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14-letter words containing s, e, c

  • big red switch — (jargon)   (BRS) IBM jargon for the power switch on a computer, especially the "Emergency Pull" switch on an IBM mainframe or the power switch on an IBM PC where it really is large and red. "This [email protected]%$% bitty box is hung again; time to hit the Big Red Switch." It is alleged that the emergency pull switch on an IBM 360/91 actually fired a non-conducting bolt into the main power feed; the BRSes on more recent mainframes physically drop a block into place so that they can't be pushed back in. People get fired for pulling them, especially inappropriately (see also molly-guard). Compare power cycle, three-finger salute, 120 reset; see also scram switch.
  • bioaeronautics — the use of aircraft in the discovery, development, and protection of natural and biological resources
  • biocybernetics — the branch of cybernetics that deals with the control and communication systems of living organisms
  • bioelectronics — a branch of electronics that deals with electronic devices, implants, etc. used in medicine and biological research
  • bioluminescent — the production of light by living organisms.
  • biomathematics — the study of the application of mathematics to biology
  • biometric risk — Biometric risk covers all risks related to human life conditions, such as death, birth, disability, age, and number of children.
  • bioprospecting — searching for plant or animal species for use as a source of commercially exploitable products, such as medicinal drugs
  • biosystematics — the study of the variation and evolution of a population of organisms in relation to their taxonomic classification
  • bircher muesli — a type of muesli containing softened oats, dried fruit, and apple
  • biscuit barrel — an airtight container of circular section equipped with a lid and used for storing biscuits
  • bitter cassava — a species of cassava (Manihot esculenta) whose poisonous roots when processed yield tapioca starch
  • black basaltes — basaltware.
  • black panthers — (in the US) a militant Black political party founded in 1965 to end the political dominance of White people
  • black redstart — a small, Passerine bird, Phoenicurus ochruros, found in Central and S Europe
  • black sea bass — an American coastal percoid fish, Centropristes striatus, having an elongated body with a long spiny dorsal fin almost divided into two
  • black selenium — an allotropic form of selenium occurring as a black, amorphous, water-insoluble, light-sensitive powder: used chiefly in photoelectric cells.
  • black squirrel — a fox squirrel or gray squirrel in that color phase in which the fur is black.
  • blanket stitch — a strong reinforcing stitch for the edges of blankets and other thick material
  • blanket-stitch — a basic sewing stitch in which widely spaced, interlocking loops, or purls, are formed, used for cutwork, as a decorative finish for edges, etc.
  • blister copper — an impure form of copper having a blister-like surface due to the release of gas during cooling
  • blister-packed — presented in a blister pack
  • bloc québécois — (in Canada) a political party that advocates autonomy for Quebec
  • body mechanics — body exercises that are intended to improve one's posture, stamina, poise, etc.
  • bone structure — the skeletal composition of a human or animal
  • boolean search — (information science)   (Or "Boolean query") A query using the Boolean operators, AND, OR, and NOT, and parentheses to construct a complex condition from simpler criteria. A typical example is searching for combinatons of keywords on a web search engine. Examples: car or automobile "New York" and not "New York state" The term is sometimes stretched to include searches using other operators, e.g. "near". Not to be confused with binary search. See also: weighted search.
  • booster cables — jumper cables
  • boston lettuce — a type of butterhead lettuce
  • bounce message — A notification message returned to the sender by a site unable to relay e-mail to the intended recipient or the next link in a bang path. Reasons might include a nonexistent or misspelled user name or a down relay site. Bounce messages can themselves fail, with occasionally ugly results; see sorcerer's apprentice mode and software laser. The terms "bounce mail" and "barfmail" are also common.
  • bow and scrape — to behave in an excessively deferential or obsequious way
  • bowling crease — a line marked at the wicket, over which a bowler must not advance fully before delivering the ball
  • boxed comments — (programming)   Comments that occupy several lines by themselves; so called because in assembler and C code they are often surrounded by a box in a style similar to this: /************************************************* * * This is a boxed comment in C style * *************************************************/ Common variants of this style omit the asterisks in column 2 or add a matching row of asterisks closing the right side of the box. The sparest variant omits all but the comment delimiters themselves; the "box" is implied. Opposite of winged comments.
  • bracket fungus — any saprotroph or parasitic fungus of the basidiomycetous family Polyporaceae, growing as a shelflike mass (bracket) from tree trunks and producing spores in vertical tubes in the bracket
  • bradford score — a measure of the amount of time during which an employee is absent from work, based on assigning a number of points according to the frequency and length of absences
  • branchiostegal — of or relating to the operculum covering the gill slits of fish
  • brass knuckles — linked metal rings or a metal bar with holes for the fingers, worn for rough fighting
  • braunschweiger — a smoked liver sausage, named after the city of Braunschweig
  • breakfast club — a service that provides a breakfast for children who arrive early at school
  • brecknockshire — a historic county in S Wales, now part of Powys, Gwent, and Mid Glamorgan.
  • breeding stock — animals specifically kept to breed from
  • brewster chair — a chair of 17th-century New England having heavy turned uprights with vertical turned spindles filling in the back, the space beneath the arms, and the spaces between the legs.
  • broad-spectrum — effective against a wide variety of diseases or microorganisms
  • broken consort — a musical ensemble with instruments of different types or families, as string and woodwind, especially for Renaissance music.
  • broken society — a perceived or apparent general decline in moral values
  • bronchiectasis — chronic dilation of the bronchi or bronchial tubes, which often become infected
  • brunswick stew — a stew originally made with squirrel and onions, and now usually with rabbit or chicken and corn, okra, onions, tomatoes, lima beans, etc.
  • brushed cotton — cotton fabric that is brushed to remove excess lint and fibres to leave a soft, smooth finish
  • bull stretcher — Also called bullnose stretcher. a brick having one of the edges along its length rounded for laying as a stretcher in a sill or the like.
  • bumper sticker — A bumper sticker is a small piece of paper or plastic with words or pictures on it, designed for sticking onto the back of your car. It usually has a political, religious, or humorous message.
  • burschenschaft — a students' fraternity, originally one concerned with Christian ideals, patriotism, etc
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