14-letter words containing m, o, a, r
- aurothiomalate — (chemistry) A thiomalate with the addition of gold.
- autocollimator — an instrument combining the functions of a telescope and collimator, for detecting and measuring very small deviations in a beam of light.
- autoenrollment — Automatic enrollment (especially of security certificates in a computer system).
- automatic door — a self-opening door
- award ceremony — ceremony at which an award is presented
- back formation — the invention of a new word on the assumption that a familiar word is derived from it. The verbs edit and burgle were so created from editor and burglar
- back-formation — the analogical creation of one word from another word that appears to be a derived or inflected form of the first by dropping the apparent affix or by modification.
- backstrap loom — a simple horizontal loom, used especially in Central and South America, on which one of two beams holding the warp yarn is attached to a strap that passes across the weaver's back.
- ballroom dance — a social dance, popular since the beginning of the 20th century, in conventional rhythms, such as the foxtrot and the quickstep
- balsam of peru — an aromatic balsam that is obtained from the tropical South American leguminous tree Myroxylon pereirae and is similar to balsam of Tolu
- baltimore chop — a batted ball that takes a high bounce upon hitting the ground on or immediately in front of home plate, often enabling the batter to reach first base safely.
- bamboo curtain — (esp in the 1950s and 1960s) the political and military barrier to communications around the People's Republic of China
- bamboo network — a network of close-knit Chinese entrepreneurs with large corporate empires in southeast Asia
- bamboo turning — turning of spindles and framing members to simulate the jointing of bamboo.
- ban-the-bomber — a person who vigorously advocates banning the development or use of nuclear weapons.
- banana problem — (programming, humour) From the story of the little girl who said "I know how to spell "banana", but I don't know when to stop". Not knowing where or when to bring a production to a close (compare fencepost error). One may say "there is a banana problem" of an algorithm with poorly defined or incorrect termination conditions, or in discussing the evolution of a design that may be succumbing to featuritis (see also creeping elegance, creeping featuritis).
- barium bromate — colorless, slightly water-soluble, poisonous crystals, Ba(BrO 3) 2 ⋅H 2 O, used in the preparation of certain bromates.
- barometrically — By means of a barometer.
- barometrograph — barograph.
- barrier method — Barrier methods of contraception involve the use of condoms, diaphragms, or other devices that physically prevent the sperm from reaching the egg.
- battered woman — See under battered woman syndrome.
- battered-women — the array of physical and psychological injuries exhibited by women (battered women or battered wives) who have been beaten repeatedly or otherwise abused by their partners or spouses.
- bayes' theorem — the fundamental result which expresses the conditional probability P(E/A) of an event E given an event A as P(A/E).P(E)/P(A); more generally, where En is one of a set of values Ei which partition the sample space, P(En/A) = P(A/En)P(En)/Σ P(A/Ei)P(Ei). This enables prior estimates of probability to be continually revised in the light of observations
- beach wormwood — a composite plant, Artemisia stellerana, having yellow flowers and deeply lobed leaves covered with dense white fuzz.
- bermuda collar — a narrow, pointed collar on a woman's dress or blouse
- bermuda shorts — close-fitting shorts that come down to the knees
- beta geminorum — Pollux
- beyond compare — If you describe something as beyond compare, you mean that it is extremely good or extremely great.
- beyond measure — If you say that something has changed or that it has affected you beyond measure, you are emphasizing that it has done this to a great extent.
- bildungsromane — a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist.
- bioinformatics — the branch of information science concerned with large databases of biochemical or pharmaceutical information
- bioregionalism — the conviction that environmental and social policies should be determined by the bioregion rather than economics or politics
- bioremediation — the use of plants to extract heavy metals from contaminated soils and water
- board chairman — the chairman of the board of a company, etc
- bomber command — a former unit of the Royal Air Force dedicated to tactical and strategic bombing, esp during WWII
- boring machine — a machine that bores holes, tunnels, etc
- bornyl formate — a liquid, C 11 H 18 O 2 , having a piny odor, used chiefly as a scent in the manufacture of soaps and disinfectants.
- break the mold — If you say that someone breaks the mold, you mean that they do completely different things from what has been done before or from what is usually done.
- breakfast room — a room set aside for serving and eating breakfast, esp in a hotel or guesthouse
- bring onstream — To bring onstream a plant, mine, oilfield, etc. is to start production there.
- broad-spectrum — effective against a wide variety of diseases or microorganisms
- broom cupboard — a small cupboard or closet for storing brooms, mops, etc
- browntail moth — kind of moth
- cadmium bronze — an alloy of copper with about 1 percent cadmium.
- cadmium orange — a yellow color approaching orange.
- cairngormstone — (mineral, rare) A yellow or smoky brown variety of rock crystal, found especially in the mountains of w Cairngorm in Scotland.
- calendar month — A calendar month is one of the twelve months of the year.
- caltrop family — the plant family Zygophyllaceae, typified by tropical herbaceous plants and shrubs having pinnate leaves, solitary or paired regular flowers, and fruit in the form of a capsule, and including the creosote bush, lignum vitae, and puncture vine.
- camelopardalis — a N constellation between Ursa Major and Cassiopeia; the Giraffe
- camera obscura — a darkened chamber or small building in which images of outside objects are projected onto a flat surface by a convex lens in an aperture