12-letter words containing o, u, b, a
- non-arguable — susceptible to debate, challenge, or doubt; questionable: Whether this is the best plan of action or not is arguable.
- non-culpable — deserving blame or censure; blameworthy.
- non-dutiable — subject to customs duty, as imported goods.
- nonambiguous — not ambiguous, clear
- noncrushable — (of a container, material, etc) not easily crushed
- northumbrian — of or relating to Northumbria, Northumberland, or the inhabitants or dialect of either.
- not-a-number — (mathematics) (NaN) An IEEE floating point representation for the result of a numerical operation which cannot return a valid number value. A NaN can result from multiplying an infinity by a zero, or from subtracting one infinity from another [what else?]. NaN is encoded as a special bit pattern [what pattern?] which would otherwise represent a floating-point number. It is used to signal error returns where other mechanisms are not convenient, e.g. a hardware floating-point unit and to allow errors to propagate through a calculation. Similar bit patterns represent positive and negative overflow and underflow and the positive and negative infinities resulting from division by zero.
- nuclear bomb — atomic explosive
- number opera — an opera in which the arias, ensembles, recitatives, and other sections are clearly separated from one another.
- obambulation — (obsolete) Wandering about; a casual outing.
- obdurateness — The characteristic of being obdurate; stubbornness.
- oberammergau — a village in S Germany, SW of Munich: famous for the passion play performed there every ten years.
- obfuscations — to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy.
- object value — (jargon) In industrial design, a measure of consumers' immediate desire for an object, even before they know or understand what it does. "Gassee may be nuts, but at least the BeBox has great object value."
- obnubilation — to cloud over; becloud; obscure.
- oboe d'amour — an oboe with a bulb-shaped bell that is pitched a minor third below the range of the conventional oboe and was much used in music of the Baroque period.
- obscurantism — opposition to the increase and spread of knowledge.
- obscurantist — opposition to the increase and spread of knowledge.
- obscurations — Plural form of obscuration.
- obtuse angle — an angle greater than 90° but less than 180°.
- oda nobunaga — 1534–82, Japanese general and feudal leader, who unified much of Japan under his control: assassinated
- of substance — wealthy
- opera bouffe — a comic opera, especially of farcical character.
- orbicularity — The quality of being orbicular.
- orchard bush — open savanna country with occasional trees and scrub, as found north of the W African forest belt
- orion nebula — a luminous nebula in the constellation Orion, in the center of Orion's sword.
- osco-umbrian — a group of languages, usually classified as Italic, that contains Oscan and Umbrian.
- out at elbow — ragged or impoverished
- outbalancing — Present participle of outbalance.
- overabundant — an excessive amount or abundance; surfeit: an overabundance of sugar in the diet.
- panic button — an alarm button for use in an emergency, as to summon help.
- paul-boncour — Joseph [zhaw-zef] /ʒɔˈzɛf/ (Show IPA), 1873–1972, French lawyer and statesman: premier 1932–33.
- pause button — a button on a video or music player which can be pressed to temporarily stop the playing of the recording
- pax vobiscum — peace be with you
- peacock blue — a lustrous greenish blue, as of certain peacock feathers.
- pearl button — a button (as for fastening a shirt, blouse, etc) made of pearl or mother-of-pearl
- perambulator — baby carriage.
- perturbation — the act of perturbing.
- petrobrusian — a member of a 12th-century sect in S France that rejected the Mass, infant baptism, prayers for the dead, sacerdotalism, the veneration of the cross, and the building of churches.
- petrobutanol — butyl alcohol.
- plumbaginous — containing graphite.
- plymouth bay — a small, well-protected bay on the coast of Massachusetts; the first permanent European settlement in New England; founded by the Pilgrim Fathers.
- poplar bluff — a city in SE Missouri.
- prosecutable — Law. to institute legal proceedings against (a person). to seek to enforce or obtain by legal process. to conduct criminal proceedings in court against.
- protuberance — the condition, state, or quality of being protuberant.
- protuberancy — protuberance.
- pseudorabies — a highly contagious, usually fatal disease of cattle, sheep, and other animals, caused by the herpesvirus Herpes suis, and characterized by severe pruritus and progressive central nervous system involvement sometimes including an aggressive excitement phase.
- pulling boat — a boat propelled by oars alone.
- questionable — of doubtful propriety, honesty, morality, respectability, etc.: questionable activities; in questionable taste.
- questionably — of doubtful propriety, honesty, morality, respectability, etc.: questionable activities; in questionable taste.