16-letter words containing i, b
- observation post — a forward position, often on high ground, from which enemy activity can be observed and, particularly, from which artillery or mortar fire can be directed.
- observation ward — a ward in a hospital where patients are monitored
- observationalist — One who relies on empirical observations.
- observationality — The property of being observational.
- observer mission — a mission to an area of conflict in order to observe proceedings
- obstructionistic — a person who deliberately delays or prevents progress.
- obtuse bisectrix — See under bisectrix (def 1).
- occasional table — a small table with no regular use
- october surprise — a major event, occurring shortly before a presidential election, which influences the result
- on a trial basis — for the purpose of assessment
- on the breadline — impoverished; living at subsistence level
- one-armed bandit — slot machine (def 1).
- open box testing — white box testing
- operating budget — money allocated to a project
- orbital velocity — the minimum velocity at which a body must move to maintain a given orbit.
- ordinary jubilee — the celebration of any of certain anniversaries, as the twenty-fifth (silver jubilee) fiftieth (golden jubilee) or sixtieth or seventy-fifth (diamond jubilee)
- organized labour — labour carried out by workers in trade unions, or the workers themselves
- outboard profile — an exterior side elevation of a vessel, showing all deck structures, rigging, fittings, etc.
- overexcitability — to excite too much.
- oversubscription — to subscribe for more of than is available, expected, or required: The charity drive was oversubscribed by several thousand dollars.
- overurbanization — the act or fact of urbanizing, or taking on the characteristics of a city: Urbanization has led to more air pollution and increasing childhood asthma.
- oxidation number — the state of an element or ion in a compound with regard to the electrons gained or lost by the element or ion in the reaction that formed the compound, expressed as a positive or negative number indicating the ionic charge of the element or ion.
- paint-by-numbers — formulaic; showing no original thought or creativity
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- pass-band filter — band-pass filter
- patent ambiguity — uncertainty of meaning created by the obscure or ambiguous language appearing on the face of a written instrument.
- pension benefits — the benefits that are paid to a person in accordance with his pension scheme
- personal liberty — the liberty of an individual to do his or her will freely except for those restraints imposed by law to safeguard the physical, moral, political, and economic welfare of others.
- phenoxybenzamine — an alpha blocker, C 1 8 H 2 2 ClNO, used to dilate vascular peripheral blood vessels in the treatment of Raynaud's disease and in pheochromocytoma.
- philip of swabia — 1180?–1208, king of Germany and uncrowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 1198–1208 (son of Frederick I).
- philip r. bagley — (person) A pioneer of computer document retrieval. See metadata.
- phlebothrombosis — the presence of a thrombus in a vein.
- pietermaritzburg — a province in the E part of the Republic of South Africa. 35,284 sq. mi. (91,886 sq. km). Capital: Pietermaritzburg.
- pigs in blankets — small frankfurters wrapped in dough and baked, served as an appetizer
- pinpoint bombing — precision bombing.
- pit bull terrier — American Staffordshire terrier.
- plant bargaining — a form of bargaining within industry, involving either informal small groups of employees or collective agreements at plant level
- pocket billiards — pool2 (def 1).
- poison sb's mind — If someone poisons your mind against another person, they make you dislike that person, usually by telling you things that are not true.
- police constable — police officer
- port phillip bay — a bay in SE Australia: the harbor of Melbourne. 31 miles (50 km) long; 25 miles (40 km) wide.
- portable airtime — (communications, wireless) A wireless, digital communications system enabling user-to-user voice communication, "quicknotes", and alphanumeric messaging.
- post-elizabethan — of or relating to the reign of Elizabeth I, queen of England, or to her times: Elizabethan diplomacy; Elizabethan music.
- pourriture noble — noble rot.
- powerfully built — (of a person, esp a man) big and physically strong, with large muscles
- pre-subscription — a sum of money given or pledged as a contribution, payment, investment, etc.
- presentation box — a specially designed and attractive box to hold a product, and make it look more impressive
- pribilof islands — a group of islands in the Bering Sea, off SW Alaska, belonging to the US: the breeding ground of the northern fur seal. Area: about 168 sq km (65 sq miles)
- prisoner of bill — (humour) (PoB) A derisory term, in use generally among Unix users, for anyone who uses Microsoft products either because they don't know there is anything better (i.e. Unix) or because they would be incapable of working anything more complex (i.e. Unix). The interesting and widespread presumption among users of the term is that (at least at the time of writing, 1998) using anything other than Unix or a Microsoft OS (whether VMS, Macintosh, Amiga) is so eccentric a choice as to be at least somewhat praiseworthy.
- pro bono publico — for the public good or welfare.