16-letter words containing o, y
- biodegradability — capable of decaying through the action of living organisms: biodegradable paper; biodegradable detergent.
- birthday honours — (in Britain) honorary titles conferred on the official birthday of the sovereign
- birthwort family — the plant family Aristolochiaceae, typified by mostly tropical woody vines and herbaceous plants, having alternate, heart-shaped leaves and flowers lacking true petals but having three petallike sepals, and including the birthwort, Dutchman's-pipe, and wild ginger.
- bite your tongue — either of the two fleshy parts or folds forming the margins of the mouth and functioning in speech.
- black chokeberry — See under chokeberry (def 1).
- blocked currency — a currency that is not freely convertible because of exchange controls imposed on it
- bloomsbury group — a group of writers, artists, and intellectuals living and working in and around Bloomsbury in London from about 1907 to 1930. Influenced by the philosophy of G. E. Moore, they included Leonard and Virginia Woolf, Clive and Vanessa Bell, Roger Fry, E. M. Forster, Lytton Strachey, Duncan Grant, and John Maynard Keynes
- blue-ribbon jury — a jury composed of persons having more than ordinary education and presumably exceptional intelligence and perceptiveness, selected by the court on the motion of plaintiff or defendant to try cases of unusual complexity or importance.
- board of inquiry — a group set up to inquire into accidents, etc
- bob's your uncle — everything is or will turn out all right
- bodily functions — physical processes such as urination and defecation
- bog whortleberry — a plant, Vaccinium uliginosum, of mountain regions, having pink flowers and black fruits
- bootstrap memory — memory that allows new programs to be entered because some simple preliminary instructions or information are already built in.
- boston tea party — a raid in 1773 made by citizens of Boston (disguised as Indians) on three British ships in the harbour as a protest against taxes on tea and the monopoly given to the East India Company. The contents of several hundred chests of tea were dumped into the harbour
- boundary dispute — dispute between neighbours about the boundary between their properties
- boutique brewery — microbrewery.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- building society — In Britain, a building society is a business which will lend you money when you want to buy a house. You can also invest money in a building society, where it will earn interest. Compare savings and loan association.
- 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
- burrowing blenny — graveldiver.
- bush honeysuckle — any of several shrubs of the genus Diervilla, of eastern North America, having clusters of yellowish flowers.
- busman's holiday — If you have a holiday, but spend it doing something similar to your usual work, you can refer to it as a busman's holiday.
- 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
- 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)
- california poppy — a papaveraceous plant, Eschscholtzia californica, of the Pacific coast of North America, having yellow or orange flowers and finely divided bluish-green leaves
- calorimetrically — In a calorimetric manner.
- can you beat it? — an expression of utter amazement or surprise
- canada mayflower — a small wildflower (Maianthemum canadense) of the lily family, with white flowers and red, beadlike berries, found in the N U.S. and in Canada; bead-ruby
- canyon de chelly — a canyon in NE Arizona, in the Navajo reservation: site contains prehistoric cliff dwellings.
- capacity booking — a time when someone has booked the whole of a venue or the maximum amount of something available
- capillary action — Also called capillary action, capillary attraction. Physics. a manifestation of surface tension by which the portion of the surface of a liquid coming in contact with a solid is elevated or depressed, depending on the adhesive or cohesive properties of the liquid.
- capillary-action — Also called capillary action, capillary attraction. Physics. a manifestation of surface tension by which the portion of the surface of a liquid coming in contact with a solid is elevated or depressed, depending on the adhesive or cohesive properties of the liquid.
- capital employed — the money used by a business for buying land, buildings, equipment etc
- carboxylesterase — (enzyme) Any enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of a carboxylic ester.
- carboxypeptidase — any of several digestive enzymes that catalyze the removal of an amino acid from the end of a peptide chain having a free carbonyl group.
- carry conviction — to be convincing
- carry-on luggage — luggage that is taken inside an aircraft by hand personally by a passenger
- cartographically — the production of maps, including construction of projections, design, compilation, drafting, and reproduction.