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15-letter words containing e, n, s, o

  • belief revision — (artificial intelligence)   The area of theory change in which preservation of the information in the theory to be changed plays a key role. A fundamental issue in belief revision is how to decide what information to retract in order to maintain consistency, when the addition of a new belief to a theory would make it inconsistent. Usually, an ordering on the sentences of the theory is used to determine priorities among sentences, so that those with lower priority can be retracted. This ordering can be difficult to generate and maintain. The postulates of the AGM Theory for Belief Revision describe minimal properties a revision process should have.
  • ben day process — a method of adding texture, shading, or detail to line drawings by overlaying a transparent sheet of dots or any other pattern during platemaking
  • benefit society — an organization which, by means of dues, secures for its members certain benefits, such as life insurance, hospitalization, etc.
  • bessel function — one of several transcendental functions, usually represented as power series, that are solutions to a group of related differential equations.
  • bet one's boots — to be certain
  • beta conversion — (theory)   A term from lambda-calculus for beta reduction or beta abstraction.
  • beurre noisette — a sauce of butter cooked until golden or nut brown, sometimes flavored with capers, vinegar, herbs, etc.
  • beyond question — a sentence in an interrogative form, addressed to someone in order to get information in reply.
  • beyond sb's ken — If something is beyond your ken, you do not have enough knowledge to be able to understand it.
  • bide one's time — to wait patiently for an opportunity
  • billings method — a natural method of birth control that involves examining the colour and viscosity of the cervical mucus to discover when ovulation is occurring
  • binomial series — an infinite series obtained by expanding a binomial raised to a power that is not a positive integer.
  • bioluminescence — the production of light by living organisms as a result of the oxidation of a light-producing substance (luciferin) by the enzyme luciferase: occurs in many marine organisms, insects such as the firefly, etc
  • bit on the side — an extramarital affair
  • biting housefly — a two-winged fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, having the mouthparts adapted for biting, and commonly a household and stable pest.
  • bits per second — (communications, unit)   (bps, b/s) The unit in which data rate is measured. For example, a modem's data rate is usually measured in kilobits per second. In 1996, the maximum modem speed for use on the PSTN was 33.6 kbps, rising to 56 kbps in 1997. Note that kilo- (k), mega- (M), etc. in data rates denote powers of 1000, not 1024.
  • black snakeroot — a tall bugbane, Cimicifuga racemosa, of the buttercup family, of eastern North America, having thin, tapering, toothed or deeply cut leaflets and branched clusters of small, white flowers.
  • blagoveshchensk — a city and port in E Russia, in Siberia on the Amur River. Pop: 222 000 (2005 est)
  • blasphemousness — the quality of being blasphemous
  • blast injection — the injection of liquid fuel directly into the cylinder of an internal-combustion engine using a blast of high-pressure air to atomize the spray of fuel
  • blasting powder — a form of gunpowder made with sodium nitrate instead of saltpeter, used chiefly for blasting rock, ore, etc.
  • bloodguiltiness — guilty of murder or bloodshed.
  • blossom-end rot — a disease of tomato and pepper caused by a deficiency of calcium, characterized by decay at the blossom end of the fruit.
  • blow one's cool — (of the wind or air) to be in motion.
  • blow one's cork — to lose one's temper; become enraged
  • blow one's horn — to boast about oneself; brag
  • blow one's mind — (in a human or other conscious being) the element, part, substance, or process that reasons, thinks, feels, wills, perceives, judges, etc.: the processes of the human mind.
  • blueback salmon — sockeye salmon.
  • body mass index — A person's body mass index is a measurement that represents the relationship between their weight and their height.
  • bohemian forest — a mountain range between the SW Czech Republic and SE Germany. Highest peak: Arber, 1457 m (4780 ft)
  • boiled dressing — a cooked salad dressing thickened with egg yolks and often containing mustard.
  • bologna sausage — a large smoked sausage made of seasoned mixed meats
  • book of changes — an ancient Chinese book of divination, in which 64 pairs of trigrams are shown with various interpretations.
  • booster cushion — an extra seat or cushion placed on an existing seat for a child to sit on in a car
  • borderline case — a person or thing that is not clearly classifiable as something
  • borough-english — (until 1925) a custom in certain English boroughs whereby the youngest son inherited land to the exclusion of his older brothers
  • boston marriage — (especially in 19th-century New England) an intimate friendship between two women often maintaining a household together.
  • boston massacre — an outbreak (1770) in Boston against British troops, in which a few citizens were killed
  • boustrophedonic — of or relating to lines written in opposite directions
  • brachistochrone — the curve between two points through which a body moves under the force of gravity in a shorter time than for any other curve; the path of quickest descent
  • branchiostegous — branchiostegal.
  • brand extension — the practice of using a well-known brand name to promote new products or services in unrelated fields
  • breeding season — the time of year during which animals breed
  • bristol channel — an inlet of the Atlantic, between S Wales and SW England, merging into the Severn estuary. Length: about 137 km (85 miles)
  • brocken specter — an optical phenomenon sometimes occurring at high altitudes when the image of an observer placed between the sun and a cloud is projected on the cloud as a greatly magnified shadow.
  • bronchial tubes — the bronchi or their smaller divisions
  • bronze diabetes — hemochromatosis.
  • brother-in-arms — a fellow soldier or comrade in a shared struggle
  • brown-and-serve — requiring only a brief period of browning, as in an oven, before being ready to serve: brown-and-serve rolls.
  • brownfield site — a disused site envisaged for redevelopment
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