16-letter words containing e, m, r
- blunt instrument — something such as a hammer, used as a weapon
- bomb calorimeter — a device for determining heats of combustion by igniting a sample in a high pressure of oxygen in a sealed vessel and measuring the resulting rise in temperature: used for measuring the calorific value of foods
- bon gre, mal gre — whether willing or not; willy-nilly.
- bonhomme richard — the flagship of John Paul Jones.
- bootstrap memory — memory that allows new programs to be entered because some simple preliminary instructions or information are already built in.
- bordeaux mixture — a fungicide consisting of a solution of equal quantities of copper sulphate and quicklime
- bornholm disease — an epidemic virus infection characterized by pain round the base of the chest
- boston cream pie — a cake of two layers with icing and a creamy filling
- boulogne-sur-mer — a port in N France, on the English Channel. Pop: 44 859 (1999)
- braille embosser — Braille printer
- brass instrument — a musical wind instrument of brass or other metal with a cup-shaped mouthpiece, as the trombone, tuba, French horn, trumpet, or cornet.
- breeding plumage — the plumage assumed by a male bird during the courtship period, especially in those species that are more colorful at this period.
- broadloom carpet — any carpet woven on a wide loom and not having seams, especially one wider than 54 inches (137 cm).
- brompton mixture — a mixture of narcotics, tranquilizers, and alcohol, used to kill pain for terminally ill patients
- bronchopneumonia — inflammation of the lungs, originating in the bronchioles
- broomrape family — the plant family Orobanchaceae, characterized by scaly, leafless herbaceous plants that are parasitic on the roots of other plants and have irregular flowers and many-seeded capsular fruit, and including beechdrops, broomrape, and squawroot.
- brown house moth — a species of micro moth, Hofmannophila pseudospretella, which, although it usually inhabits birds' nests, sometimes enters houses where its larvae can be very destructive of stored fabrics and foodstuffs
- budgie smugglers — men's close-fitting swimming trunks
- bumper to bumper — If traffic is bumper to bumper, the vehicles are so close to one another that they are almost touching and are moving very slowly.
- bumper-to-bumper — marked by a long line of cars moving slowly or with many stops and starts, one behind the other: bumper-to-bumper traffic.
- bunker mentality — a defensive attitude in which others are seen as hostile or potentially hostile
- buoyancy chamber — an enclosed section of a canoe, float, ship or other object that contains air, foam, or another buoyant substance in order to help maintain buoyancy
- bury st. edmunds — a city in W Suffolk, in E England: medieval shrine.
- business manager — a person who ensures the running of a business by managing the work of relevant staff
- buttercup family — the plant family Ranunculaceae, typified by mostly herbaceous plants having usually alternate leaves, multistaminate flowers sometimes lacking petals but with colorful sepals, and including the anemone, buttercup, clematis, columbine, delphinium, and monkshood.
- butterfly damper — a damper, as in a flue, that rotates about a central axis across its face.
- butterfly scheme — A parallel version of Scheme for the BBN Butterfly computer.
- byzantine empire — the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East, esp after the deposition of the last emperor in Rome (476 ad). It was finally extinguished by the fall of Constantinople, its capital, in 1453
- cabinet minister — a minister who is a member of the cabinet
- calcium arsenate — a toxic, white powder, Ca3(AsO4)2, used as an insecticide in the form of a spray or dust
- calcium chloride — a white deliquescent salt occurring naturally in seawater and used in the de-icing of roads and as a drying agent. Formula: CaCl2
- calcium fluoride — a white, crystalline compound, CaF 2 , insoluble in water, occurring in nature as the mineral fluorite: used as a flux in metallurgy and as a decay preventive in dentifrices.
- calorimetrically — In a calorimetric manner.
- camborne-redruth — a former (until 1974) urban district in SW England, in Cornwall: formed in 1934 by the amalgamation of the neighbouring towns of Camborne and Redruth. Pop: 39 936 (2001)
- cameo appearance — a single and often brief dramatic scene played by a well-known actor or actress in a film or television play
- canada mayflower — a small wildflower (Maianthemum canadense) of the lily family, with white flowers and red, beadlike berries, found in the N U.S. and in Canada; bead-ruby
- canine distemper — distemper1 (def 1a).
- cape may warbler — a North American wood warbler, Dendroica tigrina, olive-green striped with black on the wings and back and yellow striped with black on the breast.
- cardinal numbers — Also called cardinal numeral. any of the numbers that express amount, as one, two, three, etc. (distinguished from ordinal number).
- cardiotachometer — a device for counting heartbeats, usually displaying the number of beats per minute
- careers mistress — a female teacher who gives pupils advice and information about careers
- carnot's theorem — the principle that no engine operating between two given temperatures can be more efficient than a Carnot engine operating between the same temperatures.
- category mistake — a sentence that says of something in one category what can only intelligibly be said of something in another, as when speaking of the mind located in space
- catering manager — the person in charge of the catering in a place or at an event
- celestial empire — Chinese Empire
- central american — of or relating to Central America or its inhabitants
- centrifugal pump — a pump having a high-speed rotating impeller whose blades throw the water outwards
- century meltdown — Year 2000
- chamber of trade — a national organization representing local chambers of commerce
- chance one's arm — to attempt to do something although the chance of success may be slight