14-letter words containing i, n, d, a, r
- beta reduction — [lambda-calculus] The application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. A copy of the body of the lambda abstraction is made and occurrences of the bound variable being replaced by the argument. E.g. (\ x . x+1) 4 --> 4+1 Beta reduction is the only kind of reduction in the pure lambda-calculus. The opposite of beta reduction is beta abstraction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion. See also name capture.
- beta-endorphin — a potent endorphin released by the anterior pituitary gland in response to pain, trauma, exercise, or other forms of stress.
- beveridge plan — the plan for comprehensive social insurance, proposed by Sir William Beveridge in Great Britain in 1941.
- bib and tucker — an outfit of clothes (esp in the phrase best bib and tucker)
- bidding prayer — the formal petitionary prayer, said especially in the Anglican Church immediately before the sermon.
- bildungsromane — a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist.
- binding rafter — a timber for supporting rafters between their extremities, as a purlin.
- binding strake — a very strong, heavy strake of planking, especially one next to a sheer strake.
- biodegradation — to decay and become absorbed by the environment: toys that will biodegrade when they're discarded.
- bioremediation — the use of plants to extract heavy metals from contaminated soils and water
- bird sanctuary — an area of land in which birds are protected and encouraged to breed
- birds and bees — any warm-blooded vertebrate of the class Aves, having a body covered with feathers, forelimbs modified into wings, scaly legs, a beak, and no teeth, and bearing young in a hard-shelled egg.
- blade-shearing — the shearing of sheep using hand shears
- bleeding heart — If you describe someone as a bleeding heart, you are criticizing them for being sympathetic towards people who are poor and suffering, without doing anything practical to help.
- blind staggers — the staggers
- blood relation — A blood relation or blood relative is someone who is related to you by birth rather than by marriage.
- board chairman — the chairman of the board of a company, etc
- boarding house — A boarding house is a house which people pay to stay in for a short time.
- boarding party — group of officers or sailors who board a ship
- boatswain bird — tropic bird.
- botanic garden — a place in which plants are grown, studied, and exhibited
- bound variable — (in the functional calculus) a variable occurring in a quantifier and in a sentential function within the scope of the quantifier.
- boundary rider — an employee on a sheep or cattle station whose job is to maintain fences in good repair and to prevent stock from straying
- brachydiagonal — the shorter lateral axis of a rhombic prism
- brachypinakoid — the side parallel to the shorter horizontal axis in a crystal
- branched chain — an open chain of atoms with one or more side chains attached to it
- brandy snifter — snifter (def 1).
- brazing solder — an alloy of copper and zinc for joining two metal surfaces by melting the alloy so that it forms a thin layer between the surfaces
- breast-feeding — to nurse (a baby) at the breast; suckle.
- breech-loading — (of a firearm) loaded at the breech
- brobdingnagian — gigantic; huge; immense
- bronchodilator — any drug or other agent that causes dilation of the bronchial tubes by relaxing bronchial muscle: used, esp in the form of aerosol sprays, for the relief of asthma
- building paper — any of various types of heavy-duty paper that usually consist of bitumen reinforced with fibre sandwiched between two sheets of kraft paper: used in damp-proofing or as insulation between the soil and a road surface
- building trade — the economic sector comprising all companies and workers involved in construction
- bulletin board — A bulletin board is a board which is usually attached to a wall in order to display notices giving information about something.
- cadmium bronze — an alloy of copper with about 1 percent cadmium.
- cadmium orange — a yellow color approaching orange.
- campina grande — a city in NE Brazil, in E Paraíba state. Pop: 366 000 (2005 est)
- can ill afford — If you say that someone can ill afford to do something, or can ill afford something, you mean that they must prevent it from happening because it would be harmful or embarrassing to them.
- canadian river — a river in the southern US, rising in NE New Mexico and flowing east to the Arkansas River in E Oklahoma. Length: 1458 km (906 miles)
- canary islands — a group of mountainous islands in the Atlantic off the NW coast of Africa, forming an Autonomous Community of Spain. Capital: Las Palmas. Pop: 1 944 700 (2003 est)
- carbon dioxide — Carbon dioxide is a gas. It is produced by animals and people breathing out, and by chemical reactions.
- carbon trading — Carbon trading is the practice of buying and selling the right to produce carbon dioxide emissions, so that people, countries or companies who use a lot of fuel and electricity can buy rights from those that do not use so much.
- cardinal point — The cardinal points are the four main points of the compass, north, south, east, and west.
- cardinal tetra — a small, brilliantly colored red and blue characin fish, Paracheirodon axelrodi, native to tropical forest streams in Brazil and Colombia: a popular aquarium fish.
- cardinal trait — a basic and dominant characteristic, as greed or ambition, that, according to a theory developed by psychologist Gordon Allport (1936), controls the behavior of many people.
- cardinal vowel — any one of eight primary, purportedly invariant, sustained vowel sounds that constitute a reference set for describing the vowel inventory of a language.
- cardiocentesis — surgical puncture of the heart
- carrion feeder — any animal that feeds on dead and rotting flesh
- cash dispenser — A cash dispenser is a machine built into the wall of a bank or other building, which allows people to take out money from their bank account using a special card.