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16-letter words containing c, i, b

  • basque provinces — an autonomous region of N Spain, comprising the provinces of Álava, Guipúzcoa, and Vizcaya: inhabited mainly by Basques, who retained virtual autonomy from the 9th to the 19th century. Pop: 1 840 700 (2003 est). Area: about 7250 sq km (2800 sq miles)
  • bastard culverin — a 16th-century cannon, smaller than a culverin, firing a shot of between 5 and 8 pounds (11 and 17.6 kg).
  • batch processing — manufacturing products or treating materials in batches, by passing the output of one process to subsequent processes
  • batch production — production of goods in batches, rather than continuously
  • batesian mimicry — mimicry in which a harmless species is protected from predators by means of its resemblance to a harmful or inedible species
  • bathroom cabinet — a wall-mounted cabinet in a bathroom, typically with a mirror front and used for the storage of medicines and toiletries
  • bayonet practice — drill in the use of a bayonet
  • bbn technologies — (company)   A company, originally known as Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Inc. (BBN), based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. BBN were awarded the original contract to build the ARPANET and have been extensively involved in Internet development. They are responsible for managing NNSC, CSNET, and NEARnet. The language LOGO was developed at BBN, as was the BBN Butterfly supercomputer.
  • be in one's cups — If someone is in their cups, they are drunk.
  • be of assistance — Someone or something that is of assistance to you is helpful or useful to you.
  • bearish tendency — a tendency for share prices to fall
  • behind the curve — behind the times; behind schedule
  • beneficial owner — a person entitled to receive the profits or proceeds of property
  • benzotrichloride — a colorless or yellowish liquid, C 7 H 5 Cl 3 , used chiefly in the manufacture of dyes.
  • bernoulli effect — the decrease in pressure as the velocity of a fluid increases.
  • beryllium copper — a copper alloy containing a small amount of beryllium and often some nickel or cobalt, having high strength, hardness, and electrical conductivity.
  • beta abstraction — [lambda-calculus] The conversion of an expression to an application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. Some subterm of the original expression becomes the argument of the abstraction and the rest becomes its body. E.g. 4+1 --> (\ x . x+1) 4 The opposite of beta abstraction is beta reduction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion.
  • beta coefficient — a measure of the extent to which a particular security rises or falls in value in response to market movements
  • biblical aramaic — the form of Aramaic that was the common language of Palestine in New Testament times. It was widespread throughout the Persian Empire from the 5th century and is found in the later books of the Old Testament (esp Daniel 2:4–7:28)
  • bicapitalisation — The act said to have been performed on trademarks (such as PostScript, NeXT, NeWS, VisiCalc, FrameMaker, TK!solver, EasyWriter) that have been raised above the ruck of common coinage by nonstandard capitalisation. Too many marketroid types think this sort of thing is really cute, even the 2,317th time they do it. Compare studlycaps.
  • bicyclic terpene — (originally) any of a class of monocyclic hydrocarbons of the formula C 10 H 16 , obtained from plants.
  • bidirectionality — capable of reacting or functioning in two, usually opposite, directions.
  • big picture, the — a long-range or overall view or account of some complex matter
  • biliary calculus — an abnormal stonelike mass, usually of cholesterol, formed in the gallbladder or bile passages.
  • bill of exchange — (now chiefly in foreign transactions) a document, usually negotiable, containing an instruction to a third party to pay a stated sum of money at a designated future date or on demand
  • bimetallic strip — a strip consisting of two metals of different coefficients of expansion welded together so that it buckles on heating: used in thermostats, etc
  • binocular fusion — fusion (def 5a).
  • binocular-fusion — the act or process of fusing; the state of being fused.
  • binuclear family — a social unit composed of an extended family, usually the children and subsequent spouses of divorced parents.
  • biocompatibility — the capability of coexistence with living tissues or organisms without causing harm: Artificial joint adhesives must have biocompatibility with bone and muscle.
  • biofortification — the process of breeding staple crops to have higher levels of essential nutrients, either through selective breeding or genetic modification: iron biofortification of rice; biofortification of wheat with zinc.
  • biological child — any child conceived rather than adopted by a specified parent, and therefore carrying genes from the parent.
  • biological clock — Your biological clock is your body's way of registering time. It does not rely on events such as day or night, but on factors such as your habits, your age, and chemical changes taking place in your body.
  • biological value — the nutritional effectiveness of the protein in a given food, expressed as the percentage used by the body of either the total protein consumed or the digestible protein available.
  • biomagnification — biological magnification.
  • biometric device — biometrics
  • biotechnological — Biotechnological means relating to biotechnology.
  • biotic potential — the capacity of a population of organisms to increase in numbers under optimum environmental conditions.
  • birchbark biting — a Native Canadian craft in which designs are bitten onto bark from birch trees
  • bismarck herring — marinaded herring, served cold
  • bitter principle — any of various bitter-tasting substances, such as aloin, usually extracted from plants
  • black bottom pie — a rich pie with a rum- or whiskey-flavored chocolate filling, often with a crust of crushed gingersnaps, and topped with whipped cream.
  • black nightshade — a poisonous solanaceous plant, Solanum nigrum, a common weed in cultivated land, having small white flowers with backward-curved petals and black berry-like fruits
  • black-light trap — a trap for insects that uses ultraviolet light as an attractant.
  • blacktailed deer — a mule deer, esp. the subspecies (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) found from N Calif. to British Columbia
  • bleaching powder — a white powder with the odour of chlorine, consisting of chlorinated calcium hydroxide with an approximate formula CaCl(OCl).4H2O. It is used in solution as a bleaching agent and disinfectant
  • blink comparator — an optical instrument used to detect small differences in two photographs of the same field or object by viewing them alternately, switching rapidly from one to the other.
  • blue in the face — the pure color of a clear sky; the primary color between green and violet in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 450 and 500 nm.
  • blue mockingbird — any of several gray, black, and white songbirds of the genus Mimus, especially M. polyglottos, of the U.S. and Mexico, noted for their ability to mimic the songs of other birds.
  • boarding officer — a coastguard who boards ships suspected of carrying illegal cargoes or posing a security risk
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