15-letter words containing c, a, b
- archaebacterium — Any primitive bacteria-like organism in the kingdom Archaea.
- archaeobotanist — A person engaged in archaeobotany.
- archibald prize — an annual prize awarded by the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales since 1921, for outstanding contributions to art, letters, science, and politics
- as best one can — If someone does something as best they can, they do it as well as they can, although it is very difficult.
- asbestos cement — a compound of asbestos fiber and Portland cement formerly used for various nonstructural building purposes.
- ascribed status — the social position assigned to a person on the basis of kinship, ethnic group, sex, etc.
- asymmetric bars — a pair of wooden or fibreglass bars placed parallel to each other but set at different heights, for various exercises
- at sbs instance — If you do something at someone's instance, you do it because they have ordered or requested you to do it.
- audubon society — a North American organization devoted to the conservancy of birds
- authenticatable — to establish as genuine.
- autocannibalism — The eating of part of one's own body.
- babinski effect — the reflex curling upwards of the toes (instead of inwards) when the sole of the foot is stroked, normal in infants below the age of two but a pathological condition in adults
- bacchanalianism — the practice of bacchanalian behaviour; drunken revelry
- back plastering — the introduction of partitions of lath and plaster between the inner and outer surfaces of a stud wall in order to improve the insulating properties of the wall.
- back projection — a method of projecting pictures onto a translucent screen so that they are viewed from the opposite side, used esp in films to create the illusion that the actors in the foreground are moving
- back-scratching — a reciprocal exchange of favors, aid, or compliments
- backseat driver — If you refer to a passenger in a car as a backseat driver, they annoy you because they constantly give you advice about how to drive.
- backup rotation — (operating system) Any system for re-using backup media, e.g. magnetic tape. One extreme would be to use the same media for every backup (e.g. copy disk A to disk B), the other extreme would be to use new media every time. The trade-off is between the cost of buying and storing media and the ability to restore any version of any file. One example is the Grandfather, Father, Son (GFS) scheme.
- backup software — (tool, software) Software for doing a backup, often included as part of the operating system. Backup software should provide ways to specify what files get backed up and to where. It may include its own scheduling function to automate the procedure or, preferably, work with generic scheduling facilities. It may include facilities for managing the backup media (e.g. maintaining an index of tapes) and for restoring files from backups. Examples are Unix's dump command and Windows's ntbackup.
- baconian method — induction (def 4a).
- baconian theory — the theory attributing the authorship of Shakespeare's plays to Francis Bacon.
- bacterial ghost — a bacterial cell that is emptied and filled artificially with another substance
- bacteriological — Of or relating to bacteriology or bacteria.
- bacteriophagous — Pertaining to the predation and consumption of bacterium.
- badminton court — the court on which games of badminton are played
- baggage reclaim — the process of passengers' getting back the baggage that they have checked in for a flight
- bait and switch — Bait and switch is used to refer to a sales technique in which goods are advertised at low prices in order to attract customers, although only a small number of the low-priced goods are available.
- bait-and-switch — denoting a deceptive method of selling, by which customers, attracted to a store by sale items, are told either that the advertised bargain item is out of stock or is inferior to a higher-priced item that is available.
- baja california — peninsula in Mexico, between the Pacific & the Gulf of California: divided into a northern state (Baja California), 27,071 sq mi (70,114 sq km), pop. 1,661,000, cap. Mexicali; and a southern state (Baja California Sur), 28,447 sq mi (73,677 sq km), pop. 318,000, cap. La Paz
- balance control — a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc.
- balanced rudder — a rudder so designed that the center of water pressure on the forward face, when turned, lies about halfway along the length, minimizing the turning effort required.
- balanced ticket — a slate of candidates chosen to appeal to a wide range of voters, especially by including members of large regional, ethnic, or religious groups.
- ballroom dancer — a person who participates in ballroom dancing
- baltic exchange — a group of companies, based in London, which engages in trading activities, esp chartering cargo vessels
- banana republic — Small, poor countries that are politically unstable are sometimes referred to as banana republics.
- bank acceptance — a bill of exchange or draft drawn on and endorsed by a bank
- banking product — one of the various services offered by a bank to its customers: mortgages, loans, insurance etc
- bar-code reader — an electronic machine that scans and reads bar codes
- barbituric acid — a white crystalline solid used in the preparation of barbiturate drugs. Formula: C4H4N2O3
- barbizon school — a group of French painters of landscapes of the 1840s, including Théodore Rousseau, Daubigny, Diaz, Corot, and Millet
- barcelona chair — an armless, padded leather chair on a steel frame shaped like a curved X: Barcelona is a trademark for this chair
- barefoot doctor — (esp in developing countries) a worker trained as a medical auxiliary in a rural area who dispenses medicine, gives first aid, assists at childbirth, etc
- bargain counter — a store counter on which goods are displayed for sale at reduced prices
- bargaining chip — In negotiations with other people, a bargaining chip is something that you are prepared to give up in order to obtain what you want.
- barium chloride — a poisonous compound, BaCl2, consisting of flat white crystals that are soluble in water: it is used to treat water, metals, leather, etc.
- barium chromate — a yellow, crystalline compound, BaCrO 4 , used as a pigment (barium yellow)
- barley sandwich — a drink of beer, esp at lunch time
- barn conversion — the adaptation of a farm barn into a building serving a different use, such as a house or commercial premises
- barracks lawyer — a member of the armed forces who speaks or acts like an authority on military law, regulations, and the rights of service personnel.
- barrancabermeja — a city in N Colombia.