15-letter words containing o, b, s, t
- beat one's gums — to talk much and idly
- beat one's meat — to masturbate
- beat oneself up — to reproach oneself
- beat the bounds — (formerly) to define the boundaries of a parish by making a procession around them and hitting the ground with rods
- bedford heights — a town in N Ohio.
- bedsheet ballot — a very long, involved paper ballot
- beef stroganoff — a dish of thin strips of beef cooked with onions, mushrooms, and seasonings, served in a sour-cream sauce
- before the mast — as an apprentice seaman
- benefit society — an organization which, by means of dues, secures for its members certain benefits, such as life insurance, hospitalization, etc.
- bessel function — one of several transcendental functions, usually represented as power series, that are solutions to a group of related differential equations.
- bet one's boots — to be certain
- beta conversion — (theory) A term from lambda-calculus for beta reduction or beta abstraction.
- beurre noisette — a sauce of butter cooked until golden or nut brown, sometimes flavored with capers, vinegar, herbs, etc.
- beyond question — a sentence in an interrogative form, addressed to someone in order to get information in reply.
- bide one's time — to wait patiently for an opportunity
- 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
- bioastronautics — the study of the effects of space flight on living organisms
- biodestructible — biodegradable
- biogasification — the conversion of organic matter into biogas.
- biogeochemistry — the science of biological, chemical, and geological aspects of the environment
- biopsychologist — a field of psychology that deals with the effects of biological factors on behavior.
- biostatistician — someone who studies or works professionally in the field of biostatistics
- biostratigraphy — the examination of the ages of rock strata by using fossils
- biot-savart law — the law that the magnetic induction near a long, straight conductor, as wire, varies inversely as the distance from the conductor and directly as the intensity of the current in the conductor.
- biscuit tortoni — an individual portion of tortoni, frozen and served in a small cup, often topped with ground almonds.
- bit on the side — an extramarital affair
- biting housefly — a two-winged fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, having the mouthparts adapted for biting, and commonly a household and stable pest.
- bits per second — (communications, unit) (bps, b/s) The unit in which data rate is measured. For example, a modem's data rate is usually measured in kilobits per second. In 1996, the maximum modem speed for use on the PSTN was 33.6 kbps, rising to 56 kbps in 1997. Note that kilo- (k), mega- (M), etc. in data rates denote powers of 1000, not 1024.
- 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 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 snakeroot — a tall bugbane, Cimicifuga racemosa, of the buttercup family, of eastern North America, having thin, tapering, toothed or deeply cut leaflets and branched clusters of small, white flowers.
- 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.
- bloodguiltiness — guilty of murder or bloodshed.
- bloody butchers — a hardy plant, Trillium sessile, common from New York to Georgia and westward, having stalkless, purple or green flowers.
- blossom-end rot — a disease of tomato and pepper caused by a deficiency of calcium, characterized by decay at the blossom end of the fruit.
- blue wood aster — a composite plant, Aster cordifolius, of North America, having heart-shaped leaves and pale-blue flowers.
- boa constrictor — A boa constrictor is a large snake that kills animals by wrapping itself round their bodies and squeezing them to death. Boa constrictors are found mainly in South and Central America and the West Indies.
- bohemian forest — a mountain range between the SW Czech Republic and SE Germany. Highest peak: Arber, 1457 m (4780 ft)
- boiled potatoes — potatoes, usually peeled, cooked in boiling water
- boom-bust cycle — A boom-bust cycle is a series of events in which a rapid increase in business activity in the economy is followed by a rapid decrease in business activity, and this process is repeated again and again.
- booster cushion — an extra seat or cushion placed on an existing seat for a child to sit on in a car
- borscht circuit — summer resort hotels in the Catskills and White Mountains, where entertainment is provided for the guests
- boston marriage — (especially in 19th-century New England) an intimate friendship between two women often maintaining a household together.
- boston massacre — an outbreak (1770) in Boston against British troops, in which a few citizens were killed
- 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.
- box the compass — to name the compass points in order
- boys' night out — an evening spent outside of the home by a group of men