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16-letter words containing s, e, n, r

  • australian rules — a game resembling rugby football, played in Australia between teams of 18 men each on an oval pitch, with a ball resembling a large rugby ball. Players attempt to kick the ball between posts (without crossbars) at either end of the pitch, scoring six points for a goal (between the two main posts) and one point for a behind (between either of two outer posts and the main posts). They may punch or kick the ball and run with it provided that they bounce it every ten yards
  • autofluorescence — (biology, microscopy) Self-induced fluorescence.
  • autotransformers — Plural form of autotransformer.
  • aversion therapy — a method of suppressing an undesirable habit, such as excessive smoking, by causing the subject to associate an unpleasant effect, such as an electric shock or nausea, with the habit
  • axminster carpet — a type of patterned carpet with a cut pile
  • azuero peninsula — a peninsula in SW Panama, bordered on the E by the Gulf of Panama.
  • background noise — any type of noise that is not the sound that you are specifically listening to or monitoring
  • balance transfer — the act of transferring debt from one credit card to another, assuming that the second card has better terms or interest rates than the first
  • balearic islands — a group of islands in the W Mediterranean, consisting of Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza, Formentera, Cabrera, and 11 islets: a province of Spain. Capital: Palma, on Majorca. Pop: 1 071 500 (2003 est). Area: 5012 sq km (1935 sq miles)
  • balsamic vinegar — Balsamic vinegar is a type of vinegar which tastes sweet and is made from grape juice.
  • banana republics — any of the small countries in the tropics, especially in the Western Hemisphere, whose economies are largely dependent on fruit exports, tourism, and foreign investors.
  • band-pass filter — a filter that transmits only those currents having a frequency lying within specified limits
  • bare necessities — only the essentials
  • bargain basement — If you refer to something as a bargain basement thing, you mean that it is cheap and not very good quality.
  • bargain-basement — very low-priced.
  • bargaining scope — the range of topics within the scope of a particular set of negotiations leading to a collective agreement
  • baron tweedsmuir — the title of Scottish novelist John Buchan
  • basilar membrane — a membrane inside the cochlea that vibrates in response to sound
  • basque provinces — an autonomous region of N Spain, comprising the provinces of Álava, Guipúzcoa, and Vizcaya: inhabited mainly by Basques, who retained virtual autonomy from the 9th to the 19th century. Pop: 1 840 700 (2003 est). Area: about 7250 sq km (2800 sq miles)
  • bastard culverin — a 16th-century cannon, smaller than a culverin, firing a shot of between 5 and 8 pounds (11 and 17.6 kg).
  • batch processing — manufacturing products or treating materials in batches, by passing the output of one process to subsequent processes
  • batesian mimicry — mimicry in which a harmless species is protected from predators by means of its resemblance to a harmful or inedible species
  • bear one's cross — a structure consisting essentially of an upright and a transverse piece, used to execute persons in ancient times.
  • bearing pedestal — an independent support for a bearing, usually incorporating a bearing housing
  • bearish tendency — a tendency for share prices to fall
  • bed-sitting room — a combined bedroom and sitting room serving as a one-room apartment
  • behavioural sink — a small area in which people or animals live in overcrowded conditions
  • bells of ireland — an annual garden plant, Moluccella laevis, whose flowers have a green cup-shaped calyx: family Lamiaceae (labiates)
  • berners-lee, tim — Tim Berners-Lee
  • bertillon system — a system formerly in use for identifying persons, esp criminals, by means of a detailed record of physical characteristics
  • bertrand russell — (person)   (1872-1970) A British mathematician, the discoverer of Russell's paradox.
  • beta abstraction — [lambda-calculus] The conversion of an expression to an application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. Some subterm of the original expression becomes the argument of the abstraction and the rest becomes its body. E.g. 4+1 --> (\ x . x+1) 4 The opposite of beta abstraction is beta reduction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion.
  • bird's-nest fern — a tropical fern, Asplenium nidus, having fronds arranged in clumps resembling a bird's nest.
  • bird's-nest soup — a rich spicy Chinese soup made from the outer part of the nests of SE Asian swifts of the genus Collocalia
  • birthday present — a gift given to someone on their birthday
  • bismarck herring — marinaded herring, served cold
  • blind man's rule — a carpenter's rule having large numbers to permit its reading in dim light.
  • blind salamander — any of several North American salamanders, especially of the genera Typhlotriton, Typhlomolge, and Haideotriton, that inhabit underground streams or deep wells and have undeveloped eyes and scant pigmentation.
  • blow one's cover — to be or serve as a covering for; extend over; rest on the surface of: Snow covered the fields.
  • bluegrass region — a region in central Kentucky, famous for its horse farms and fields of bluegrass.
  • blunt instrument — something such as a hammer, used as a weapon
  • boarding kennels — a place where dog owners can pay to have their dogs looked after while they are away
  • bob's your uncle — everything is or will turn out all right
  • bonded warehouse — a warehouse in which dutiable goods are deposited until duty is paid or the goods are cleared for export
  • bornholm disease — an epidemic virus infection characterized by pain round the base of the chest
  • boston cream pie — a cake of two layers with icing and a creamy filling
  • boston tea party — a raid in 1773 made by citizens of Boston (disguised as Indians) on three British ships in the harbour as a protest against taxes on tea and the monopoly given to the East India Company. The contents of several hundred chests of tea were dumped into the harbour
  • bouches-du-rhone — a department of S central France, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Capital: Marseille. Pop: 1 883 645 (2003 est). Area: 5284 sq km (2047 sq miles)
  • boulogne-sur-mer — a port in N France, on the English Channel. Pop: 44 859 (1999)
  • boundary dispute — dispute between neighbours about the boundary between their properties
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