12-letter words containing h, e, r, b, o
- bourne shell — (sh, Shellish). The original command-line interpreter shell and script language for Unix written by S.R. Bourne of Bell Laboratories in 1978. sh has been superseded for interactive use by the Berkeley C shell, csh but still widely used for writing shell scripts. There were even earlier shells, see glob. [Details?]
- bow thruster — a propeller located in a ship's bow to provide added maneuverability, as when docking.
- boxer shorts — Boxer shorts are loose-fitting men's underpants that are shaped like the shorts worn by boxers.
- brachycerous — (of insects) having short antennae
- branch depot — one of a several depots receiving stock from the same central supplier
- breakthrough — A breakthrough is an important development or achievement.
- breastplough — a plough driven by the worker's breast, often used to pare turf
- breath group — a sequence of sounds articulated in the course of a single exhalation; an utterance or part of an utterance produced between pauses for breath.
- breechloader — any gun loaded at the breech
- bridge cloth — a tablecloth for a bridge table.
- bridge house — a deckhouse including a bridge or bridges for navigation.
- bristlemouth — any of several small, deep-sea fishes of the family Gonostomatidae, having numerous sharp, slender teeth covering the jaws.
- 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.
- broken chord — a chord played as an arpeggio
- broken heart — If you say that someone has a broken heart, you mean that they are very sad, for example because a love affair has ended unhappily.
- broken-check — a check pattern in which the rectangular shapes are slightly irregular.
- bromomethane — methyl bromide.
- bronchogenic — bronchial in origin
- bronchoscope — an instrument for examining and providing access to the interior of the bronchial tubes
- brown hackle — an artificial fly having a peacock herl body, golden tag and tail, and brown hackle.
- brush border — a layer of tightly packed minute finger-like protuberances on cells that line absorptive surfaces, such as those of the intestine and kidney
- brush flower — a flower or inflorescence with numerous long stamens, usually pollinated by birds or bats
- burner phone — a disposable cell phone with prepaid service, often used with the intent to temporarily obscure the true identity or contact information of the user: Members of the cartel used burner phones to evade federal surveillance. I always give out the number from my burner phone when I’m going on a blind date.
- butcher shop — a shop in which meat, poultry, and sometimes fish are sold.
- butter cloth — a type of open, unsized muslin
- butterscotch — Butterscotch is a hard yellowish-brown sweet made from butter and sugar boiled together.
- by the score — If things happen or exist by the score, they happen or exist in large numbers.
- cancerphobia — an excessive fear of getting cancer
- carbocholine — carbachol.
- carbohydrase — a digestive enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates through hydrolysis
- carbohydrate — Carbohydrates are substances, found in certain kinds of food, that provide you with energy. Foods such as sugar and bread that contain these substances can also be referred to as carbohydrates.
- cerebropathy — A hypochondriacal condition verging upon insanity, occurring in those whose brains have been unduly taxed.
- chamber tomb — a prehistoric tomb with a chamber inside it in which the body of an important person was laid to rest
- chapter book — a children's book, typically a work of fiction, of moderate length and complexity, divided into chapters and intended for readers approximately seven to ten years old
- charlesbourg — city in S Quebec, Canada: pop. 71,000
- chatterboxes — Plural form of chatterbox.
- checkerbloom — a Californian malvaceous plant, Sidalcea malvaeflora, with pink or purple flowers
- checkerboard — A checkerboard is a square board with 64 black and white squares that is used for playing checkers or chess.
- cheese board — A cheese board is a board from which cheese is served at a meal.
- cheeseboards — Plural form of cheeseboard.
- chequerboard — Alternative spelling of checkerboard.
- chimneyboard — a partition or a cover to shut off a fireplace
- chokeberries — Plural form of chokeberry.
- clothesbrush — A brush for the clothes.
- coachbuilder — (historical) A builder of horse-drawn coaches.
- copper beech — A copper beech is a type of tree with reddish-brown leaves.
- crossbencher — A member of the British parliament, or a similar assembly, who does not vote regularly with either the government or the main opposition party.
- dasher block — a block at the end of a yard or gaff for supporting a signal or ensign halyard.
- debaucherous — tending toward or involving debauchery, or excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures: a night of debaucherous fun.
- die horribly — (jargon) The software equivalent of crash and burn, and the preferred emphatic form of die. "The converter choked on an FF in its input and died horribly".