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16-letter words containing o, r, b

  • bring sb to book — If you bring someone to book, you punish them for an offence or make them explain their behaviour officially.
  • bring sb to heel — If you bring someone to heel, you force them to obey you.
  • bring to bear on — to cause to have an effect on
  • bring to justice — to capture, try, and usually punish (a criminal, an outlaw, etc)
  • bristlecone pine — a coniferous tree, Pinus aristata, of the western US, bearing cones with bristle-like prickles: one of the longest-lived trees, useful in radiocarbon dating
  • british columbia — a province of W Canada, on the Pacific coast: largely mountainous with extensive forests, rich mineral resources, and important fisheries. Capital: Victoria. Pop: 4 400 057 (2011 est). Area: 930 532 sq km (359 279 sq miles)
  • british honduras — Belize
  • british longhair — a breed of large cat with a semi-long thick soft coat
  • broad-shouldered — having broad shoulders
  • broadloom carpet — any carpet woven on a wide loom and not having seams, especially one wider than 54 inches (137 cm).
  • brompton mixture — a mixture of narcotics, tranquilizers, and alcohol, used to kill pain for terminally ill patients
  • bronchial asthma — asthma.
  • bronchopneumonia — inflammation of the lungs, originating in the bronchioles
  • brood parasitism — a type of parasitism in which a bird (brood parasite), as a cowbird or European cuckoo, lays and abandons its eggs in the nest of another species
  • broomrape family — the plant family Orobanchaceae, characterized by scaly, leafless herbaceous plants that are parasitic on the roots of other plants and have irregular flowers and many-seeded capsular fruit, and including beechdrops, broomrape, and squawroot.
  • broomstick skirt — a full, gathered or pleated skirt that has characteristic tiny creases obtained by wetting the skirt and winding it around a broomstick to dry.
  • brothel-creepers — soft-soled men's shoes that were originally popular in the 1950s
  • brother jonathan — the United States or its people: predecessor of Uncle Sam
  • brown house moth — a species of micro moth, Hofmannophila pseudospretella, which, although it usually inhabits birds' nests, sometimes enters houses where its larvae can be very destructive of stored fabrics and foodstuffs
  • brown-eyed susan — a composite plant, Rudbeckia triloba, of the southeastern U.S., having a single flower with yellow rays darkening to an orange orbrown at the base and a brownish-black disk.
  • brussels griffon — one of a Belgian breed of toy dogs having a thick, wiry, reddish-brown coat.
  • buckthorn family — the plant family Rhamnaceae, characterized by shrubs and trees having alternate, simple leaves, clusters of small flowers, and fruit in the form of a drupe or capsule, and including the buckthorn, cascara, and New Jersey tea.
  • bulletproof vest — a protective garment
  • bullock's oriole — a common oriole, Icterus galbula bullockii, of western North America: a subspecies of the northern oriole.
  • bumper to bumper — If traffic is bumper to bumper, the vehicles are so close to one another that they are almost touching and are moving very slowly.
  • bumper-to-bumper — marked by a long line of cars moving slowly or with many stops and starts, one behind the other: bumper-to-bumper traffic.
  • bundle of nerves — a very nervous person
  • bundled software — software sold as part of a package with computers or other hardware or software
  • buoyancy chamber — an enclosed section of a canoe, float, ship or other object that contains air, foam, or another buoyant substance in order to help maintain buoyancy
  • burgundy trefoil — alfalfa.
  • burkitt lymphoma — a rare type of tumour of the white blood cells, occurring mainly in Africa and associated with infection by Epstein-Barr virus
  • burn oneself out — to undergo rapid combustion or consume fuel in such a way as to give off heat, gases, and, usually, light; be on fire: The fire burned in the grate.
  • burning question — urgent matter for discussion
  • burnt-tip orchid — a small orchid, Orchis ustulata, resembling the lady orchid, having dark reddish-brown hoods that give a burnt look to the tip of the flower spike
  • burrowing blenny — graveldiver.
  • butterfly ballot — a ballot paper in the form of two leaves extending from a central spine
  • butterfly flower — Also called Jerusalem date. a shrub or small tree, Bauhinia monandra, of French Guiana, having clusters of pink, purple-streaked flowers.
  • butterfly orchid — an orchid (Oncidium papilio) with reddish flowers, native to South America
  • butterfly stroke — a swimming stroke in which the arms are plunged forward together in large circular movements
  • button snakeroot — blazing star (sense 1)
  • buying behaviour — the behaviours displayed by consumers when they purchase things, such as preferences, price points, etc
  • by hook or crook — by any means
  • by word of mouth — orally rather than by written means
  • bypass capacitor — a capacitor which provides a low-impedance path for alternating current while not passing any direct current
  • bypass operation — an operation involving redirection of blood flow, either to avoid a diseased blood vessel or in order to perform heart surgery
  • cabbage root fly — a dipterous fly, Erioischia brassicae, whose larvae feed on the roots and stems of cabbages and other brassicas: family Muscidae (houseflies, etc)
  • camborne-redruth — a former (until 1974) urban district in SW England, in Cornwall: formed in 1934 by the amalgamation of the neighbouring towns of Camborne and Redruth. Pop: 39 936 (2001)
  • cannonball serve — (in tennis) a very fast low serve
  • capsule wardrobe — a collection of clothes and accessories that includes only items considered essential
  • carbon 14 dating — radiocarbon dating.
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