12-letter words containing i, b, n
- brilliantine — a perfumed oil used to make the hair smooth and shiny
- brine shrimp — any of a genus (Artemia) of small fairy shrimp found in salt lakes and marshes and used as living, frozen, or dried food in aquariums
- brinell test — a test for determining the relative hardness (Brinell hardness) of a metal by measuring the diameter of the indentation made when a hardened steel ball is forced into the metal under a given pressure: the measure of hardness (Brinell number) is equal to the load in kilograms divided by the surface area in square millimeters of the indentation
- bring action — to start a lawsuit
- bring around — If you bring someone around when they are unconscious, you make them become conscious again.
- bring to bay — to force into a position from which retreat is impossible
- brinkmanship — Brinkmanship is a method of behaviour, especially in politics, in which you deliberately get into dangerous situations which could result in disaster but which could also bring success.
- brisbane box — a broad-leaved evergreen tree, Tristania conferta, native to Australia, having a deciduous outer bark.
- broad-minded — If you describe someone as broad-minded, you approve of them because they are willing to accept types of behaviour which other people consider immoral.
- broadcasting — Broadcasting is the making and sending out of television and radio programmes.
- broken-field — of or having to do with running in which the ball carrier zigzags so as to go past defenders and avoid being tackled by them
- bronchogenic — bronchial in origin
- brown bag it — to bring (one's own liquor) to a restaurant or club, especially one that has no liquor license.
- brown-nosing — If you accuse someone of brown-nosing, you are saying in a rather offensive way that they are agreeing with someone important in order to get their support.
- browser skin — a changeable decorative background for a browser
- 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 point — the temperature at which bubbles just start to appear in a heated liquid mixture
- 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
- buccolingual — of or relating to the cheek and tongue.
- bud mutation — a variation produced by a genetic alteration in the bud such that the seeds produced by the resulting growth perpetuate the change in succeeding generations.
- buenos aires — the capital of Argentina, a major port and industrial city on the Río de la Plata estuary: became capital in 1880; university (1821). Pop: 13 349 000 (2005 est)
- bull session — A bull session is an informal conversation among a small group of people.
- bull-baiting — the setting of dogs on a chained or confined bull, formerly a popular pastime in England
- bullet point — A bullet point is one of a series of important items for discussion or action in a document, usually marked by a square or round symbol.
- bullet train — a passenger train that travels at very high speed
- bullfighting — Bullfighting is the public entertainment in which people try to kill bulls in bullfights.
- 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
- bunco artist — a confidence trickster or con artist
- bunny boiler — a person, esp a woman, who is considered to be emotionally unstable and likely to be dangerously vengeful
- bunny rabbit — rabbit
- buoyancy aid — a type of usually foam-filled lifejacket designed for use in sports such as canoeing
- burial mound — a barrow
- burkina faso — an inland republic in W Africa: dominated by Mossi kingdoms (10th–19th centuries); French protectorate established in 1896; became an independent republic in 1960; consists mainly of a flat savanna plateau. Official language: French; Mossi and other African languages also widely spoken. Religion: mostly animist, with a large Muslim minority. Currency: franc. Capital: Ouagadougou. Pop: 17 812 961 (2013 est). Area: 273 200 sq km (105 900 sq miles)
- burning bush — a rutaceous shrub, Dictamnus fraxinella, of S Europe and Asia, whose glands release a volatile inflammable oil that can burn without harming the plant: identified as the bush from which God spoke to Moses (Exodus 3:2–4)
- burning ghat — a platform at the top of a riverside ghat where Hindus cremate their dead.
- burnt sienna — a reddish-brown dye or pigment obtained by roasting raw sienna in a furnace
- bush singlet — a black woollen singlet often worn by farm labourers
- bushfighting — fighting in the bush
- bushwhacking — to make one's way through woods by cutting at undergrowth, branches, etc.
- business end — The business end of a tool or weapon is the end of it which does the work or causes damage rather than the end that you hold.
- businesslike — If you describe someone as businesslike, you mean that they deal with things in an efficient way without wasting time.
- butter icing — a mixture of butter and icing sugar used for filling or topping cakes
- butter knife — a knife, often with a curved tip, used for picking up butter at a table
- button quail — any small quail-like terrestrial bird of the genus Turnix, such as T. sylvatica (striped button quail), occurring in tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World: family Turnicidae, order Gruiformes (cranes, rails, etc)
- buttonholing — the hole, slit, or loop through which a button is passed and by which it is secured.
- buying group — an association of companies who use their combined purchasing power to achieve the best prices from suppliers
- buying order — an order to buy a certain security
- buying power — the amount of services or goods a company, person, group or currency is able to purchase
- buying spree — the hurried acquisition by a company, of goods, assets, or other companies