14-letter words containing c, a, b, i, n
- balto-slavonic — a hypothetical subfamily of Indo-European languages consisting of Baltic and Slavonic. It is now generally believed that similarities between them result from geographical proximity rather than any special relationship
- bamboo curtain — (esp in the 1950s and 1960s) the political and military barrier to communications around the People's Republic of China
- bancroft prize — one of a group of annual awards for literary achievement in American history and biography: administered by Columbia University.
- bark chippings — small pieces of tree bark used chiefly for pathways in gardens or woodland
- base community — (especially in South America) a group of people taking part in religious devotions and Bible study, who seek to apply this in their socioeconomic and political situation.
- basic industry — an industry which is highly important in a nation's economy
- basic training — Basic training is the training that someone receives when they first join the armed forces.
- basso continuo — continuo.
- bavarian cream — a cold dessert consisting of a rich custard set with gelatine and flavoured in various ways
- bean bag chair — a small cloth bag filled with dried beans, as for tossing in various children's games.
- bean-bag chair — a small cloth bag filled with dried beans, as for tossing in various children's games.
- beaten biscuit — a hard, unleavened biscuit, made to rise by pounding and folding the dough.
- beautification — Making beautiful, beautifying, improving the appearance of something.
- belaying cleat — a cleat used for belaying
- belisha beacon — a flashing light in an orange globe mounted on a post, indicating a pedestrian crossing on a road
- beneficialness — the state of being beneficial
- beta reduction — [lambda-calculus] The application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. A copy of the body of the lambda abstraction is made and occurrences of the bound variable being replaced by the argument. E.g. (\ x . x+1) 4 --> 4+1 Beta reduction is the only kind of reduction in the pure lambda-calculus. The opposite of beta reduction is beta abstraction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion. See also name capture.
- bib and tucker — an outfit of clothes (esp in the phrase best bib and tucker)
- biblical latin — the form of Latin used in versions of the Bible, esp the form used in the Vulgate
- bibliomaniacal — relating to a bibliomaniac
- bicycle-racing — the act or sport of riding or traveling by bicycle, motorcycle, etc.
- binary counter — (electronics, hardware) A digital circuit which has a clock input and a number of count outputs which give the number of clock cycles. The output may change either on rising or falling clock edges. The circuit may also have a reset input which sets all outputs to zero when asserted. The counter may be either a synchronous counter or a ripple counter.
- binary package — (software) An archive file that contains all files and directories that must be installed in order to make a working installation of the program(s) included in the package, and the maintainer scripts necessary for the installation. A binary package is usually specific to a certain platform, in contrast to a source package.
- bioaeronautics — the use of aircraft in the discovery, development, and protection of natural and biological resources
- biocontainment — the confinement, as by sealed-off chambers, of materials that are harmful or potentially harmful to life.
- bioequivalence — the equality of strength, bioavailability, and dosage of various drug products
- bioinformatics — the branch of information science concerned with large databases of biochemical or pharmaceutical information
- bird sanctuary — an area of land in which birds are protected and encouraged to breed
- birthing chair — a chair constructed to allow a woman in labour to give birth in a sitting position
- black as night — totally dark
- black bindweed — a twining polygonaceous European plant, Polygonum convolvulus, with heart-shaped leaves and triangular black seed pods
- black diamonds — carbonado1 .
- black selenium — an allotropic form of selenium occurring as a black, amorphous, water-insoluble, light-sensitive powder: used chiefly in photoelectric cells.
- blanket stitch — a strong reinforcing stitch for the edges of blankets and other thick material
- blanket-stitch — a basic sewing stitch in which widely spaced, interlocking loops, or purls, are formed, used for cutwork, as a decorative finish for edges, etc.
- block faulting — the process by which tensional forces in the earth's crust cause large bodies of rock to founder.
- block mountain — a mountain produced by faulting and the uplifting of large blocks of rock
- block sampling — the selection of a corpus for statistical literary analysis by random selection of a starting point and consideration of the continuous passage following it
- board chairman — the chairman of the board of a company, etc
- body mechanics — body exercises that are intended to improve one's posture, stamina, poise, etc.
- body snatching — the act or practice of robbing a grave to obtain a cadaver for dissection.
- bone porcelain — bone china.
- boon companion — a close and constant friend
- boring machine — a machine that bores holes, tunnels, etc
- botanic garden — a place in which plants are grown, studied, and exhibited
- bowling crease — a line marked at the wicket, over which a bowler must not advance fully before delivering the ball
- brachydiagonal — the shorter lateral axis of a rhombic prism
- brachypinakoid — the side parallel to the shorter horizontal axis in a crystal
- branch officer — (in the British navy since 1949) any officer who holds warrant
- branched chain — an open chain of atoms with one or more side chains attached to it