12-letter words containing e, n, c, u
- authenticate — If you authenticate something, you state officially that it is genuine after examining it.
- authenticity — the quality or state of being authentic; reliability; genuineness
- autochangers — Plural form of autochanger.
- autochthones — Alternative spelling of autochthons.
- autoinjector — A medical device designed to deliver a single dose of a particular, typically life-saving, drug.
- averruncator — a long pair of shears used for pruning the higher branches of trees
- 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
- 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.
- 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).
- barcalounger — a type of reclinable armchair with an extendable footrest
- bare-knuckle — without boxing gloves
- be no slouch — If you say that someone is no slouch at a particular activity, you mean that they are skilful at it or are willing to work hard at it.
- 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.
- bechuanaland — former British territory (1884-1966) in S Africa: now the country of Botswana
- beijing duck — a roasted duck prized for its crisp skin, prepared by forcing air between skin and meat, brushing with sugar water, and hanging up to dry before final cooking.
- benefit club — a club whose members enjoy certain benefits, such as reduced prices for travel or sporting events
- beurre blanc — an emulsion of cold butter in a white wine or vinegar and shallot reduction
- black tongue — canine pellagra.
- blank cheque — If someone is given a blank cheque, they are given the authority to spend as much money as they need or want.
- bluestocking — A bluestocking is an intellectual woman.
- bonne bouche — a tasty titbit or morsel
- bonus scheme — a scheme in a company or other organization according to which employees receive a bonus if they meet specified targets
- bounce flash — a flash lamp designed to produce a bounced flash.
- bounce light — Also, bounce lighting. light that is bounced off a reflective surface onto the subject in order to achieve a softer lighting effect.
- bouncing bet — a perennial soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) with clusters of pinkish flowers
- bound charge — any electric charge that is bound to an atom or molecule (opposed to free charge).
- braunschweig — Brunswick
- 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
- bubble dance — a solo dance by a nude or nearly nude woman, as in a burlesque show, using one or more balloons for covering.
- 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
- bucket bench — a Pennsylvania Dutch dresser having a lower portion closed with doors for milk pails, an open shelf for water pails, and an upper section with shallow drawers.
- buckle under — If you buckle under to a person or a situation, you do what they want you to do, even though you do not want to do it.
- buckler fern — any of various ferns of the genus Dryopteris, such as D. dilatata (broad buckler fern): family Polypodiaceae
- buffet lunch — a lunch at which people stand up and help themselves from the table
- bumping race — (esp at Oxford and Cambridge) a race in which rowing eights start an equal distance one behind the other and each tries to bump the boat in front
- butter icing — a mixture of butter and icing sugar used for filling or topping cakes
- cadent house — any of the four houses that precede the angles: the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth houses, which correspond, respectively, to neighborhood and relatives, work and health, philosophy and foreign travel, and secret matters and service to others.
- cafe curtain — a short curtain suspended directly downward from a series of rings sliding on a horizontal rod so as to cover the lower and sometimes upper portions of a window.
- calceamentum — (in ancient Rome) a sandal, boot, shoe, or other type of footwear
- calreticulin — (protein) A multifunctional protein that binds calcium ions.
- camp lejeune — a U.S. Marine Corps base in SE North Carolina SE of Jacksonville on Onslow Bay.
- canaliculate — having a groove or grooves
- canorousness — The quality of being musical.
- cantankerous — Someone who is cantankerous is always finding things to argue or complain about.