12-letter words containing s, i, e, g, n
- beseechingly — to implore urgently: They besought him to go at once.
- best-selling — A best-selling product such as a book is very popular and a large quantity of it has been sold.
- beta testing — (programming) Evaluation of a pre-release (potentially unreliable) version of a piece of software (or possibly hardware) by making it available to selected users ("beta testers") before it goes on general distribution. Beta testign aims to discover bugs that only occur in certain environments or under certain patterns of use, while reducing the volume of feedback to a manageable level. The testers benefit by having earlier access to new products, features and fixes. Beta testing may be preceded by "alpha testing", performed in-house by a handful of users (e.g. other developers or friends), who can be expected to give rapid, high quality feedback on design and usability. Once the product is considered to be usable for its intended purpose it then moves on to "beta testing" by a larger, but typically still limited, number of ordinary users, who may include external customers. Some companies such as Google or Degree Jungle stretch the definition, claiming their products are "in beta" for many months by millions of users. The term derives from early 1960s terminology for product cycle checkpoints, first used at IBM but later standard throughout the industry. "Alpha test" was the unit test, module test or component test phase; "Beta Test" was initial system test. These themselves came from earlier A- and B-tests for hardware. The A-test was a feasibility and manufacturability evaluation done before any commitment to design and development. The B-test was a demonstration that the engineering model functioned as specified. The C-test (corresponding to today's beta) was the B-test performed on early samples of the production design.
- betting news — the news of the latest odds on winners of matches, races and competitions
- betting shop — A betting shop is a place where people can go to bet on something such as a horse race.
- betting slip — a piece of paper used to place a bet
- bevel siding — siding composed of tapered pieces, as clapboards, laid with the thicker lower edge of any piece overlapping the thinner upper edge of the piece below it.
- big business — Big business is business which involves very large companies and very large sums of money.
- billingsgate — the largest fish market in London, on the N bank of the River Thames; moved to new site at Canary Wharf in 1982 and the former building converted into offices
- biomagnetics — the study of magnetic fields as a form of therapy
- biomagnetism — animal magnetism.
- bird nesting — the activity of searching for birds' nests as a hobby
- biscay green — a yellowish green.
- biting louse — any wingless insect of the order Mallophaga, such as the chicken louse: external parasites of birds and mammals with biting mouthparts
- biting stage — the second part of the oral phase of psychosexual development, approximately 8 to18 months of age, during which a child has the urge to bite or chew objects.
- blisteringly — causing a blister or blisters.
- blue springs — a town in W Missouri.
- blue-singlet — working-class
- bluesnarfing — the practice of using one Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone to steal contact details, ring tones, images, etc from another
- bluestocking — A bluestocking is an intellectual woman.
- body english — a follow-through motion of the body, as after bowling a ball, in a semi-involuntary or joking effort to control the ball's movement
- bognor regis — a resort in S England, in West Sussex on the English Channel: electronics industries. Regis was added to the name after King George V's convalescence there in 1929. Pop: 62 141 (2001)
- braunschweig — Brunswick
- bush singlet — a black woollen singlet often worn by farm labourers
- buying spree — the hurried acquisition by a company, of goods, assets, or other companies
- cablecasting — relating to broadcasting by cable
- caenogenesis — the development of structures and organs in an embryo or larva that are adaptations to its way of life and are not retained in the adult form
- camping site — A camping site is the same as a campsite.
- campshedding — to line (the bank of a river) with campshot.
- casing knife — a knife for trimming wallpaper after it has been attached.
- casting vote — When a committee has given an equal number of votes for and against a proposal, the chairperson can give a casting vote. This vote decides whether or not the proposal will be passed.
- categorising — to arrange in categories or classes; classify.
- ceiling rose — decorative plaster centrepiece
- centimorgans — Plural form of centimorgan.
- centralising — Present participle of centralise.
- channelising — Present participle of channelise.
- charmingness — pleasing; delightful: a charming child.
- cheeseparing — penny-pinching; stingy
- chitterlings — the intestines of a pig or other animal prepared as a dish
- christenings — Plural form of christening.
- chronologies — Plural form of chronology.
- chronologise — Alternative spelling of chronologize.
- cladogenesis — adaptive evolution leading to a greater variety of species
- claw setting — a jewellery setting with clawlike prongs
- cliffhangers — Plural form of cliffhanger.
- closefitting — fitting tightly, esp. in such a way as to show the contours of the body
- closegrained — having a fine, compact grain or texture
- closing date — The closing date for a competition or offer is the final date by which entries or applications must be received.
- closing time — Closing time is the time when something such as a shop, library, or pub closes and people have to leave.
- coarse grain — granularity