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14-letter words containing d, i

  • bide sb's time — If you bide your time, you wait for a good opportunity before doing something.
  • bidialectalism — the state of being bidialectal
  • big red switch — (jargon)   (BRS) IBM jargon for the power switch on a computer, especially the "Emergency Pull" switch on an IBM mainframe or the power switch on an IBM PC where it really is large and red. "This [email protected]%$% bitty box is hung again; time to hit the Big Red Switch." It is alleged that the emergency pull switch on an IBM 360/91 actually fired a non-conducting bolt into the main power feed; the BRSes on more recent mainframes physically drop a block into place so that they can't be pushed back in. People get fired for pulling them, especially inappropriately (see also molly-guard). Compare power cycle, three-finger salute, 120 reset; see also scram switch.
  • bildungsromane — a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist.
  • bill of lading — (in foreign trade) a document containing full particulars of goods shipped or for shipment
  • billiard table — the rectangular table used for playing billiards
  • binding energy — the energy that must be supplied to a stable nucleus before it can undergo fission. It is equal to the mass defect
  • binding handle — (networking)   An identifier representing the connection between a client and server. An association between client/server end-points and protocols.
  • binding rafter — a timber for supporting rafters between their extremities, as a purlin.
  • binding strake — a very strong, heavy strake of planking, especially one next to a sheer strake.
  • binge drinking — Binge drinking is the consumption of large amounts of alcohol within a short period of time.
  • biodegradation — to decay and become absorbed by the environment: toys that will biodegrade when they're discarded.
  • bioremediation — the use of plants to extract heavy metals from contaminated soils and water
  • bird sanctuary — an area of land in which birds are protected and encouraged to breed
  • birdcage clock — lantern clock.
  • birds and bees — any warm-blooded vertebrate of the class Aves, having a body covered with feathers, forelimbs modified into wings, scaly legs, a beak, and no teeth, and bearing young in a hard-shelled egg.
  • birthday party — a party to celebrate someone's birthday
  • bitmap display — (hardware)   A computer output device where each pixel displayed on the monitor screen corresponds directly to one or more bits in the computer's video memory. Such a display can be updated extremely rapidly since changing a pixel involves only a single processor write to memory compared with a terminal or VDU connected via a serial line where the speed of the serial line limits the speed at which the display can be changed. Most modern personal computers and workstations have bitmap displays, allowing the efficient use of graphical user interfaces, interactive graphics and a choice of on-screen fonts. Some more expensive systems still delegate graphics operations to dedicated hardware such as graphics accelerators. The bitmap display might be traced back to the earliest days of computing when the Manchester University Mark I(?) computer, developed by F.C. Williams and T. Kilburn shortly after the Second World War. This used a storage tube as its working memory. Phosphor dots were used to store single bits of data which could be read by the user and interpreted as binary numbers.
  • black bindweed — a twining polygonaceous European plant, Polygonum convolvulus, with heart-shaped leaves and triangular black seed pods
  • black blizzard — a dust storm.
  • black diamonds — carbonado1 .
  • bladder ketmia — plant with pale yellow flowers
  • bladder ketmie — flower-of-an-hour
  • blade-shearing — the shearing of sheep using hand shears
  • bleeding heart — If you describe someone as a bleeding heart, you are criticizing them for being sympathetic towards people who are poor and suffering, without doing anything practical to help.
  • blended family — a social unit consisting of two previously married parents and the children of their former marriages
  • blessed virgin — the Virgin Mary
  • blind as a bat — having extremely poor eyesight
  • blind register — (in the United Kingdom) a list of those who are blind and are therefore entitled to financial and other benefits
  • blind staggers — the staggers
  • blind stamping — an impression on a book cover without using colour or gold leaf
  • blister-packed — presented in a blister pack
  • blood boosting — a procedure in which an athlete is injected with erythropoietin, his or her own blood, or the blood of a family member prior to competition, purportedly increasing the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity as a result of the addition of red blood cells.
  • blood disorder — a medical condition affecting the blood
  • blood grouping — the ascertainment of a person's blood group
  • blood relation — A blood relation or blood relative is someone who is related to you by birth rather than by marriage.
  • blood spinning — a medical treatment, a use for which is the healing of sports-related injuries, that involves removing the platelet cells from the patient’s blood sample then injecting them into the injured area in order to speed recovery
  • blood-curdling — A blood-curdling sound or story is very frightening and horrible.
  • blow one's lid — a removable or hinged cover for closing the opening, usually at the top, of a pot, jar, trunk, etc.; a movable cover.
  • blue dandelion — chicory (def 1).
  • blurred vision — a condition which makes it impossible to see clearly
  • board chairman — the chairman of the board of a company, etc
  • boarding house — A boarding house is a house which people pay to stay in for a short time.
  • boarding party — group of officers or sailors who board a ship
  • boatswain bird — tropic bird.
  • bobo-dioulasso — a city in W Burkina Faso. Pop: 396 000 (2005 est)
  • bodice-ripping — A bodice-ripping film or novel is one which is set in the past and which includes a lot of sex scenes. You use this word especially if you do not think it is very good and is just intended to entertain people.
  • body beautiful — a beautiful body
  • body mechanics — body exercises that are intended to improve one's posture, stamina, poise, etc.
  • body of christ — the Christian Church
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