16-letter words containing r, o, s
- 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 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
- bronchial asthma — asthma.
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- bulletproof vest — a protective garment
- bullock's oriole — a common oriole, Icterus galbula bullockii, of western North America: a subspecies of the northern oriole.
- bundle of nerves — a very nervous person
- bundled software — software sold as part of a package with computers or other hardware or software
- 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
- butterfly stroke — a swimming stroke in which the arms are plunged forward together in large circular movements
- button snakeroot — blazing star (sense 1)
- 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
- call to quarters — a bugle call shortly before taps, notifying soldiers to retire to their quarters
- canadian soldier — the mayfly.
- cannonball serve — (in tennis) a very fast low serve
- cantankerousness — disagreeable to deal with; contentious; peevish: a cantankerous, argumentative man.
- cantor's paradox — the paradox derived from the supposition of an all-inclusive universal set, since every set has more subsets than members while every subset of such a universal set would be a member of it
- capsule wardrobe — a collection of clothes and accessories that includes only items considered essential
- carbon bisulfide — carbon disulfide
- carbon disulfide — a heavy, volatile, colorless liquid, CS2, highly flammable and poisonous, used as a solvent, insecticide, etc.
- carbonless paper — a sheet of paper impregnated with dye which transfers writing or typing onto the copying surface below without the necessity for carbon pigment
- 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.
- cardiac neurosis — an anxiety reaction characterized by quick fatigue, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, and other cardiac symptoms, but not caused by disease of the heart.
- career prospects — the probability or chance for future success in a profession
- carnot's theorem — the principle that no engine operating between two given temperatures can be more efficient than a Carnot engine operating between the same temperatures.
- caroline islands — an archipelago of over 500 islands and islets in the W Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines, all of which are now part of the Federated States of Micronesia, except for the Palau group: formerly part of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; centre of a typhoon zone. Area: (land) 1183 sq km (457 sq miles)
- carolus linnaeus — Carolus [kar-uh-luh s] /ˈkær ə ləs/ (Show IPA), (Carl von Linné) 1707–78, Swedish botanist.
- carrot and stick — If an organization has a carrot and stick approach or policy, they offer people things in order to persuade them to do something and punish them if they refuse to do it.
- caryophyllaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Caryophyllaceae, a family of flowering plants including the pink, carnation, sweet william, and chickweed
- cash on delivery — If you pay for goods cash on delivery, you pay for them in cash when they are delivered. The abbreviation C.O.D. is also used.
- cash transaction — a piece of business, for example an act of buying or selling something
- casting director — the person in charge of choosing of actors for a production
- castor-oil plant — a tall euphorbiaceous Indian plant, Ricinus communis, cultivated in tropical regions for ornament and for its poisonous seeds, from which castor oil is extracted
- cataractogenesis — The formation of a cataract.
- catastrophically — of the nature of a catastrophe, or disastrous event; calamitous: a catastrophic failure of the dam.
- category listing — A category listing is a list of different product categories such as menswear, womenswear, and childrenswear.