16-letter words containing m, o, s, b, a
- flashbulb memory — the clear recollections that a person may have of the circumstances associated with a dramatic event
- four-masted brig — jackass bark (def 2).
- hamadryas baboon — a baboon, Papio (Comopithecus) hamadryas, of Ethiopia, the male of which has a mantle of long, dark hair about the head and shoulders: held sacred by the ancient Egyptians.
- hayes-compatible — (communications) A description of a modem which understands the same set of commands as one made by Hayes.
- hemangioblastoma — (medicine) Any of several benign neoplasm tumours of the brain.
- heterometabolism — insect development in which the young hatch in a form very similar to the adult and then mature without a pupal stage
- heterometabolous — undergoing development in which the young are born adultlike in form, often maturing without a pupal stage.
- humanly possible — feasible, practical
- in the same boat — a vessel for transport by water, constructed to provide buoyancy by excluding water and shaped to give stability and permit propulsion.
- incommensurables — Plural form of incommensurable.
- isoamyl benzoate — a colorless liquid, C 11 H 15 O 2 , having a sharp, fruitlike odor: used in cosmetics.
- jacques bonhomme — the contemptuous title given by the nobles to the peasants in the revolt of the Jacquerie in 1358 and adopted by the peasants in subsequent revolts.
- knapsack problem — the problem of determining which numbers from a given collection of numbers have been added together to yield a specific sum: used in cryptography to encipher (and sometimes decipher) messages.
- make the best of — do what you can
- man on horseback — a military leader who presents himself as the savior of the country during a period of crisis and either assumes or threatens to assume dictatorial powers.
- manganese bronze — an alloy that is about 55 percent copper, 40 percent zinc, and up to 3.5 percent manganese.
- marine biologist — scientist who studies sea life
- mass observation — the study of the social habits of people through observation, interviews, etc
- medulloblastomas — Plural form of medulloblastoma.
- megakaryoblastic — (cytology) Of or pertaining to a megakaryoblast.
- metes and bounds — the precisely described boundary lines of a parcel of land, as found in a deed
- monosyllabically — In single syllables.
- montagu's blenny — a small blenny, Coryphoblennius galerita, found among rocks in shallow water
- morris plan bank — a private banking organization, formerly common in the U.S., designed primarily to grant small loans to industrial workers.
- mossbauer effect — the phenomenon in which an atom in a crystal undergoes no recoil when emitting a gamma ray, giving all the emitted energy to the gamma ray, resulting in a sharply defined wavelength.
- nontransmissible — Not transmissible.
- nontransmittable — Not transmittable.
- not by any means — in no way, by no method
- obsequent stream — a stream flowing in a direction opposite to that of the dip of the local strata.
- on her beam-ends — (of a vessel) heeled over through an angle of 90°
- on the beam-ends — tipping so far to the side as to be in danger of capsizing
- permafrost table — the variable surface constituting the upper limit of permafrost. Compare frostline (def 2).
- proslambanomenos — the lowest note of the scale in ancient Greek music
- put in mothballs — to postpone work on (a project, activity, etc)
- rambunctiousness — difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
- rectus abdominis — a long flat muscle that extends along the whole length of both sides of the abdomen. It flexes the vertebral column, particularly the lumbar portion; it also tenses the anterior abdominal wall and assists in compressing the abdominal contents
- rhabdomyosarcoma — a malignant tumor made up of striated muscle tissue.
- self-abandonment — absence or lack of personal restraint.
- semi-hibernation — Zoology. to spend the winter in close quarters in a dormant condition, as bears and certain other animals. Compare estivate.
- siberian mammoth — a shaggy-coated mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, that lived in cold regions across Eurasia and North America during the Ice Age, known from fossils, cave paintings, and well-preserved frozen carcasses.
- simeon ben yohai — flourished 2nd century a.d, Palestinian rabbi.
- simon boccanegra — an opera (1857) by Giuseppe Verdi.
- slave labor camp — labor camp (def 1).
- slow metabolizer — A slow metabolizer is someone whose body is slow to break down, absorb, or use a particular substance.
- smooth breathing — a symbol (') used in the writing of Greek to indicate that the initial vowel over which it is placed is unaspirated.
- soapberry family — the plant family Sapindaceae, characterized by chiefly tropical trees, shrubs, or herbaceous vines having compound leaves, clustered flowers, and berrylike, fleshy, or capsular fruit, and including the balloon vine, golden rain tree, litchi, and soapberry.
- sodium bisulfate — a colorless crystalline compound, NaHSO 4 , soluble in water: used in dyeing, in the manufacture of cement, paper, soap, and an acid-type cleaner.
- sodium carbonate — Also called soda ash. an anhydrous, grayish-white, odorless, water-soluble powder, Na 2 CO 3 , usually obtained by the Solvay process and containing about 1 percent of impurities consisting of sulfates, chlorides, and bicarbonates of sodium: used in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, soaps, paper, petroleum products, sodium salts, as a cleanser, for bleaching, and in water treatment.
- sodium perborate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, NaBO 2 ⋅3H 2 O or NaBO 3 ⋅4H 2 O, used chiefly as a bleaching agent and antiseptic.
- steamboat gothic — a florid architectural style suggesting the gingerbread-decorated construction of river boats of the Victorian period.