16-letter words containing e, u, r, o
- 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
- brown-eyed susan — a composite plant, Rudbeckia triloba, of the southeastern U.S., having a single flower with yellow rays darkening to an orange orbrown at the base and a brownish-black disk.
- brussels griffon — one of a Belgian breed of toy dogs having a thick, wiry, reddish-brown coat.
- bulletproof vest — a protective garment
- bullock's oriole — a common oriole, Icterus galbula bullockii, of western North America: a subspecies of the northern oriole.
- 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.
- bundle of nerves — a very nervous person
- bundled software — software sold as part of a package with computers or other hardware or software
- 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
- burgundy trefoil — alfalfa.
- burn oneself out — to undergo rapid combustion or consume fuel in such a way as to give off heat, gases, and, usually, light; be on fire: The fire burned in the grate.
- burning question — urgent matter for discussion
- burrowing blenny — graveldiver.
- butterfly ballot — a ballot paper in the form of two leaves extending from a central spine
- butterfly flower — Also called Jerusalem date. a shrub or small tree, Bauhinia monandra, of French Guiana, having clusters of pink, purple-streaked flowers.
- butterfly orchid — an orchid (Oncidium papilio) with reddish flowers, native to South America
- butterfly stroke — a swimming stroke in which the arms are plunged forward together in large circular movements
- button snakeroot — blazing star (sense 1)
- buying behaviour — the behaviours displayed by consumers when they purchase things, such as preferences, price points, etc
- 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.
- call to quarters — a bugle call shortly before taps, notifying soldiers to retire to their quarters
- 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)
- cantankerousness — disagreeable to deal with; contentious; peevish: a cantankerous, argumentative man.
- capsule wardrobe — a collection of clothes and accessories that includes only items considered essential
- carbon bisulfide — carbon disulfide
- carbon disulfide — a heavy, volatile, colorless liquid, CS2, highly flammable and poisonous, used as a solvent, insecticide, etc.
- cardiac neurosis — an anxiety reaction characterized by quick fatigue, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, and other cardiac symptoms, but not caused by disease of the heart.
- carolus linnaeus — Carolus [kar-uh-luh s] /ˈkær ə ləs/ (Show IPA), (Carl von Linné) 1707–78, Swedish botanist.
- carpatho-ukraine — a region in W Ukraine: ceded by Czechoslovakia in 1945.
- carry-on luggage — luggage that is taken inside an aircraft by hand personally by a passenger
- caryophyllaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Caryophyllaceae, a family of flowering plants including the pink, carnation, sweet william, and chickweed
- cathode ray tube — (hardware) (CRT) An electrical device for displaying images by exciting phosphor dots with a scanned electron beam. CRTs are found in computer VDUs and monitors, televisions and oscilloscopes. The first commercially practical CRT was perfected on 29 January 1901 by Allen B DuMont. A large glass envelope containing a negative electrode (the cathode) emits electrons (formerly called "cathode rays") when heated, as in a vacuum tube. The electrons are accelerated across a large voltage gradient toward the flat surface of the tube (the screen) which is covered with phosphor. When an electron strikes the phosphor, light is emitted. The electron beam is deflected by electromagnetic coils around the outside of the tube so that it scans across the screen, usually in horizontal stripes. This scan pattern is known as a raster. By controlling the current in the beam, the brightness at any particular point (roughly a "pixel") can be varied. Different phosphors have different "persistence" - the length of time for which they glow after being struck by electrons. If the scanning is done fast enough, the eye sees a steady image, due to both the persistence of the phospor and of the eye itself. CRTs also differ in their dot pitch, which determines their spatial resolution, and in whether they use interlace or not.
- cathode-ray tube — A cathode-ray tube is a device in televisions and computer terminals which sends an image onto the screen.
- cedar revolution — the popular protests in 2005 that brought down the Lebanese cabinet and prompted Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon
- central european — involving or denoting the people, countries, cultures, or languages of Central Europe
- century meltdown — Year 2000
- chalon-sur-saône — an industrial city in E central France, on the Saône River. Pop: 50 124 (1999)
- character armour — the defence an individual exhibits to others and to himself or herself to disguise his or her underlying weaknesses: a term coined by William Reich
- charles coughlin — Charles Edward ("Father Coughlin") 1891–1979, U.S. Roman Catholic priest, activist, radio broadcaster, and editor, born in Canada.
- chatsworth house — a mansion near Bakewell in Derbyshire: seat of the Dukes of Devonshire; built (1687–1707) in the classical style
- check-in counter — The check-in counter at an airport or hotel is the counter or desk where you check in.
- checkout counter — a checkout
- chemoautotrophic — producing organic matter by the use of energy obtained by oxidation of certain chemicals with carbon dioxide as the carbon source
- chemotherapeutic — of or used in chemotherapy
- chicken mushroom — an edible yellow-to-orange bracket fungus, Laetiporus sulphureus, common on tree trunks, in which it causes wood decay.
- cholera infantum — an often fatal form of gastroenteritis occurring in infants, not of the same cause as cholera but having somewhat similar characteristics.
- chromatic number — (mathematics) The smallest number of colours necessary to colour the nodes of a graph so that no two adjacent nodes have the same colour. See also: four colour map theorem.
- chromic fluoride — a green, crystalline, water-insoluble powder, CrF 3 ⋅4H 2 O or CrF 3 ⋅9H 2 O: used chiefly in printing and dyeing woolens.