15-letter words containing n, o, u, r
- autocorrelation — the condition occurring when successive items in a series are correlated so that their covariance is not zero and they are not independent
- autofluorescent — Of, pertaining to, or exhibiting autofluorescence.
- autotransformer — a transformer in which part of the winding is common to both primary and secondary circuits
- autotransfusion — a process in which a patient receives some of his or her own blood in a transfusion rather than a donor's blood
- autotransplants — Plural form of autotransplant.
- backup rotation — (operating system) Any system for re-using backup media, e.g. magnetic tape. One extreme would be to use the same media for every backup (e.g. copy disk A to disk B), the other extreme would be to use new media every time. The trade-off is between the cost of buying and storing media and the ability to restore any version of any file. One example is the Grandfather, Father, Son (GFS) scheme.
- badminton court — the court on which games of badminton are played
- banking product — one of the various services offered by a bank to its customers: mortgages, loans, insurance etc
- bargain counter — a store counter on which goods are displayed for sale at reduced prices
- barry mountains — a mountain range in SE Australia, in E Victoria: part of the Australian Alps
- be snowed under — to be overwhelmed, esp with paperwork
- beast of burden — A beast of burden is an animal such as an ox or a donkey that is used for carrying or pulling things.
- 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
- beurre noisette — a sauce of butter cooked until golden or nut brown, sometimes flavored with capers, vinegar, herbs, etc.
- bicycle touring — the activity of touring on a bicycle
- bioastronautics — the study of the effects of space flight on living organisms
- biscuit tortoni — an individual portion of tortoni, frozen and served in a small cup, often topped with ground almonds.
- black horehound — a hairy unpleasant-smelling chiefly Mediterranean plant, Ballota nigra, having clusters of purple flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)
- blockade runner — a person, ship etc that tries to carry goods through a blockade
- blockade-runner — a ship or person that passes through a blockade.
- bonheur-du-jour — a delicate fall-front desk of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
- booster cushion — an extra seat or cushion placed on an existing seat for a child to sit on in a car
- borough council — a local government body elected by a borough
- borough-english — (until 1925) a custom in certain English boroughs whereby the youngest son inherited land to the exclusion of his older brothers
- bourbon biscuit — a rich chocolate-flavoured biscuit with a chocolate-cream filling
- boustrophedonic — of or relating to lines written in opposite directions
- bowstring truss — a structural truss consisting of a curved top chord meeting a bottom chord at each end.
- branchial pouch — one of a series of rudimentary outcroppings of the inner pharyngeal wall, corresponding to the branchial grooves on the surface.
- branchiostegous — branchiostegal.
- breaking plough — a plough with a long shallow mouldboard for turning virgin land or sod land
- breeding ground — If you refer to a situation or place as a breeding ground for something bad such as crime, you mean that this thing can easily develop in that situation or place.
- british council — an organization founded (1934) to extend the influence of British culture and education throughout the world
- bronchial tubes — the bronchi or their smaller divisions
- bucket conveyor — a conveyor consisting of an endless chain with a series of buckets attached at regular intervals, used for moving ore, gravel, grain, or other bulk materials.
- buffalo currant — an ornamental shrub, Ribes odoratum, of the central U.S., having showy, drooping clusters of fragrant yellow flowers and edible black fruit.
- buffer solution — a solution to which a salt of a weak acid or base has been added
- building worker — a labourer, bricklayer, etc who works in the construction industry
- bulimia nervosa — a disorder characterized by compulsive overeating followed by vomiting: sometimes associated with anxiety about gaining weight
- bullnose header — bull header (def 1).
- bullnose-header — Also called bullnose header. a brick having one of the edges across its width rounded for laying as a header in a sill or the like.
- burden of proof — The burden of proof is the task of proving that you are correct, for example when you have accused someone of a crime.
- bureau of mines — a division of the Department of the Interior, created in 1910, that studies the nation's mineral resources and inspects mines.
- business person — Business people are people who work in business.
- button mangrove — a tropical tree, Conocarpus erectus, having small, reddish, conelike fruits and bark used in tanning.
- button mushroom — Button mushrooms are small mushrooms used in cooking.
- california gull — a large gull, Larus californicus, of the western U.S.
- camp counsellor — an adult supervisor assigned to a group of campers at a summer camp
- cardinal humour — any of the four bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, choler or yellow bile, melancholy or black bile) formerly thought to determine emotional and physical disposition
- cardiopulmonary — of, relating to, or affecting the heart and lungs