14-letter words containing n, o, r, e, t
- at close range — If you see or hit something at close range or from close range, you are very close to it when you see it or hit it. If you do something at a range of half a mile, for example, you are half a mile away from it when you do it.
- at one's mercy — compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner.
- at one's peril — If you say that someone does something at their peril, you are warning them that they will probably suffer as a result of doing it.
- at one's worst — When someone is at their worst, they are as unpleasant, bad, or unsuccessful as it is possible for them to be.
- atomic veteran — a veteran of the armed forces who was exposed to radioactivity during the testing or use of nuclear (atomic) weapons in World War II or subsequent wars.
- attrition rate — the rate at which customers or subscribers switch from one supplier to another
- auction bridge — a variety of bridge, now generally superseded by contract bridge, in which all the tricks made score towards the game
- auditory nerve — either of the eighth pair of cranial nerves, which connect the ear with the brain and carry impulses relating to sound and balance
- auger-electron — a nonradiative process in which an atom in an excited state undergoes a transition to a lower state by the emission of a bound electron (Auger electron) rather than by the emission of an x-ray.
- autocovariance — (statistics) The covariance of a signal with another part of the same signal.
- autoenrollment — Automatic enrollment (especially of security certificates in a computer system).
- autoregression — (mathematics) An autoregressive process that is used to model many types of natural behaviour.
- autoregulation — the continual automatic adjustment or self-regulation of a biochemical, physiological, or ecological system to maintain a stable state.
- autoresponders — Plural form of autoresponder.
- auxiliary note — a nonharmonic note occurring between two harmonic notes
- auxiliary tone — a melodic ornamental tone following a principal tone by a step above or below and returning to the principal tone; embellishment.
- axis-ordinates — y-axis (def 1).
- back to nature — If you want to get back to nature, you want to return to a simpler way of living.
- backside-front — backend-to.
- bamboo network — a network of close-knit Chinese entrepreneurs with large corporate empires in southeast Asia
- ban-the-bomber — a person who vigorously advocates banning the development or use of nuclear weapons.
- bancroft prize — one of a group of annual awards for literary achievement in American history and biography: administered by Columbia University.
- basque country — Theregion comprising three provinces in N Spain, on the Bay of Biscay, inhabited by Basques: 2,803 sq mi (7,260 sq km); pop. 2,104,000
- 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.
- bayonet charge — a charge by riflemen with fixed bayonets
- beard-stroking — deep thought
- belo horizonte — a city in SE Brazil, the capital of Minas Gerais state. Pop: 5 304 000 (2005 est)
- beta geminorum — Pollux
- beta reduction — [lambda-calculus] The application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. A copy of the body of the lambda abstraction is made and occurrences of the bound variable being replaced by the argument. E.g. (\ x . x+1) 4 --> 4+1 Beta reduction is the only kind of reduction in the pure lambda-calculus. The opposite of beta reduction is beta abstraction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion. See also name capture.
- beta-endorphin — a potent endorphin released by the anterior pituitary gland in response to pain, trauma, exercise, or other forms of stress.
- betray oneself — to reveal one's true character, intentions, etc
- big government — a form of government characterized by high taxation and public spending and centralization of political power
- binary counter — (electronics, hardware) A digital circuit which has a clock input and a number of count outputs which give the number of clock cycles. The output may change either on rising or falling clock edges. The circuit may also have a reset input which sets all outputs to zero when asserted. The counter may be either a synchronous counter or a ripple counter.
- bioaeronautics — the use of aircraft in the discovery, development, and protection of natural and biological resources
- biocybernetics — the branch of cybernetics that deals with the control and communication systems of living organisms
- biodegradation — to decay and become absorbed by the environment: toys that will biodegrade when they're discarded.
- bioelectronics — a branch of electronics that deals with electronic devices, implants, etc. used in medicine and biological research
- bioprospecting — searching for plant or animal species for use as a source of commercially exploitable products, such as medicinal drugs
- bioregionalist — someone who believes in bioregionalism
- bioremediation — the use of plants to extract heavy metals from contaminated soils and water
- blanket-flower — any composite plant of the genus Gaillardia, having showy heads of yellow or red flowers.
- blood relation — A blood relation or blood relative is someone who is related to you by birth rather than by marriage.
- blotting paper — Blotting paper is thick soft paper that you use for soaking up and drying ink on a piece of paper.
- bone structure — the skeletal composition of a human or animal
- bone turquoise — fossilized bone or tooth stained blue with iron phosphate and used as a gemstone
- born yesterday — brought forth by birth.
- bornyl acetate — a colorless liquid, C 12 H 20 O 2 , having a piny, camphorlike odor, used chiefly as a scent in the manufacture of perfume, and as a plasticizer.
- 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.
- borrowing rate — the interest rate at which money may be borrowed, esp an official rate set by a central bank