17-letter words containing i, u
- automatic vending — selling goods by vending machines
- automatic writing — writing performed without apparent intent or conscious control, especially to achieve spontaneity or uncensored expression.
- autosensitization — autoimmunization.
- auxiliary storage — secondary storage.
- aviation industry — a collective term for the companies involved in air transport
- avoirdupois pound — a pound weighing 16 ounces
- bari delle puglie — Italian name of Bari.
- barrow-in-furness — an industrial town in NW England, in S Cumbria. Pop: 47 194 (2001)
- bbc microcomputer — A series of 6502-based personal computers launched by Acorn Computers Ltd. in January 1982, for use in the British Broadcasting Corporation's educational programmes on computing. The computers are noted for their reliability (many are still in active service in 1994) and both hardware and software were designed for easy expansion. The 6502-based computers were succeeded in 1987 by the Acorn Archimedes family.
- be running scared — If you say that a person or group is running scared, you mean that they are frightened of what someone might do to them or what might happen.
- be well out of it — If you say to someone who is no longer involved in a situation that they are well out of it, you mean that it is a good thing they are no longer involved and they should be pleased about this.
- beauty specialist — a person who helps someone to improve their beauty, such as a make-up artist
- behaviour therapy — any of various means of treating psychological disorders, such as desensitization, aversion therapy, and instrumental conditioning, that depend on the patient systematically learning new modes of behaviour
- bighorn mountains — range of the Rocky Mountains in N Wyo. and S Mont.: highest peak, 13,165 ft (4,013 m)
- bill of adventure — a certificate made out by a merchant to show that goods handled by him and his agents are the property of another party at whose risk the dealing is done
- binocular rivalry — the phenomenon whereby one is unable to see simultaneously different images presented one to each eye; usually in some areas of the eye the image presented to the left eye is seen, in others that presented to the right eye
- biopharmaceutical — of or relating to drugs produced using biotechnology
- bite one's tongue — either of the two fleshy parts or folds forming the margins of the mouth and functioning in speech.
- blackout curtains — thick, lined curtains designed to shut out all daylight and keep a room in complete darkness
- blasphemous libel — In Britain, previously, the crime committed if a person insults, offends, or vilifies the deity, Christ, or the Christian religion
- blood transfusion — A blood transfusion is a process in which blood is injected into the body of a person who is badly injured or ill.
- blue false indigo — a North American plant, Baptisia australis, of the legume family, having wedge-shaped leaflets and blue, clustered flowers.
- blue-headed vireo — solitary vireo.
- blue-sky thinking — Blue-sky thinking is the activity of trying to find completely new ideas.
- boeuf bourguignon — a casserole of beef, vegetables, herbs, etc, cooked in red wine
- boileau-despreaux — Nicolas [nee-kaw-lah] /ni kɔˈlɑ/ (Show IPA), 1636–1711, French critic and poet.
- bond immunization — immunization (def 2).
- boothia peninsula — a peninsula of N Canada: the northernmost part of the mainland of North America, lying west of the Gulf of Boothia, an arm of the Arctic Ocean
- bottom-up testing — (programming) An integration testing technique that tests the low-level components first using test drivers for those components that have not yet been developed to call the low-level components for test. Compare bottom-up implementation.
- bouncebackability — the ability to recover after a setback, esp in sport
- bowel obstruction — a blockage in the bowel
- bring up the rear — to be at the back in a procession, race, etc
- british columbian — of or relating to British Columbia or its inhabitants
- brzesc nad bugiem — Polish name of Brest Litovsk.
- buckingham palace — the London residence of the British sovereign: built in 1703, rebuilt by John Nash in 1821–36 and partially redesigned in the early 20th century
- budget resolution — a resolution adopted by both houses of the U.S. Congress setting forth, reaffirming, or revising the budget for the U.S. government for a fiscal year.
- budgetary deficit — the amount by which government expenditure exceeds income from taxation, customs duties, etc, in any one fiscal year
- buerger's disease — an inflammatory and obliterative disease of the blood vessels of the legs and feet causing numbness and tingling, often leading to phlebitis and gangrene: most common in cigarette smokers.
- building industry — the economic sector comprising all companies involved in construction
- building labourer — an unskilled worker on construction sites
- bull's-eye mirror — a circular, convex, ornamental mirror.
- bull's-eye window — bull's-eye (def 7).
- bureaucratization — to divide an administrative agency or office into bureaus.
- bursting strength — the capacity of a thing or substance to resist change when under pressure.
- bushman's singlet — a sleeveless heavy black woollen singlet, used as working clothing by timber fellers
- business as usual — In a difficult situation, if you say it is business as usual, you mean that people will continue doing what they normally do.
- business envelope — an envelope into which standard-size (81⁄2″ × 11″) letterhead stationery can be put with only two folds
- business unionism — the trade-union philosophy and activity that concentrates on the improvement of wages, hours, working conditions, etc., rather than on the general reform of the capitalistic system.
- butacaine sulfate — a colorless, crystalline substance, (C18H30N2O2)2·H2SO4, used as a local anesthetic, esp. on mucous membranes
- butterfly diagram — a graphical butterfly-shaped representation of the sunspot density on the solar disc in the 11-year sunspot cycle