16-letter words containing b, u, r, s, a, e
- celebrity status — the prominence of film star, footballer, musician etc who is constantly photographed and written about in tabloids and magazines
- charitable trust — a trust set up for the benefit of a charity that complies with the regulations of the Charity Commissioners to enable it to be exempt from paying income tax
- chilean firebush — South American shrub with scarlet flowers
- chuvash republic — a constituent republic of W central Russia, in the middle Volga valley: generally low-lying with undulating plains and large areas of forest. Capital: Cheboksary. Pop: 1 313 900 (2002). Area: 18 300 sq km (7064 sq miles)
- cluster variable — RR Lyrae star.
- commensurability — The quality of being commensurable or commensurate.
- consumer durable — Consumer durables are goods which are expected to last a long time, and are bought infrequently.
- cumberland sauce — a cold sauce made from orange and lemon juice, port, and redcurrant jelly, served with ham, game, or other meat
- deboursification — (jargon) Removal of irrelevant newsgroups from the Newsgroups header of a followup. The term applies particularly to the removal of frivolous groups added by one of the Kooks. See also: sneck.
- disequilibration — to put out of equilibrium; unbalance: A period of high inflation could disequilibrate the monetary system.
- disreputableness — The state or quality of being disreputable or disgraceful; disreputability.
- distributive law — a theorem asserting that one operator can validly be distributed over another
- 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 solitaire — a game of solitaire for two persons, each player usually having a pack and layout but pooling foundations with the opponent.
- double-breasting — the practice of employing nonunion workers, especially in a separate division, to supplement the work of higher-paid union workers.
- east gwillimbury — a town in S Ontario, in S Canada.
- elburz mountains — a mountain range in N Iran, parallel to the SW and S shores of the Caspian Sea. Highest peak: Mount Demavend, 5671 m (18 606 ft)
- filterable virus — a virus particle small enough to pass through a filter of diatomaceous earth or porcelain, which will not pass bacteria: chiefly historical or an informal indicator of size, as synthetic membrane filters now permit passage of the smallest virus.
- flashbulb memory — the clear recollections that a person may have of the circumstances associated with a dramatic event
- forbush decrease — the sudden decrease in the intensity of cosmic rays after an increase in solar activity.
- four-masted brig — jackass bark (def 2).
- globular cluster — a comparatively older, spherically symmetrical, compact group of up to a million old stars, held together by mutual gravitation, that are located in the galactic halo and move in giant and highly eccentric orbits around the galactic center.
- ground substance — Also called matrix. the homogeneous substance in which the fibers and cells of connective tissue are embedded.
- growth substance — any substance, produced naturally by a plant or manufactured commercially, that, in very low concentrations, affects plant growth; a plant hormone
- hawksbill turtle — a sea turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata, the shell of which is the source of tortoise shell: an endangered species.
- heterometabolous — undergoing development in which the young are born adultlike in form, often maturing without a pupal stage.
- horsehead nebula — a dark nebula in the constellation Orion, composed of opaque cosmic dust and resembling the head of a horse.
- immeasurableness — The state or condition of being immeasurable.
- incommensurables — Plural form of incommensurable.
- insufferableness — The state of being insufferable.
- insurance broker — person who sells insurance policies
- invulnerableness — The quality of being invulnerable.
- khakass republic — a constituent republic of S central Russia, formerly in Krasnoyarsk Territory: formed in 1930. Capital: Abakan. Pop: 546 100 (2002). Area: 61 900 sq km (23 855 sq miles)
- krebs urea cycle — urea cycle.
- labour relations — Labour relations refers to the relationship between employers and employees in industry, and the political decisions and laws that affect it.
- labour-intensive — Labour-intensive industries or methods of making things involve a lot of workers. Compare capital-intensive.
- liberal unionist — a Liberal who opposed Gladstone's policy of Irish Home Rule in 1886 and after
- library pictures — a caption used to alert viewers that footage being broadcast is from an earlier time and is not happening now
- like gangbusters — a law-enforcement officer who specializes in breaking up organized crime, often by forceful or sensational means.
- lumberjack shirt — a thick checked shirt, as worn by lumberjacks
- mesembryanthemum — any of various chiefly Old World plants of the genus Mesembryanthemum, having thick, fleshy leaves and often showy flowers.
- mossbauer effect — the phenomenon in which an atom in a crystal undergoes no recoil when emitting a gamma ray, giving all the emitted energy to the gamma ray, resulting in a sharply defined wavelength.
- 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
- nitrous bacteria — bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrites in the soil
- nondurable goods — goods that remain usable for, or must be replaced within, a relatively short period of time, as food, apparel, or fabrics
- obsequent stream — a stream flowing in a direction opposite to that of the dip of the local strata.
- paint-by-numbers — formulaic; showing no original thought or creativity
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- 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.
- rambunctiousness — difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.