16-letter words containing l, a, b, r, d
- duplicate bridge — a form of contract bridge used in tournaments in which contestants play the identical series of deals, with each deal being scored independently, permitting individual scores to be compared.
- false beechdrops — either of two parasitic or saprophytic plants of the genus Monotropa, especially the tawny or reddish M. hypopithys (false beechdrops) of eastern North America.
- fancy dress ball — a ball at which the guests wear fancy dress
- feedback control — (electronics) A control system which monitors its effect on the system it is controlling and modifies its output accordingly. For example, a thermostat has two inputs: the desired temperature and the current temperature (the latter is the feedback). The output of the thermostat changes so as to try to equalise the two inputs. Computer disk drives use feedback control to position the read/write heads accurately on a recording track. Complex systems such as the human body contain many feedback systems that interact with each other; the homeostasis mechanisms that control body temperature and acidity are good examples.
- flamborough head — a chalk promontory in NE England, on the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire
- flat-bed plotter — a mechanized drafting device, usually computer driven, incorporating a moving pen whose horizontal and vertical range in two dimensions is limited only by the size of the bed of the device.
- flat-bed scanner — a type of optical scanner having a flat, stationary surface on which a page is scanned by a moving head.
- flatheaded borer — the larva of a metallic wood-boring beetle, having an expanded and flattened anterior end.
- four-deal bridge — a version of bridge in which four hands only are played, the players then cutting for new partners
- freeboard length — the length of a vessel, measured on the summer load line from the fore side of the stem to some part of the stern, usually the after side of the rudderpost.
- gabriel, richard — Richard Gabriel
- garbage disposal — A garbage disposal or a garbage disposal unit is a small machine in the kitchen sink that breaks down waste matter so that it does not block the sink.
- gibberellic acid — a gibberellin C 18 H 21 O 4 COOH, produced as a metabolite by the fungus Gibberella fujikuroi, used as a stimulator of plant growth.
- gingerbread palm — doom palm.
- gingerbread plum — a tree, Neocarya macrophylla, of western Africa, bearing a large, edible, starchy fruit.
- hold a brief for — to argue for; champion
- horsehead nebula — a dark nebula in the constellation Orion, composed of opaque cosmic dust and resembling the head of a horse.
- hyaloid membrane — the delicate, pellucid, and nearly structureless membrane enclosing the vitreous humor of the eye.
- hybrid perpetual — a type of cultivated rose bred from varieties having vigorous growth and more or less recurrent bloom.
- indescribability — (uncountable) The state or characteristic of being indescribable.
- irremediableness — The state or quality of being irremediable.
- labrador current — a cold ocean current flowing southwards off the coast of Labrador and meeting the warm Gulf Stream, causing dense fogs off the coast of Newfoundland
- leveraged buyout — the purchase of a company with borrowed money, using the company's assets as collateral, and often discharging the debt and realizing a profit by liquidating the company. Abbreviation: LBO.
- liberal democrat — In Britain, a Liberal Democrat is a member of the Liberal Democrat Party.
- lord chamberlain — (in Britain) the chief official of the royal household
- machine readable — of or relating to data encoded on an appropriate medium and in a form suitable for processing by computer.
- machine-readable — of or relating to data encoded on an appropriate medium and in a form suitable for processing by computer.
- madame butterfly — an opera (1904) by Giacomo Puccini.
- mainland britain — England, Wales, and Scotland excluding those adjacent islands governed from the mainland
- maitre de ballet — ballet master.
- margaret drabble — Margaret, born 1939, English novelist.
- medal of bravery — a Canadian award for courage
- modacrylic fiber — any of various synthetic copolymer textile fibers, as Dynel, containing less than 85 percent but more than 35 percent of acrylonitrile.
- molybdate orange — a pigment consisting of a solid solution of sulfate, molybdate, and chromate compounds of lead.
- nibble mode dram — (storage) A standard DRAM where four successive bits can be clocked out of the single data line by successive pulses on the CAS\ line while RAS\ is active. A column address is only required for the first bit. This mode is now unfashionable but can be found on some older 64 kilobit and 256 kilobit chips.
- non-extraditable — capable of being extradited; subject to extradition: an extraditable person.
- nonbiodegradable — Not biodegradable.
- nondurable goods — goods that remain usable for, or must be replaced within, a relatively short period of time, as food, apparel, or fabrics
- north battleford — a city in W central Saskatchewan, in central Canada.
- on the breadline — impoverished; living at subsistence level
- 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.
- pass-band filter — band-pass filter
- pocket billiards — pool2 (def 1).
- 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)
- razor-billed auk — a black and white auk, Alca torda, of the American and European coasts of the northern North Atlantic, having a compressed black bill encircled by a white band.
- reasonable doubt — law: grounds for believing sb is innocent
- redistributional — a distribution performed again or anew.
- rhythm and blues — a folk-based but urbanized form of black popular music that is marked by strong, repetitious rhythms and simple melodies and was developed, in a commercialized form, into rock-'n'-roll.