18-letter words containing o, n, b, a
- remains to be seen — If you say that it remains to be seen whether something will happen, you mean that nobody knows whether it will happen.
- reverberation time — the time it takes for a sound made in a room to diminish by 60 decibels.
- reversionary bonus — a bonus added to the sum payable on death or at the maturity of a with-profits assurance policy
- saint john's bread — carob (def 2).
- saturation bombing — intense area bombing intended to destroy everything in the target area.
- selective abortion — the aborting of particular embryos for medical or social reasons
- seven-league boots — mythical boots that allowed the wearer to travel seven leagues (a former unit of measurement), ie a great length, at each step
- shorthand notebook — a notebook used by a shorthand writer
- significant symbol — a verbal or nonverbal gesture, as a word or smile, that has acquired a conventionalized meaning.
- simone de beauvoir — Simone [see-mawn] /siˈmɔn/ (Show IPA), (Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand) 1908–86, French playwright, novelist, and essayist.
- sindbad the sailor — (in The Arabian Nights' Entertainments), a wealthy citizen of Baghdad who relates the adventures of his seven wonderful voyages.
- slobodan milosevic — Slobodan [sloh-buh-dain] /ˈsloʊ bəˌdɛən/ (Show IPA), 1941–2006, Yugoslav and Serbian politician: president of Serbia 1989–97, president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1997–2000, accused of war crimes 2001.
- small pastern bone — the part of the foot of a horse, cow, etc., between the fetlock and the hoof.
- social bookmarking — the practice of saving bookmarked Web pages to a public website as a way to share the links with other Internet users: Social bookmarking is a tool that allows you to add tags and comments to your bookmarks.
- sodium bicarbonate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, in powder or granules, NaHCO 3 , usually prepared by the reaction of soda ash with carbon dioxide or obtained from the intermediate product of the Solvay process by purification: used chiefly in the manufacture of sodium salts, baking powder, and beverages, as a laboratory reagent, as a fire extinguisher, and in medicine as an antacid.
- software backplane — (programming, tool) A CASE framework from Atherton.
- solomon rabinowitz — Solomon, Aleichem, Sholom.
- spin stabilization — a technique by which a bullet, rocket, etc, is made to spin around its longitudinal axis to assist it in maintaining a steady flight path
- stand-by generator — an electrical system which operates automatically in case the usual system malfunctions
- stationary bicycle — an exercise bike
- stroustrup, bjarne — Bjarne Stroustrup
- sub-classification — to arrange in subclasses.
- subordinate clause — a clause that modifies the principal clause or some part of it or that serves a noun function in the principal clause, as when she arrived in the sentence I was there when she arrived or that she has arrived in the sentence I doubt that she has arrived.
- subsidiary company — a company whose controlling interest is owned by another company.
- take a shine to sb — If you say that someone has taken a shine to another person, you mean that he or she liked them very much at their first meeting.
- task control block — (architecture) An MVS control block used to communicate information about tasks within an address space that are connected to an MVS subsystem such as MQSeries for MVS/ESA or CICS.
- tectorial membrane — membrane in the inner ear that covers the organ of Corti
- television cabinet — a cabinet on which a television set is placed or in which it is encased
- the back of beyond — a very remote place
- the bird has flown — the person in question has fled or escaped
- the black mountain — a mountain range in S Wales, in E Carmarthenshire and W Powys. Highest peak: Carmarthen Van, 802 m (2632 ft)
- the queen of sheba — a queen of the Sabeans, who visited Solomon (I Kings 10:1–13)
- thermonuclear bomb — hydrogen bomb.
- to bare one's soul — If you bare your soul, you tell someone your most secret thoughts and feelings.
- to be above ground — to be alive
- to be on the radar — to be noticed or important
- to bear witness to — If a person or thing bears witness to something, they show or say that it exists or happened.
- to put years on sb — if you say that something such as an experience or a way of dressing has put years on someone, you mean that it has made them look or feel much older
- to spill the beans — If you spill the beans, you tell someone something that people have been trying to keep secret.
- to the manner born — a way of doing, being done, or happening; mode of action, occurrence, etc.: I don't like the manner in which he complained.
- transmission brake — A transmission brake is a brake that operates on the transmission system of a vehicle rather than directly on the wheels.
- transporter bridge — a bridge for carrying passengers and vehicles by means of a platform suspended from a trolley.
- transubstantiation — the changing of one substance into another.
- treaty obligations — obligations or duties that must be carried out by a party as according to a treaty they have entered into
- trobriand islander — a native or inhabitant of the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea
- turbine ventilator — a ventilator, usually mounted on the roof of a building, deck of a ship, etc., having at its head a globular, vaned rotor that is rotated by the wind, conveying air through a duct to and from a chamber below.
- turn one's back on — the rear part of the human body, extending from the neck to the lower end of the spine.
- under one's breath — the air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.
- under the jackboot — If a country or group of people is under the jackboot, they are suffering because the government is cruel and undemocratic.
- urban contemporary — popular dance music incorporating elements of rap, rhythm-and-blues, funk, and soul.