16-letter words containing m, e, s, r
- axis of symmetry — Mathematics. a straight line for which every point on a given curve has corresponding to it another point such that the line connecting the two points is bisected by the given line.
- axminster carpet — a type of patterned carpet with a cut pile
- bachelor-at-arms — bachelor (def 4).
- ballistic camera — a camera for tracking missiles launched at night.
- balsamic vinegar — Balsamic vinegar is a type of vinegar which tastes sweet and is made from grape juice.
- baluster measure — an antique liquid measure usually made of pewter, having a concave top on a convex base.
- bargain basement — If you refer to something as a bargain basement thing, you mean that it is cheap and not very good quality.
- bargain-basement — very low-priced.
- baron tweedsmuir — the title of Scottish novelist John Buchan
- bartholomeu dias — Bartholomeu [bahr-too-loo-me-oo] /ˌbɑr tʊ lʊˈmɛ ʊ/ (Show IPA), c1450–1500, Portuguese navigator: discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope.
- basic dichromate — an orange-red, amorphous, water-insoluble powder, Bi 2 O 3 ⋅2CrO 3 , used chiefly as a pigment in paints.
- basilar membrane — a membrane inside the cochlea that vibrates in response to sound
- batesian mimicry — mimicry in which a harmless species is protected from predators by means of its resemblance to a harmful or inedible species
- beaux' stratagem — a comedy (1707) by George Farquhar.
- bed-sitting room — a combined bedroom and sitting room serving as a one-room apartment
- berners-lee, tim — Tim Berners-Lee
- bertillon system — a system formerly in use for identifying persons, esp criminals, by means of a detailed record of physical characteristics
- bessemer process — (formerly) a process for producing steel by blowing air through molten pig iron at about 1250°C in a Bessemer converter: silicon, manganese, and phosphorus impurities are removed and the carbon content is controlled
- bimetallic strip — a strip consisting of two metals of different coefficients of expansion welded together so that it buckles on heating: used in thermostats, etc
- biometeorologist — the scientific study of the effects of natural or artificial atmospheric conditions, as temperature and humidity, on living organisms.
- bird's-eye maple — a cut of sugar maple wood used especially for veneers, having a wavy grain with many dark, circular markings.
- bismarck herring — marinaded herring, served cold
- blind man's rule — a carpenter's rule having large numbers to permit its reading in dim light.
- blind salamander — any of several North American salamanders, especially of the genera Typhlotriton, Typhlomolge, and Haideotriton, that inhabit underground streams or deep wells and have undeveloped eyes and scant pigmentation.
- blunt instrument — something such as a hammer, used as a weapon
- bootstrap memory — memory that allows new programs to be entered because some simple preliminary instructions or information are already built in.
- bornholm disease — an epidemic virus infection characterized by pain round the base of the chest
- boston cream pie — a cake of two layers with icing and a creamy filling
- boulogne-sur-mer — a port in N France, on the English Channel. Pop: 44 859 (1999)
- braille embosser — Braille printer
- brass instrument — a musical wind instrument of brass or other metal with a cup-shaped mouthpiece, as the trombone, tuba, French horn, trumpet, or cornet.
- brown house moth — a species of micro moth, Hofmannophila pseudospretella, which, although it usually inhabits birds' nests, sometimes enters houses where its larvae can be very destructive of stored fabrics and foodstuffs
- budgie smugglers — men's close-fitting swimming trunks
- bury st. edmunds — a city in W Suffolk, in E England: medieval shrine.
- business manager — a person who ensures the running of a business by managing the work of relevant staff
- butterfly scheme — A parallel version of Scheme for the BBN Butterfly computer.
- cabinet minister — a minister who is a member of the cabinet
- calcium arsenate — a toxic, white powder, Ca3(AsO4)2, used as an insecticide in the form of a spray or dust
- canine distemper — distemper1 (def 1a).
- cardinal numbers — Also called cardinal numeral. any of the numbers that express amount, as one, two, three, etc. (distinguished from ordinal number).
- careers mistress — a female teacher who gives pupils advice and information about careers
- carnot's theorem — the principle that no engine operating between two given temperatures can be more efficient than a Carnot engine operating between the same temperatures.
- category mistake — a sentence that says of something in one category what can only intelligibly be said of something in another, as when speaking of the mind located in space
- celestial empire — Chinese Empire
- chance one's arm — to attempt to do something although the chance of success may be slight
- chemolithotrophs — Plural form of chemolithotroph.
- chemoprophylaxis — the prevention of disease using chemical drugs
- chicken mushroom — an edible yellow-to-orange bracket fungus, Laetiporus sulphureus, common on tree trunks, in which it causes wood decay.
- chinese primrose — any plant of the genus Primula, as P. vulgaris (English primrose) of Europe, having yellow flowers, or P. sinensis (Chinese primrose) of China, having flowers in a variety of colors. Compare primrose family.
- cholesterolaemia — the presence of abnormally high levels of cholesterol in the blood