing substance (luciferin) by the enzyme luciferase: occurs in many marine organisms, insects such as the firefly, etc
- biting housefly — a two-winged fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, having the mouthparts adapted for biting, and commonly a household and stable pest.
- black horehound — a hairy unpleasant-smelling chiefly Mediterranean plant, Ballota nigra, having clusters of purple flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)
- blasphemousness — the quality of being blasphemous
- blockade runner — a person, ship etc that tries to carry goods through a blockade
- blockade-runner — a ship or person that passes through a blockade.
- bloodguiltiness — guilty of murder or bloodshed.
- blueback salmon — sockeye salmon.
- bologna sausage — a large smoked sausage made of seasoned mixed meats
- bone conduction — the transmission of sound vibrations to the internal ear through the cranial bones (opposed to air conduction).
- bonheur-du-jour — a delicate fall-front desk of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
- booster cushion — an extra seat or cushion placed on an existing seat for a child to sit on in a car
- borough-english — (until 1925) a custom in certain English boroughs whereby the youngest son inherited land to the exclusion of his older brothers
- boustrophedonic — of or relating to lines written in opposite directions
- branching rules — rules that are used to break down a complex problem into several smaller problems
- branchiostegous — branchiostegal.
- brazilian plume — a tropical American plant, Justicia carnea, of the acanthus family, having hairy, prominently veined leaves and a short, dense cluster of purple or pink flowers, grown in greenhouses or outdoors in warm regions.
- breaking plough — a plough with a long shallow mouldboard for turning virgin land or sod land
- breeding ground — If you refer to a situation or place as a breeding ground for something bad such as crime, you mean that this thing can easily develop in that situation or place.
- bridge-building — efforts to establish communications and friendly contacts between people in order to make them friends or allies
- bronchial tubes — the bronchi or their smaller divisions
- brunner's gland — any of the glands in the submucosal layer of the duodenum, secreting an alkaline fluid into the small intestine.
- bucket conveyor — a conveyor consisting of an endless chain with a series of buckets attached at regular intervals, used for moving ore, gravel, grain, or other bulk materials.
- buckinghamshire — a county in SE central England, containing the Vale of Aylesbury and parts of the Chiltern Hills: the geographic and ceremonial county includes Milton Keynes, which became an independent unitary authority in 1997. Administrative centre: Aylesbury. Pop (excluding Milton Keynes): 478 000 (2003 est). Area (excluding Milton Keynes): 1568 sq km (605 sq miles)
- buffer solution — a solution to which a salt of a weak acid or base has been added
- building permit — a permit for construction work
- building trades — the trades and professions concerned with the creation and finishing of buildings, such as carpenters, plasterers, masons, electricians, etc.
- building worker — a labourer, bricklayer, etc who works in the construction industry
- bulimia nervosa — a disorder characterized by compulsive overeating followed by vomiting: sometimes associated with anxiety about gaining weight
- bulldog edition — the early edition of a morning newspaper, chiefly for out-of-town distribution
- bullnose header — bull header (def 1).
- bullnose-header — Also called bullnose header. a brick having one of the edges across its width rounded for laying as a header in a sill or the like.
- bum someone off — to disappoint, annoy, or upset someone
- bum someone out — to upset, distress, annoy, depress, bore, etc. someone
- bun in the oven — in the womb
- burden of proof — The burden of proof is the task of proving that you are correct, for example when you have accused someone of a crime.
- bureau of mines — a division of the Department of the Interior, created in 1910, that studies the nation's mineral resources and inspects mines.
- bury st edmunds — a market town in E England, in Suffolk. Pop: 36 218 (2001)
- business casual — a style of casual clothing worn by businesspeople at work instead of more formal attire