17-letter words containing l, i
- blue-sky thinking — Blue-sky thinking is the activity of trying to find completely new ideas.
- board and lodging — If you are provided with board and lodging, you are provided with food and a place to sleep, especially as part of the conditions of a job.
- board-and-shingle — a small dwelling with wooden walls and a shingle roof
- boat-billed heron — a nocturnal, tropical American wading bird (Cochlearius cochlearius) with a large, broad bill: it is the only member of a family (Cochleariidae) of wading birds
- boileau-despreaux — Nicolas [nee-kaw-lah] /ni kɔˈlɑ/ (Show IPA), 1636–1711, French critic and poet.
- boiler horsepower — a unit of measurement of the ability of a boiler to evaporate water, usually given as the ability to evaporate 34½ pounds (15.6 kg) of water an hour, into dry saturated steam from and at 212°F (100°C).
- bombardier beetle — any of various small carabid beetles of the genus Brachinus, esp B. crepitans of Europe, which defend themselves by ejecting a jet of volatile fluid
- boolean operation — any operation in which each of the operands and the result take one of two values.
- 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
- bouncebackability — the ability to recover after a setback, esp in sport
- bowel obstruction — a blockage in the bowel
- boys will be boys — If you say boys will be boys, for example when a group of men are behaving noisily or aggressively, you are suggesting in a light-hearted way that this is typical male behaviour and will never change.
- brazilian emerald — a green variety of tourmaline used as a gem: not a true emerald.
- brazilian peridot — a light yellowish-green tourmaline used as a gem: not a true peridot.
- brazilian rhatany — See under rhatany (def 1).
- breathe life into — revive, rejuvenate
- bricks and clicks — a combination of traditional business carried out on physical premises and internet trading
- brigadier general — In the United States, a brigadier general is a senior officer in the armed forces who is often in charge of a brigade and has a rank above colonel and below major general.
- british columbian — of or relating to British Columbia or its inhabitants
- british israelite — a member of a religious movement claiming that the British people are descended from the lost tribes of Israel
- broderie anglaise — open embroidery on white cotton, fine linen, etc
- broken white line — a regular, discontinuous white line on a roadway, indicating that overtaking is permitted
- brompton cocktail — an analgesic mixture, usually containing morphine and cocaine and sometimes other narcotic substances in an alcohol solution, administered primarily to advanced cancer patients.
- browserconfig.xml — (web) A Microsoft configuration file used to customise the appearance and behaviour of website links pinned to the Windows start screen or desktop taskbar. browserconfig.xml allows the site owner to specify things like badges and tile images.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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
- 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
- buttock-clenching — making one tighten the buttocks through extreme fear or embarrassment
- buttonhole stitch — a reinforcing looped stitch for the edge of material, such as around a buttonhole
- buyers' inflation — inflation in which rising demand results in a rise in prices.
- café-au-lait spot — a brown patch on the skin that can occur normally in small numbers or in neurofibromatosis, when they are more numerous
- cage zone melting — zone melting of a square bar of the material to be purified, done so that the impurities are concentrated at the corners.
- calcium carbonate — a white crystalline salt occurring in limestone, chalk, marble, calcite, coral, and pearl: used in the production of lime and cement. Formula: CaCO3
- calcium cyanamide — a white crystalline compound formed by heating calcium carbide with nitrogen. It is important in the fixation of nitrogen and can be hydrolysed to ammonia or used as a fertilizer. Formula: CaCN2
- calcium gluconate — a white, tasteless, water-soluble powder, CaC 12 H 22 O 14 , used as a dietary supplement to provide calcium.
- calcium hydroxide — a white crystalline slightly soluble alkali with many uses, esp in cement, water softening, and the neutralization of acid soils. Formula: Ca(OH)2
- calcium phosphate — the insoluble nonacid calcium salt of orthophosphoric acid (phosphoric(V) acid): it occurs in bones and is the main constituent of bone ash. Formula: Ca3(PO4)2
- california condor — either of two large, New World vultures of the family Cathartidae, Gymnogyps californianus (California condor) or Vultur gryphus (Andean condor) the largest flying birds in the Western Hemisphere: the California condor is almost extinct; the Andean condor is greatly reduced in number and rare in many areas.
- california laurel — a Pacific coast shrub or tree (Umbellularia californica) of the laurel family, having aromatic evergreen leaves and hard wood; Oregon myrtle: a source of bay leaves
- california nutmeg — a tall, pungently aromatic California evergreen tree, Torreya californica, of the yew family, having a fissured, gray-brown bark and small, purple-streaked, green fruit.
- california privet — a privet, Ligustrum ovalifolium, of the olive family, native to Japan, having glossy, oval leaves and long clusters of white flowers, widely used for hedges in the U.S.
- calorie-conscious — aware of the calorie content of one's diet