15-letter words containing r, e, b, o
- biogeochemistry — the science of biological, chemical, and geological aspects of the environment
- bird of passage — If you refer to someone as a bird of passage, you mean that they are staying in a place for a short time before going to another place.
- bits per second — (communications, unit) (bps, b/s) The unit in which data rate is measured. For example, a modem's data rate is usually measured in kilobits per second. In 1996, the maximum modem speed for use on the PSTN was 33.6 kbps, rising to 56 kbps in 1997. Note that kilo- (k), mega- (M), etc. in data rates denote powers of 1000, not 1024.
- black horehound — a hairy unpleasant-smelling chiefly Mediterranean plant, Ballota nigra, having clusters of purple flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)
- black operation — a covert and undocumented military operation
- black snakeroot — a tall bugbane, Cimicifuga racemosa, of the buttercup family, of eastern North America, having thin, tapering, toothed or deeply cut leaflets and branched clusters of small, white flowers.
- bladder campion — a European caryophyllaceous plant, Silene vulgaris, having white flowers with an inflated calyx
- blasting powder — a form of gunpowder made with sodium nitrate instead of saltpeter, used chiefly for blasting rock, ore, etc.
- blenheim orange — a type of apple tree bearing gold-coloured apples
- blockade runner — a person, ship etc that tries to carry goods through a blockade
- blockade-runner — a ship or person that passes through a blockade.
- blocked records — (storage) Several records written as a contiguous block on magnetic tape so that they may be accessed in a single I/O operation. Blocking increases the amount of data that may be stored on a tape because there are fewer inter-block gaps. It requires that the tape drive or processor have a sufficiently large buffer to store the whole block.
- blood corpuscle — one of the cells in the blood
- bloody butchers — a hardy plant, Trillium sessile, common from New York to Georgia and westward, having stalkless, purple or green flowers.
- blossom-end rot — a disease of tomato and pepper caused by a deficiency of calcium, characterized by decay at the blossom end of the fruit.
- blow one's cork — to lose one's temper; become enraged
- blow one's horn — to boast about oneself; brag
- blue wood aster — a composite plant, Aster cordifolius, of North America, having heart-shaped leaves and pale-blue flowers.
- board of health — an agency with responsibility for health in state, country, etc
- board of parole — an agency that determines which prisoners are to be released on parole
- board-certified — A doctor who is board-certified has passed tests and meets the standards of a board of specialists in their area of medicine.
- bohemia-moravia — a former German protectorate including Bohemia and Moravia, 1939–45.
- bohemian forest — a mountain range between the SW Czech Republic and SE Germany. Highest peak: Arber, 1457 m (4780 ft)
- boiled dressing — a cooked salad dressing thickened with egg yolks and often containing mustard.
- bonheur-du-jour — a delicate fall-front desk of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
- boolean algebra — a system of symbolic logic devised by George Boole to codify logical operations. It is used in computers
- booster cushion — an extra seat or cushion placed on an existing seat for a child to sit on in a car
- border incident — an incident, usually fighting, on a border between countries
- borderline case — a person or thing that is not clearly classifiable as something
- borough-english — (until 1925) a custom in certain English boroughs whereby the youngest son inherited land to the exclusion of his older brothers
- borrower's card — a card issued by a library to individuals or organizations entitling them or their representatives to borrow materials.
- boston marriage — (especially in 19th-century New England) an intimate friendship between two women often maintaining a household together.
- boston massacre — an outbreak (1770) in Boston against British troops, in which a few citizens were killed
- boustrophedonic — of or relating to lines written in opposite directions
- box chronometer — a ship's chronometer, supported on gimbals in a wooden box
- box huckleberry — a nearly prostrate evergreen huckleberry shrub, Gaylussacia brachycera, of central to eastern North America, having short clusters of white or pink flowers and blue fruit.
- boxer rebellion — a member of a Chinese secret society that carried on an unsuccessful uprising, 1898–1900 (Boxer Rebellion) principally against foreigners, culminating in a siege of foreign legations in Peking that was put down by an international expeditionary force.
- brachiocephalic — of, relating to, or supplying the arm and head
- brachistochrone — the curve between two points through which a body moves under the force of gravity in a shorter time than for any other curve; the path of quickest descent
- branchiostegous — branchiostegal.
- brand extension — the practice of using a well-known brand name to promote new products or services in unrelated fields
- brave new world — If someone refers to a brave new world, they are talking about a situation or system that has recently been created and that people think will be successful and fair.
- breach of faith — a violation of good faith, confidence, or trust; betrayal: To abandon your friends now would be a breach of faith.
- breach of trust — a violation of duty by a trustee or any other person in a fiduciary position
- bread and honey — money
- break the mould — If you say that someone breaks the mould, you mean that they do completely different things from what has been done before or from what is usually done.
- break-in period — a period during which certain restrictions or moderation in operating should be followed, as the avoidance of high speed, rapid acceleration, or severe braking for a new automobile.
- break-out group — a group of people who detach themselves from a larger group or meeting in order to hold separate discussions
- breakbone fever — dengue
- breakdown cover — insurance cover against breakdowns in a vehicle