13-letter words containing p, a, b
- backdoor play — an offensive tactic whereby a player breaks away from a defender to receive a pass near the baseline in order to make a quick layup.
- backing group — a group of musicians providing an instrumental or vocal accompaniment for a pop singer
- backpedalling — to retard the forward motion by pressing backward on the pedal, especially of a bicycle with coaster brakes.
- backspace key — a key on a typewriter or computer keyboard that makes the carriage or cursor move backwards one space
- bacteriophage — a virus that is parasitic in a bacterium and multiplies within its host, which is destroyed when the new viruses are released
- bacteriophagy — the action of a bacteriophage
- bacterioscopy — the examination of bacteria with a microscope.
- badminton cup — a long refreshing drink of claret with soda water and sugar
- baking powder — Baking powder is an ingredient used in cake making. It causes cakes to rise when they are in the oven.
- balanced step — any of a series of staircase winders so planned that they are nearly as wide at the inside of the stair as the adjacent fliers.
- balch springs — a town in NE Texas.
- ballistospore — a spore, esp a fungal spore, that is forcefully ejected from its source
- balneotherapy — the treatment of disease by bathing, esp to improve limb mobility in arthritic and neuromuscular disorders
- balsam capivi — copaiba.
- balsam poplar — a poplar tree, Populus balsamifera, of NE North America, having resinous buds and broad heart-shaped leaves
- balsam spruce — either of two North American coniferous trees of the genus Picea, P. pungens (the blue spruce) or P. engelmanni
- banana spider — a large, yellowish, tropical crab spider (Heteropoda venatoria) occasionally found in bunches of bananas shipped to the Temperate Zones
- band spectrum — a spectrum consisting of a number of bands of closely spaced lines that are associated with emission or absorption of radiation by molecules
- banded purple — any color having components of both red and blue, such as lavender, especially one deep in tone.
- bandspreading — an additional tuning control in some radio receivers whereby a selected narrow band of frequencies can be spread over a wider frequency band, in order to give finer control of tuning
- bankrupt worm — a roundworm (genus Trichostrongylus) that is an intestinal parasite of birds and mammals, especially devastating to young livestock.
- barbary sheep — aoudad
- barber's pole — a sign outside a barber's shop consisting of a pole painted with red and white spiral stripes
- barbershopper — a member of a barbershop singing group.
- bargain price — a low price
- barley stripe — a disease of barley, characterized by blighted heads and chlorotic, brown, or frayed stripes on the leaves, caused by a fungus, Helminthosporium gramineum.
- baroreceptors — Plural form of baroreceptor.
- barred spiral — a spiral galaxy in which the arms originate at the ends of a bar-shaped nucleus
- barrel-shaped — having the shape of a barrel
- barristership — the office of a barrister
- bartlett pear — a large, juicy variety of pear
- base hospital — a hospital serving a large rural area
- basic plumage — the plumage assumed by an adult bird at its complete, usually annual, molt.
- basic process — Military. basic training. a soldier or airman receiving basic training.
- basidiospores — Plural form of basidiospore.
- bass response — the response of an audio reproduction system or component to low frequencies
- batch-process — to perform batch processing on (files)
- bay of naples — an inlet of the Tyrrhenian Sea in the SW coast of Italy
- bay of plenty — a large bay of the Pacific on the NE coast of the North Island, New Zealand
- be upstanding — (in a court of law) a direction to all persons present to rise to their feet before the judge enters or leaves the court
- beam splitter — a system that divides a beam of light, electrons, etc, into two or more paths
- bear the palm — to be the winner; take the prize
- bearing plate — a heavy metal plate for receiving and distributing concentrated weight, as from a column or one end of a truss.
- beast of prey — any animal that hunts other animals for food
- beauty parlor — A beauty parlor is a place where women can go to have beauty treatments, for example, to have their hair, nails, or makeup done.
- beaux esprits — bel esprit
- beaux-esprits — plural of bel-esprit.
- bedding plane — the surface separating two successive layers of stratified rock
- bedding plant — A bedding plant is a plant which lasts for one year. It is put in a flower bed before it flowers, and is then removed when it has finished flowering.
- bedding-plant — bedmaker (def 1).