15-letter words containing r, u, n, a, o
- autotransformer — a transformer in which part of the winding is common to both primary and secondary circuits
- autotransfusion — a process in which a patient receives some of his or her own blood in a transfusion rather than a donor's blood
- autotransplants — Plural form of autotransplant.
- backup rotation — (operating system) Any system for re-using backup media, e.g. magnetic tape. One extreme would be to use the same media for every backup (e.g. copy disk A to disk B), the other extreme would be to use new media every time. The trade-off is between the cost of buying and storing media and the ability to restore any version of any file. One example is the Grandfather, Father, Son (GFS) scheme.
- badminton court — the court on which games of badminton are played
- banking product — one of the various services offered by a bank to its customers: mortgages, loans, insurance etc
- bargain counter — a store counter on which goods are displayed for sale at reduced prices
- barry mountains — a mountain range in SE Australia, in E Victoria: part of the Australian Alps
- beast of burden — A beast of burden is an animal such as an ox or a donkey that is used for carrying or pulling things.
- bernoulli trial — one of a sequence of independent experiments each of which has the same probability of success, such as successive throws of a die, the outcome of which is described by a binomial distribution
- bioastronautics — the study of the effects of space flight on living organisms
- black horehound — a hairy unpleasant-smelling chiefly Mediterranean plant, Ballota nigra, having clusters of purple flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)
- 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.
- branchial pouch — one of a series of rudimentary outcroppings of the inner pharyngeal wall, corresponding to the branchial grooves on the surface.
- branchiostegous — branchiostegal.
- breaking plough — a plough with a long shallow mouldboard for turning virgin land or sod land
- bronchial tubes — the bronchi or their smaller divisions
- buffalo currant — an ornamental shrub, Ribes odoratum, of the central U.S., having showy, drooping clusters of fragrant yellow flowers and edible black fruit.
- bulimia nervosa — a disorder characterized by compulsive overeating followed by vomiting: sometimes associated with anxiety about gaining weight
- bullnose header — bull header (def 1).
- bullnose-header — Also called bullnose header. a brick having one of the edges across its width rounded for laying as a header in a sill or the like.
- bureau of mines — a division of the Department of the Interior, created in 1910, that studies the nation's mineral resources and inspects mines.
- button mangrove — a tropical tree, Conocarpus erectus, having small, reddish, conelike fruits and bark used in tanning.
- california gull — a large gull, Larus californicus, of the western U.S.
- camp counsellor — an adult supervisor assigned to a group of campers at a summer camp
- cardinal humour — any of the four bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, choler or yellow bile, melancholy or black bile) formerly thought to determine emotional and physical disposition
- cardiopulmonary — of, relating to, or affecting the heart and lungs
- carnivorousness — flesh-eating: A dog is a carnivorous animal.
- cartesian doubt — willful suspension of all interpretations of experience that are not absolutely certain: used as a method of deriving, by elimination of such uncertainties, axioms upon which to base theories.
- cast around for — If you cast around for something or cast about for it, you try to find it or think of it.
- centrifugal box — a revolving chamber, used in the spinning of manufactured filaments, in which the plastic fibers, subjected to centrifugal force, are slightly twisted and emerge in the form of yarn wound into the shape of a hollow cylinder.
- chamber counsel — a counsel who advises in private and does not plead in court
- chanson d'amour — love song.
- charcoal burner — (formerly) a person whose work was making charcoal by burning
- charcoal-burner — a device that burns charcoal, as a stove or brazier.
- church slavonic — Old Church Slavonic, esp as preserved in the liturgical use of the Orthodox church
- circularisation — Alternative spelling of circularization.
- circularization — to circulate (a letter, memorandum, etc.).
- circumforaneous — moving around or abroad; roaming from place to place
- circumnavigator — A person who circumnavigates; that is, sails around the world.
- circumvallation — surrounded by or as if by a rampart.
- coffee granules — instant coffee in the form of grains
- colour contrast — the change in the appearance of a colour surrounded by another colour; for example, grey looks bluish if surrounded by yellow
- colour sergeant — a sergeant who carries the regimental, battalion, or national colours, as in a colour guard
- colourpoint cat — a cat with increased pigmentation of cooler points of the body, such as ears, feet, tail, nose, and scrotum (in males)
- combat neurosis — battle fatigue.
- communal aerial — a television or radio receiving aerial from which received signals are distributed by cable to several outlets
- communist party — (in non-Communist countries) a political party advocating Communism
- computer dating — the use of computers by dating agencies to match their clients