12-letter words containing o, r, b, a, n
- boardsailing — windsurfing
- boating trip — a trip or holiday in a boat such as a sailing boat or canal boat
- body scanner — a machine using X-rays and a computer, used in medicine to look for signs of disease, or in security operations to look for drugs, weapons, etc
- bodyboarding — the sport of surfing using a bodyboard
- bog-standard — If you describe something as bog-standard you mean that is an ordinary example of its kind, with no exciting or interesting features.
- boilermaking — metal-working in heavy industry; plating or welding
- bond servant — a person who serves in bondage; slave.
- bonnyclabber — clotted or curdled milk
- boolean ring — a nonempty collection of sets having the properties that the union of two sets of the collection is a set in the collection and that the relative complement of each set with respect to any other set is in the collection.
- boomeranging — a bent or curved piece of tough wood used by the Australian Aborigines as a throwing club, one form of which can be thrown so as to return to the thrower.
- born-digital — relating to or noting documents, images, etc., that are created and managed in electronic form: electronic preservation of born-digital content; a born-digital e-book that will not be available in print.
- boulangerite — a bluish lead-gray mineral, lead antimony sulfide, Pb 5 Sb 4 S 11 , a minor ore of lead.
- bound charge — any electric charge that is bound to an atom or molecule (opposed to free charge).
- bowel cancer — cancer of the colon
- boxgrove man — a type of primitive man, probably Homo heidelbergensis, and probably dating from the Middle Palaeolithic period some 500 000 years ago; remains were found at Boxgrove in West Sussex in 1993 and 1995
- brain tumour — a tumour that is situated in the brain
- brainstormer — a person who brainstorms
- branch depot — one of a several depots receiving stock from the same central supplier
- branch point — Electricity. a point in an electric network at which three or more conductors meet.
- brassfounder — a person who makes things from brass
- break ground — to do something that has not been done before
- breaker zone — the area offshore where waves break, between the outermost breaker and the limit of wave uprush; the zone within which waves approaching the coastline start breaking, usually in water depths of 16 to 32 feet (5 to 10 meters).
- bring action — to start a lawsuit
- bring around — If you bring someone around when they are unconscious, you make them become conscious again.
- bring to bay — to force into a position from which retreat is impossible
- brisbane box — a broad-leaved evergreen tree, Tristania conferta, native to Australia, having a deciduous outer bark.
- broad-minded — If you describe someone as broad-minded, you approve of them because they are willing to accept types of behaviour which other people consider immoral.
- broadcasting — Broadcasting is the making and sending out of television and radio programmes.
- broken arrow — a town in NE Oklahoma.
- broken heart — If you say that someone has a broken heart, you mean that they are very sad, for example because a love affair has ended unhappily.
- broken water — a patch of water whose surface is rippled or choppy, usually surrounded by relatively calm water.
- bromoacetone — a colorless and highly toxic liquid, CH 2 BrCOCH 3 , used as a lachrymatory compound in tear gas and chemical warfare gas.
- bromomethane — methyl bromide.
- bronchospasm — an abnormal contraction of the bronchi resulting in restriction of the airway
- brontosaurus — any very large herbivorous quadrupedal dinosaur of the genus Apatosaurus, common in North America during Jurassic times, having a long neck and long tail: suborder Sauropoda (sauropods)
- bronze medal — A bronze medal is a medal made of bronze or bronze-coloured metal that is given as a prize to the person who comes third in a competition, especially a sports contest.
- brooks range — a mountain range in N Alaska. Highest peak: Mount Isto, 2761 m (9058 ft)
- brown bag it — to bring (one's own liquor) to a restaurant or club, especially one that has no liquor license.
- brown bagger — to bring (one's own liquor) to a restaurant or club, especially one that has no liquor license.
- brown canker — a fungous disease of roses, characterized by leaf and flower lesions, stem cankers surrounded by a reddish-purple border, and dieback.
- brown hackle — an artificial fly having a peacock herl body, golden tag and tail, and brown hackle.
- buenos aires — the capital of Argentina, a major port and industrial city on the Río de la Plata estuary: became capital in 1880; university (1821). Pop: 13 349 000 (2005 est)
- bunco artist — a confidence trickster or con artist
- burial mound — a barrow
- burkina faso — an inland republic in W Africa: dominated by Mossi kingdoms (10th–19th centuries); French protectorate established in 1896; became an independent republic in 1960; consists mainly of a flat savanna plateau. Official language: French; Mossi and other African languages also widely spoken. Religion: mostly animist, with a large Muslim minority. Currency: franc. Capital: Ouagadougou. Pop: 17 812 961 (2013 est). Area: 273 200 sq km (105 900 sq miles)
- burnt almond — a sweet consisting of an almond enclosed in burnt sugar
- burnt orange — of a dark orange colour, sometimes due to calcination of orange pigment
- by reason of — If one thing happens by reason of another, it happens because of it.
- byelorussian — Byelorussian means belonging or relating to Byelorussia or to its people or culture.
- calibrations — Plural form of calibration.