15-letter words containing i, a, r
- automatic drive — an automotive transmission requiring either very little or no manual shifting of gears.
- automatic rifle — a type of light machine gun capable of firing automatically or in single shots.
- automorphically — in an automorphic manner
- autoradiographs — Plural form of autoradiograph.
- autoradiography — the technique or process of making autoradiographs.
- autorhythmicity — The quality of being autorhythmic, or generating its own rhythm, as for example the cells of the cardiac muscle do.
- autotetraploidy — the generation of the tetraploid state, created by the fusing of two nuclei from the same species
- autotransfusion — a process in which a patient receives some of his or her own blood in a transfusion rather than a donor's blood
- autotrophically — through an autotrophic process
- auxiliary rotor — the tail rotor of a helicopter, used for directional and rotary control
- aviator glasses — sunglasses that look like goggles
- away-going crop — a crop planted by a tenant that matures after the expiration of the tenancy and is rightfully the tenant's to harvest.
- azobisformamide — (chemistry) azodicarbonamide.
- back plastering — the introduction of partitions of lath and plaster between the inner and outer surfaces of a stud wall in order to improve the insulating properties of the wall.
- back projection — a method of projecting pictures onto a translucent screen so that they are viewed from the opposite side, used esp in films to create the illusion that the actors in the foreground are moving
- back-scratching — a reciprocal exchange of favors, aid, or compliments
- backseat driver — If you refer to a passenger in a car as a backseat driver, they annoy you because they constantly give you advice about how to drive.
- backup rotation — (operating system) Any system for re-using backup media, e.g. magnetic tape. One extreme would be to use the same media for every backup (e.g. copy disk A to disk B), the other extreme would be to use new media every time. The trade-off is between the cost of buying and storing media and the ability to restore any version of any file. One example is the Grandfather, Father, Son (GFS) scheme.
- baconian theory — the theory attributing the authorship of Shakespeare's plays to Francis Bacon.
- bacterial ghost — a bacterial cell that is emptied and filled artificially with another substance
- bacteriological — Of or relating to bacteriology or bacteria.
- bacteriophagous — Pertaining to the predation and consumption of bacterium.
- badminton court — the court on which games of badminton are played
- baggage reclaim — the process of passengers' getting back the baggage that they have checked in for a flight
- baja california — peninsula in Mexico, between the Pacific & the Gulf of California: divided into a northern state (Baja California), 27,071 sq mi (70,114 sq km), pop. 1,661,000, cap. Mexicali; and a southern state (Baja California Sur), 28,447 sq mi (73,677 sq km), pop. 318,000, cap. La Paz
- ballet mistress — a woman who teaches and rehearses the dancers in a ballet company
- ballpark figure — approximate number
- banana republic — Small, poor countries that are politically unstable are sometimes referred to as banana republics.
- bandpass filter — A bandpass filter is a filter designed to pass all frequencies within a band of frequencies.
- bandstop filter — A bandstop filter is a filter designed to eliminate all frequencies within a band of frequencies.
- bangtail muster — a roundup of cattle to be counted, each one having the hairs on its tail docked as it is counted
- banking product — one of the various services offered by a bank to its customers: mortgages, loans, insurance etc
- banner headline — A banner headline is a large headline in a newspaper that stretches across the front page.
- baptism of fire — If someone who has just begun a new job has a baptism of fire, they immediately have to cope with very many severe difficulties and obstacles.
- bar examination — a written examination to determine if one is qualified to practice law in a particular jurisdiction.
- barberry family — the plant family Berberidaceae, characterized by shrubs and herbaceous plants having very varied leaves and flowers and fruit in the form of a berry or capsule, and including the barberry, May apple, and Oregon grape.
- barbituric acid — a white crystalline solid used in the preparation of barbiturate drugs. Formula: C4H4N2O3
- barbizon school — a group of French painters of landscapes of the 1840s, including Théodore Rousseau, Daubigny, Diaz, Corot, and Millet
- barcelona chair — an armless, padded leather chair on a steel frame shaped like a curved X: Barcelona is a trademark for this chair
- bare infinitive — an infinitive verb form without to, used with certain auxiliary verbs , as in I must go. All I did was ask. We might win.
- bargain counter — a store counter on which goods are displayed for sale at reduced prices
- bargain-hunting — the act of shopping for items sold at cheap, esp discounted, prices
- bargaining chip — In negotiations with other people, a bargaining chip is something that you are prepared to give up in order to obtain what you want.
- bargaining unit — a specific group of employees who are covered by the same collective agreement or set of agreements and represented by the same bargaining agent or agents
- barium chloride — a poisonous compound, BaCl2, consisting of flat white crystals that are soluble in water: it is used to treat water, metals, leather, etc.
- barium chromate — a yellow, crystalline compound, BaCrO 4 , used as a pigment (barium yellow)
- barium peroxide — a gray-white powder, BaO2, used as a bleach and in making hydrogen peroxide
- barium stearate — a white, crystalline, water-insoluble solid, Ba(C 18 H 35 O 2) 2 , used chiefly as a waterproofing agent and as a lubricant.
- barium sulphate — a white insoluble fine dense powder, used as a pigment, as a filler for paper, rubber, etc, and in barium meals. Formula: BaSO4
- barium titanate — a crystalline ceramic used in capacitors and piezoelectric devices. Formula: BaTiO3