16-letter words containing s, e, b
- tablets of stone — Stone is used in expressions such as set in stone and tablets of stone to suggest that an idea or rule is firm and fixed, and cannot be changed.
- take a back seat — a seat at the rear.
- take by surprise — to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness: Her beauty surprised me.
- take the biscuit — Take the biscuit means the same as take the cake.
- tell one's beads — a small, usually round object of glass, wood, stone, or the like with a hole through it, often strung with others of its kind in necklaces, rosaries, etc.
- tertiary bursary — a noncompetitive award granted to all pupils who have passed a university entrance examination
- teutoburg forest — region of low, forested mountains, mostly in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: highest point, c. 1,500 ft (457 m)
- that's as may be — even so
- the amazon basin — the catchment area of the River Amazon
- the barren lands — a region of tundra in N Canada, extending westwards from Hudson Bay: sparsely inhabited, chiefly by Inuit
- the beaver state — a name for the state of Oregon
- the best part of — most of
- the black forest — a hilly wooded region of SW Germany, in Baden-Württemberg: a popular resort area
- the boys in blue — The police are sometimes referred to as the boys in blue.
- the easter bunny — the rabbit that brings Easter eggs
- the eastern bloc — (formerly) the Soviet bloc
- the great gatsby — a novel (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
- the green berets — a force of the US army also known as the United States Army Special Forces. Their missions included counter-terrorism and internal defense, and the troops are trained for guerrilla warfare
- the public purse — money from or controlled by the government
- the red brigades — a group of urban guerrillas, based in Italy, who kidnapped and murdered the former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro (1916–78) in 1978
- the subconscious — subconscious mental activity
- the subsidiariat — a collective term for the news sources that would not survive without being subsidized directly (by a government, etc), or indirectly (through sharing a parent company with another more profitable revenue source)
- the unobservable — something that cannot be observed
- the war-disabled — those people who have been disabled by war
- the wheel blacks — the international wheelchair rugby football team of New Zealand
- thrilled to bits — If someone is thrilled, they are extremely pleased about something.
- thrombophlebitis — the presence of a thrombus in a vein accompanied by inflammation of the vessel wall.
- thumb one's nose — the short, thick, inner digit of the human hand, next to the forefinger.
- thumbnail sketch — small preliminary drawing
- tibetan buddhism — the form of Mahayana Buddhism that developed and is practiced primarily in Tibet and some nearby nations: its spiritual leader is the Dalai Lama
- to be off limits — If an area or a place is off limits, you are not allowed to go there.
- to be out of sth — if you are out of something, you no longer have any of it
- to bite the dust — If you say that something has bitten the dust, you are emphasizing that it no longer exists or that it has failed.
- to come to blows — If two people or groups come to blows, they start fighting.
- to do one's best — If you do your best or try your best to do something, you try as hard as you can to do it, or do it as well as you can.
- to get bad press — If someone or something gets bad press, they are criticized, especially in the newspapers, on television, or on radio. If they get good press, they are praised.
- to mean business — If you say that someone means business, you mean they are serious and determined about what they are doing.
- to miss the boat — If you say that someone has missed the boat, you mean that they have missed an opportunity and may not get another.
- to pass the buck — If you pass the buck, you refuse to accept responsibility for something, and say that someone else is responsible.
- transport number — that fraction of the total electric current that anions and cations carry in passing through an electrolytic solution.
- transubstantiate — to change from one substance into another; transmute.
- tread the boards — to set down the foot or feet in walking; step; walk.
- tungsten carbide — a very hard, black or gray compound of tungsten and carbon, used in the manufacture of cutting and abrasion tools, dies, and wear-resistant machine parts.
- type ii diabetes — diabetes (def 4).
- ultra-liberalism — extremely liberal, especially in politics.
- un-reprehensible — deserving of reproof, rebuke, or censure; blameworthy.
- unaccomplishable — to bring to its goal or conclusion; carry out; perform; finish: to accomplish one's mission.
- uncomprehensible — capable of being comprehended or understood; intelligible.
- under bare poles — (of a sailing vessel) with no sails set
- under one's belt — a band of flexible material, as leather or cord, for encircling the waist.