12-letter words containing e, c, r, u
- baby-bouncer — a seat on springs suspended from a door frame, etc, in which a baby may be placed for exercise
- baccalaurean — of a baccalaureate
- baccalauréat — (esp in France) a school-leaving examination that qualifies the successful candidates for entrance to university
- bach trumpet — a modern small three-valved trumpet for playing clarino passages in Bach's music
- backgrounded — Simple past tense and past participle of background.
- backgrounder — A backgrounder is a short article in a newspaper or magazine that provides background information about a particular subject.
- backpressure — a resistant pressure exerted by liquid or gas against the forward motion or flow of an exhaust or pipe system: Careful control of backpressure ensures an even supply of oil from the well.
- baluchithere — a hornless rhinoceros of the extinct genus Baluchitherium that inhabited central Asia during the Oligocene and early Miocene epochs: the largest land mammal known.
- banbury cake — a cake consisting of a pastry base filled with currants, raisins, candied peel, and sugar, with a crisscross pattern on the top
- bankruptcies — Plural form of bankruptcy.
- banner cloud — a plume-shaped cloud extending downwind from an isolated mountain peak. Also called cloud banner. Compare cap cloud (def 1).
- barbecue pit — a trench in which wood or charcoal is burned for barbecuing
- barbecue set — a set of tools used for barbecuing
- barcalounger — a type of reclinable armchair with an extendable footrest
- bare-knuckle — without boxing gloves
- barge couple — either of a pair of outside rafters along the gable end of a roof
- barge course — the overhang of the gable end of a roof
- bathtub race — a sailing race between bathtubs fitted with outboard motors
- bean counter — You can describe people such as accountants and business managers as bean counters if you disapprove of them because you think they are only interested in money.
- beaumarchais — Pierre Augustin Caron de (pjɛr oɡystɛ̃ karɔ̃ də). 1732–99, French dramatist, noted for his comedies The Barber of Seville (1775) and The Marriage of Figaro (1784)
- beauty cream — a cosmetic cream
- beurre blanc — an emulsion of cold butter in a white wine or vinegar and shallot reduction
- bezier curve — (graphics) A type of curve defined by mathematical formulae, used in computer graphics. A curve with coordinates P(u), where u varies from 0 at one end of the curve to 1 at the other, is defined by a set of n+1 "control points" (X(i), Y(i), Z(i)) for i = 0 to n. P(u) = Sum i=0..n [(X(i), Y(i), Z(i)) * B(i, n, u)] B(i, n, u) = C(n, i) * u^i * (1-u)^(n-i) C(n, i) = n!/i!/(n-i)! A Bezier curve (or surface) is defined by its control points, which makes it invariant under any affine mapping (translation, rotation, parallel projection), and thus even under a change in the axis system. You need only to transform the control points and then compute the new curve. The control polygon defined by the points is itself affine invariant. Bezier curves also have the variation-diminishing property. This makes them easier to split compared to other types of curve such as Hermite or B-spline. Other important properties are multiple values, global and local control, versatility, and order of continuity.
- biarticulate — having two joints, as the antennae of certain insects.
- biauriculate — having two auricles or earlike parts
- billiard cue — a long cue used for playing billiards
- bio-security — the precautions taken to protect against the spread of lethal or harmful organisms and diseases
- biomolecular — relating to a biomolecule
- biscuit ware — unglazed earthenware
- black butter — beurre noir.
- black grouse — a large N European grouse, Lyrurus tetrix, the male of which has a bluish-black plumage and lyre-shaped tail
- black spruce — a coniferous tree, Picea mariana, of the northern regions of North America, growing mostly in cold bogs and having dark green needles
- black sucker — a hog sucker, Hypentelium nigricans, of eastern U.S. streams.
- black-figure — pertaining to or designating a style of vase painting developed in Greece in the 7th and 6th centuries b.c., chiefly characterized by silhouetted figures painted in black slip on a red clay body, details incised into the design, and a two-dimensional structure of form and space.
- bloodcurdler — something causing great fright or horror: a bloodcurdler of a mystery novel.
- blue succory — a composite garden plant, Catananche caerulea, of southern Europe, having very hairy leaves and blue flower heads, used by the ancients as a love potion.
- booze cruise — a day trip to a foreign country, esp from England across the English Channel to France, for the purposes of buying cheap alcohol, cigarettes, etc
- boucherville — a town in S Quebec, in E Canada, near Montreal, on the St. Lawrence.
- boulder clay — an unstratified glacial deposit consisting of fine clay, boulders, and pebbles
- bound charge — any electric charge that is bound to an atom or molecule (opposed to free charge).
- brachycerous — (of insects) having short antennae
- braunschweig — Brunswick
- breuer chair — a chair with a frame of continuous chrome tubing, no back legs, and cane seat and back
- brevicaudate — having a short tail.
- brochureware — (jargon, business) A planned, but non-existent, product, like vaporware but with the added implication that marketing is actively selling and promoting it (they've printed brochures). Brochureware is often deployed to con customers into not committing to a competing existing product. The term is now especially applicable to new websites, website revisions, and ancillary services such as customer support and product return. Owing to the explosion of database-driven, cookie-using dot-coms (of the sort that can now deduce that you are, in fact, a dog), the term is now also used to describe sites made up of static HTML pages that contain not much more than contact info and mission statements. The term suggests that the company is small, irrelevant to the web, local in scope, clueless, broke, just starting out, or some combination thereof. Many new companies without product, funding, or even staff, post brochureware with investor info and press releases to help publicise their ventures. As of December 1999, examples include pop.com and cdradio.com. Small-timers that really have no business on the web such as lawncare companies and divorce laywers inexplicably have brochureware made that stays unchanged for years.
- broncobuster — (in the western US and Canada) a cowboy who breaks in broncos or wild horses
- brunelleschi — Filippo (fiˈlippo). 1377–1446, Italian architect, whose works in Florence include the dome of the cathedral, the Pazzi chapel of Santa Croce, and the church of San Lorenzo
- buccaneering — If you describe someone as buccaneering, you mean that they enjoy being involved in risky or even dishonest activities, especially in order to make money.
- buccaneerish — of or relating to a buccaneer
- buck private — a common soldier