24-letter words containing i, b, r, a
- skeleton in the cupboard — a scandalous fact or event in the past that is kept secret
- st.-bruno-de-montarville — a town in S Quebec, in E Canada, near Montreal.
- standard housing benefit — a rebate of a proportion of a person's eligible housing costs paid by a local authority and calculated on the basis of level of income and family size
- sth bodes ill/augurs ill — If something bodes ill or augurs ill, it gives you a reason to fear that something harmful might happen soon.
- subordinate con-junction — a conjunction introducing a subordinate clause, as when in They were glad when I finished.
- take sb under one's wing — If you take someone under your wing, you look after them, help them, and protect them.
- take/draw sb to one side — If you take someone to one side or draw them to one side, you speak to them privately, usually in order to give them advice or a warning.
- the birds and (the) bees — Some people refer to the birds and the bees when they are talking about sex, especially to children.
- the realm of possibility — If you say that something is not beyond the realms of possibility, you mean that it is possible.
- three-spined stickleback — a small teleost fish, Gasterosteus aculeatus, of the family Gasterosteidae, of rivers and coastal regions, having three spines along the back and occurring in cold and temperate northern regions
- throw one's weight about — to act in an authoritarian or aggressive manner
- to go for the brass ring — to try to succeed in an area where there is a lot of competition
- to make a break (for it) — If you make a break or make a break for it, you run to escape from something.
- to pick someone's brains — If you pick someone's brains, you ask them to help you with a problem because they know more about the subject than you.
- to strike a blow for sth — If you strike a blow for a particular cause or principle, you do something that supports it or makes it more likely to succeed.
- tricarboxylic acid cycle — Krebs cycle.
- tuva autonomous republic — an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation in Asia: formerly an independent republic in Mongolia. 65,810 sq. mi. (170,500 sq. km). Capital: Kyzyl.
- van allen radiation belt — a broad, doughnut-shaped region surrounding the earth and composed of high-energy electrons and protons trapped in the earth's magnetic field at heights between c. 400 km (c. 250 mi) and c. 64,370 km (c. 40,000 mi)
- variable (interest) rate — an interest rate that varies in relation to fluctuations in the market rates of interest, as over the time period of a loan or mortgage
- variable pitch propeller — a propeller in which the angle of the blades with regard to air flow can be adjusted while it is in operation
- ventricular fibrillation — Pathology. a cardiac arrhythmia characterized by rapid, chaotic electrical impulses to the ventricles, incomplete ventricular contractions, and resultant loss of pulse and blood pressure.
- verrazano-narrows bridge — a suspension bridge connecting Brooklyn and Staten Island in New York City. 4260-foot (1298-meter) center span, the longest in North America.
- visual component library — (programming) VCL A application framework library for Microsoft Windows and Borland Software Corp.'s Delphi and C++Builder rapid application development software. VCL was originally designed for Delphi but is now also used for C++Builder. This replaces OWL Object Windows Library as Borland's Windows C++ framework of choice. VCL encapsulates the C-based Win32 API into a much easier to use, object-oriented form. Like its direct rival, Microsoft Foundation Class Library (MFC), VCL includes classes to create Windows programs. The VCL component class can be inherited to create new VCL components, which are the building blocks of Delphi and C++Builder applications. VCL components are somewhat in competition with ActiveX controls, though a VCL wrapper can be created to make an ActiveX control seem like a VCL component.
- von willebrand's disease — an inherited autosomal recessive disease in which abnormally slow coagulation of blood may lead to spontaneous bleeding, excessive bleeding following an injury, and heavy menstrual flow.
- win (or lose) by a neck — to win (or lose) by the length of a horse's head and neck
- world boxing association — the international organization which regulates the sport of boxing
- yellow-bellied sapsucker — a woodpecker, Sphyrapicus varius, of eastern North America, having a red patch on the forehead and black and white plumage with a pale-yellow abdomen, and feeding on sap from trees.