12-letter words containing i, r
- brigham city — a city in N Utah.
- bright spark — If you say that some bright spark had a particular idea or did something, you mean that their idea or action was clever, or that it seemed clever but was silly in some way.
- bright-field — of or relating to the illuminated region about the object of a microscope.
- 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.
- brise-soleil — a structure used in hot climates to protect a window from the sun, usually consisting of horizontal or vertical strips of wood, concrete, etc
- bristlemouth — any of several small, deep-sea fishes of the family Gonostomatidae, having numerous sharp, slender teeth covering the jaws.
- british list — a list, maintained by the British Ornithologists' Union, of birds accepted as occurring at least once in the British Isles
- british rail — the organization that ran the British railway system from 1948 until privatization in the mid-1990s
- british warm — an army officer's short thick overcoat
- brittle star — any echinoderm of the class Ophiuroidea, having the body composed of a central, rounded disk from which radiate long, slender, fragile arms.
- brittle-star — any echinoderm of the class Ophiuroidea, occurring on the sea bottom and having five long slender arms radiating from a small central disc
- 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
- bromhidrosis — the secretion of foul-smelling sweat.
- 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
- brushability — the quality of being brushable
- 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
- buck private — a common soldier
- 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)
- buffalo bird — a cowbird, Molothrus ater, of North America.
- bulk carrier — a ship that carries unpackaged cargo, usually consisting of a single dry commodity, such as coal or grain
- bull terrier — A bull terrier is a breed of strong dog with a short, whitish coat and a thick neck.
- bullet train — a passenger train that travels at very high speed
- 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
- bur marigold — any plant of the genus Bidens that has yellow flowers and pointed fruits that cling to fur and clothing: family Asteraceae (composites)
- bureaucratic — Bureaucratic means involving complicated rules and procedures which can cause long delays.
- burial mound — a barrow
- burj khalifa — a slender tapering skyscraper in Dubai; completed in 2009; the world's tallest man-made structure, standing at 828m (2716 ft)
- 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
- burrillville — a town in N Rhode Island.
- burro's tail — a succulent Mexican plant, Sedum morganianum, of the stonecrop family, bearing small, rose-colored flowers and long, hanging, nearly cylindrical stems with closely packed whitish-green leaves.