15-letter words containing n, i, b, l
- barcelona chair — an armless, padded leather chair on a steel frame shaped like a curved X: Barcelona is a trademark for this chair
- barley sandwich — a drink of beer, esp at lunch time
- barycentrically — In a barycentric manner.
- bat-wing sleeve — formed, shaped, etc., like the wing of a bat.
- bateau neckline — a wide, high neckline that follows the curve of the collarbone and ends in points on the shoulder seams.
- bathurst island — an island off the coast of N Nunavut, Canada, in the Arctic Archipelago: present south of the North Magnetic Pole nearby. 7609 sq. mi. (19,707 sq. km).
- battle stations — the places to which soldiers, sailors, warships, etc. are assigned for a battle or an emergency
- be in the black — If a person or an organization is in the black, they do not owe anyone any money.
- be spoiling for — to have an aggressive desire for (a fight, etc)
- bear animalcule — tardigrade (def 3).
- bedloe's island — Liberty Island
- beef wellington — a lightly roasted beef fillet covered with pâté de foie gras, wrapped in pastry, and then baked
- beginner's luck — the initial good fortune or success commonly supposed to come to a person who has recently taken up a new pursuit, as a sport or game: Catching a large trout the first time you go fishing is simply beginner's luck.
- belgian griffon — one of a variety of the Brussels griffon having a black or reddish-brown and black coat.
- belief revision — (artificial intelligence) The area of theory change in which preservation of the information in the theory to be changed plays a key role. A fundamental issue in belief revision is how to decide what information to retract in order to maintain consistency, when the addition of a new belief to a theory would make it inconsistent. Usually, an ordering on the sentences of the theory is used to determine priorities among sentences, so that those with lower priority can be retracted. This ordering can be difficult to generate and maintain. The postulates of the AGM Theory for Belief Revision describe minimal properties a revision process should have.
- belladonna lily — a tropical bulbous plant (Amaryllis belladonna) of the lily family, grown for its large pink, white, or red flowers and native to S Africa
- bello horizonte — a city in SE Brazil.
- belt-tightening — If you need to do some belt-tightening, you must spend less money and manage without things because you have less money than you used to have.
- belted sandfish — a sea bass, Serranus subligarius, inhabiting warm, shallow waters of the western Atlantic Ocean.
- benedict arnold — Benedict, 1741–1801, American general in the Revolutionary War who became a traitor.
- benzal chloride — a colorless, oily liquid, C 7 H 6 Cl 2 , used chiefly in the synthesis of benzaldehyde, and in the manufacture of dyes.
- benzoglyoxaline — benzimidazole.
- benzyl chloride — a colorless, corrosive liquid, C 7 H 7 Cl, used chiefly as an intermediate in the synthesis of benzyl compounds.
- benzyl fluoride — a colorless liquid, C 7 H 7 F, used in organic synthesis.
- bernoulli trial — one of a sequence of independent experiments each of which has the same probability of success, such as successive throws of a die, the outcome of which is described by a binomial distribution
- bessel function — one of several transcendental functions, usually represented as power series, that are solutions to a group of related differential equations.
- bicycle touring — the activity of touring on a bicycle
- bidirectionally — in a bidirectional manner
- billing machine — a business machine used to itemize and total customer accounts, produce bills, post account records, etc.
- billings method — a natural method of birth control that involves examining the colour and viscosity of the cervical mucus to discover when ovulation is occurring
- binomial series — an infinite series obtained by expanding a binomial raised to a power that is not a positive integer.
- bioaccumulation — the process in which industrial waste, toxic chemicals, etc. gradually accumulate in living tissue
- bioluminescence — the production of light by living organisms as a result of the oxidation of a light-producing substance (luciferin) by the enzyme luciferase: occurs in many marine organisms, insects such as the firefly, etc
- biomechanically — from a biomechanical point of view
- bishop auckland — a town in N England, in central Durham: seat of the bishops of Durham since the 12th century: light industries. Pop: 24 764 (2001)
- biting housefly — a two-winged fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, having the mouthparts adapted for biting, and commonly a household and stable pest.
- bituminous coal — a soft black coal, rich in volatile hydrocarbons, that burns with a smoky yellow flame. Fixed carbon content: 46–86 per cent; calorific value: 1.93 × 107 – 3.63 × 107 J/kg
- black and white — In a black and white photograph or film, everything is shown in black, white, and grey.
- black mountains — a mountain range running from N Monmouthshire and SE Powys (Wales) to SW Herefordshire (England). Highest peak: Waun Fach, 811 m (2660 ft)
- black operation — a covert and undocumented military operation
- black-and-white — displaying only black and white tones; without color, as a picture or chart: a black-and-white photograph.
- bladder campion — a European caryophyllaceous plant, Silene vulgaris, having white flowers with an inflated calyx
- blank cartridge — a cartridge containing powder but no bullet: used in battle practice or as a signal
- blast injection — the injection of liquid fuel directly into the cylinder of an internal-combustion engine using a blast of high-pressure air to atomize the spray of fuel
- blasting powder — a form of gunpowder made with sodium nitrate instead of saltpeter, used chiefly for blasting rock, ore, etc.
- blended whiskey — whiskey that is a blend of straight whiskey and neutral spirits or of two or more straight whiskeys
- blending center — A blending center is a place for mixing fluids, gases, and powders.
- blenheim orange — a type of apple tree bearing gold-coloured apples
- blenheim palace — a palace in Woodstock in Oxfordshire: built (1705–22) by Sir John Vanbrugh for the 1st Duke of Marlborough as a reward from the nation for his victory at Blenheim; gardens laid out by Henry Wise and Capability Brown; birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill (1874)
- blessed trinity — Trinity (def 1).