12-letter words containing r, o
- brooks range — a mountain range in N Alaska. Highest peak: Mount Isto, 2761 m (9058 ft)
- brooks's law — (programming) "Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later" - a result of the fact that the expected advantage from splitting work among N programmers is O(N) (that is, proportional to N), but the complexity and communications cost associated with coordinating and then merging their work is O(N^2) (that is, proportional to the square of N). The quote is from Fred Brooks, a manager of IBM's OS/360 project and author of "The Mythical Man-Month". The myth in question has been most tersely expressed as "Programmer time is fungible" and Brooks established conclusively that it is not. Hackers have never forgotten his advice; too often, management still does. See also creationism, second-system effect, optimism.
- brown bag it — to bring (one's own liquor) to a restaurant or club, especially one that has no liquor license.
- brown bagger — to bring (one's own liquor) to a restaurant or club, especially one that has no liquor license.
- brown butter — beurre noir.
- brown canker — a fungous disease of roses, characterized by leaf and flower lesions, stem cankers surrounded by a reddish-purple border, and dieback.
- brown hackle — an artificial fly having a peacock herl body, golden tag and tail, and brown hackle.
- brown-nosing — If you accuse someone of brown-nosing, you are saying in a rather offensive way that they are agreeing with someone important in order to get their support.
- browser skin — a changeable decorative background for a browser
- brush border — a layer of tightly packed minute finger-like protuberances on cells that line absorptive surfaces, such as those of the intestine and kidney
- brush flower — a flower or inflorescence with numerous long stamens, usually pollinated by birds or bats
- buenos aires — the capital of Argentina, a major port and industrial city on the Río de la Plata estuary: became capital in 1880; university (1821). Pop: 13 349 000 (2005 est)
- buffalo bird — a cowbird, Molothrus ater, of North America.
- buffalo robe — a carriage robe or rug made of the skin of the bison, dressed with the hair on
- buffaloberry — any shrub of the genus Shepherdia native to North America
- buffer force — a force separating two opposing sides
- buffer stock — a stock of a commodity built up by a government or trade organization with the object of using it to stabilize prices
- bugger about — If someone buggers about or buggers around, they waste time doing unnecessary things.
- bullet-proof — Something that is bullet-proof is made of a strong material that bullets cannot pass through.
- bullock cart — a cart pulled by one or two bullocks
- bunco artist — a confidence trickster or con artist
- bunny boiler — a person, esp a woman, who is considered to be emotionally unstable and likely to be dangerously vengeful
- bur marigold — any plant of the genus Bidens that has yellow flowers and pointed fruits that cling to fur and clothing: family Asteraceae (composites)
- burglarproof — safeguarded or secure against burglary.
- burial mound — a barrow
- burkina faso — an inland republic in W Africa: dominated by Mossi kingdoms (10th–19th centuries); French protectorate established in 1896; became an independent republic in 1960; consists mainly of a flat savanna plateau. Official language: French; Mossi and other African languages also widely spoken. Religion: mostly animist, with a large Muslim minority. Currency: franc. Capital: Ouagadougou. Pop: 17 812 961 (2013 est). Area: 273 200 sq km (105 900 sq miles)
- burner phone — a disposable cell phone with prepaid service, often used with the intent to temporarily obscure the true identity or contact information of the user: Members of the cartel used burner phones to evade federal surveillance. I always give out the number from my burner phone when I’m going on a blind date.
- burnt almond — a sweet consisting of an almond enclosed in burnt sugar
- burnt orange — of a dark orange colour, sometimes due to calcination of orange pigment
- burro's tail — a succulent Mexican plant, Sedum morganianum, of the stonecrop family, bearing small, rose-colored flowers and long, hanging, nearly cylindrical stems with closely packed whitish-green leaves.
- burseraceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Burseraceae, a tropical family of trees and shrubs having compound leaves and resin or balsam in their stems. The family includes bdellium and some balsams
- butcher shop — a shop in which meat, poultry, and sometimes fish are sold.
- butter cloth — a type of open, unsized muslin
- butterscotch — Butterscotch is a hard yellowish-brown sweet made from butter and sugar boiled together.
- buying group — an association of companies who use their combined purchasing power to achieve the best prices from suppliers
- buying order — an order to buy a certain security
- buying power — the amount of services or goods a company, person, group or currency is able to purchase
- buying-power — Also called buying power. the ability to purchase goods and services.
- by reason of — If one thing happens by reason of another, it happens because of it.
- by the score — If things happen or exist by the score, they happen or exist in large numbers.
- by virtue of — on account of or by reason of
- byelorussian — Byelorussian means belonging or relating to Byelorussia or to its people or culture.
- bypass ratio — the ratio of the amount of air that bypasses the combustion chambers of an aircraft gas turbine to that passing through them
- bzzzt, wrong — (jargon) /bzt rong/ (Usenet, Internet) From the flim "Dead Poets Society", spoofing quiz shows such as "Truth or Consequences" where an incorrect answer earns a blast from the buzzer. An expression of mock-rude disagreement, often following a quote from another poster in a forum. The less abbreviated "*Bzzzzt*, wrong, but thank you for playing" is also common.
- cabbage rose — a rose, Rosa centifolia, with a round compact full-petalled head
- cabora bassa — the site on the Zambezi River in N Mozambique of the largest dam in southern Africa
- cabot strait — a channel in Canada, connecting the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the Atlantic Ocean. 68 miles (109 km) wide.
- cabriole leg — a type of furniture leg, popular in the first half of the 18th century, in which an upper convex curve descends tapering to a concave curve
- cacao butter — cocoa butter
- cache memory — a small area of memory in a computer that can be accessed very quickly