16-letter words containing c, u, r, b, s
- 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
- curbstone broker — a broker in the early American stockmarket who did business in the street
- 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.
- destructibleness — The quality of being destructible.
- discussion board — a website or section of a website that is used for public discussion of a specific topic and on which users can submit or read messages: You should post your questions on a parenting message board and get support from other parents.
- double precision — using twice the normal amount of storage, as two words rather than one, to represent a number.
- drugstore cowboy — a young man who loafs around drugstores or on street corners.
- fish or cut bait — any of various cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates, having gills, commonly fins, and typically an elongated body covered with scales.
- forbush decrease — the sudden decrease in the intensity of cosmic rays after an increase in solar activity.
- 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
- hairbrush cactus — a stout, spiny cactus, Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum, of Mexico, having white flowers and bristly fruits sometimes used locally as combs.
- hypersusceptible — hypersensitive (def 2).
- incommensurables — Plural form of incommensurable.
- insurance broker — person who sells insurance policies
- jude the obscure — a novel (1895) by Thomas Hardy.
- 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.
- library pictures — a caption used to alert viewers that footage being broadcast is from an earlier time and is not happening now
- lumberjack shirt — a thick checked shirt, as worn by lumberjacks
- 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.
- nitrous bacteria — bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrites in the soil
- obstructionistic — a person who deliberately delays or prevents progress.
- obtuse bisectrix — See under bisectrix (def 1).
- october surprise — a major event, occurring shortly before a presidential election, which influences the result
- oversubscription — to subscribe for more of than is available, expected, or required: The charity drive was oversubscribed by several thousand dollars.
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- pre-subscription — a sum of money given or pledged as a contribution, payment, investment, etc.
- public ownership — ownership by the state; nationalization
- 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.
- public transport — fare-paying travel
- rambunctiousness — difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
- rectus abdominis — a long flat muscle that extends along the whole length of both sides of the abdomen. It flexes the vertebral column, particularly the lumbar portion; it also tenses the anterior abdominal wall and assists in compressing the abdominal contents
- reserve buoyancy — the difference between the volume of a hull below the designed waterline and the volume of the hull below the lowest opening incapable of being made watertight.
- rich tea biscuit — any of various semisweet biscuits
- scarborough lily — a plant, Vallota speciosa, of the amaryllis family, native to southern Africa, having clusters of funnel-shaped, scarlet flowers.
- schaumburg-lippe — a former state in NW Germany.
- security blanket — a blanket or other familiar item carried especially by a young child to provide reassurance and a feeling of psychological security.
- self-lubricating — to apply some oily or greasy substance to (a machine, parts of a mechanism, etc.) in order to diminish friction; oil or grease (something).
- self-lubrication — the process of becoming lubricated without external factors
- sodium carbonate — Also called soda ash. an anhydrous, grayish-white, odorless, water-soluble powder, Na 2 CO 3 , usually obtained by the Solvay process and containing about 1 percent of impurities consisting of sulfates, chlorides, and bicarbonates of sodium: used in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, soaps, paper, petroleum products, sodium salts, as a cleanser, for bleaching, and in water treatment.
- subcartilaginous — partially or incompletely cartilaginous.
- submarine chaser — a small patrol vessel, 100–200 feet (30–60 meters) long, designed for military operations against submarines.
- subsistence crop — a food plant which is grown by a farmer for consumption by himself and his family, leaving little or nothing to be marketed
- substance abuser — a person who takes an excessive amount of drugs in a manner that is detrimental to health
- subtropical high — one of several highs, as the Azores and Pacific highs, that prevail over the oceans at latitudes of about 30 degrees N and S. Also called subtropical anticyclone. Compare high (def 37).
- sulfocarbanilide — thiocarbanilide.
- superserviceable — overly disposed to be of service; officious.