15-letter words containing s, i, g, r
- bird of passage — If you refer to someone as a bird of passage, you mean that they are staying in a place for a short time before going to another place.
- blasting powder — a form of gunpowder made with sodium nitrate instead of saltpeter, used chiefly for blasting rock, ore, etc.
- boarding school — A boarding school is a school which some or all of the pupils live in during the school term. Compare day school.
- boiled dressing — a cooked salad dressing thickened with egg yolks and often containing mustard.
- borough-english — (until 1925) a custom in certain English boroughs whereby the youngest son inherited land to the exclusion of his older brothers
- boston marriage — (especially in 19th-century New England) an intimate friendship between two women often maintaining a household together.
- bowstring truss — a structural truss consisting of a curved top chord meeting a bottom chord at each end.
- bragging rights — notional privileges that are gained by defeating a close rival
- branching rules — rules that are used to break down a complex problem into several smaller problems
- branchiostegous — branchiostegal.
- breaking strain — the amount of strain that, if applied to a particular material, will cause it to break
- breathing space — A breathing space is a short period of time between two activities in which you can recover from the first activity and prepare for the second one.
- breeding season — the time of year during which animals breed
- bridge of sighs — a covered 16th-century bridge in Venice, between the Doges' Palace and the prisons, through which prisoners were formerly led to trial or execution
- brights-disease — a disease characterized by albuminuria and heightened blood pressure.
- british english — the English language as spoken and written in England and as distinguished esp. from American English
- brush discharge — a slightly luminous electrical discharge between points of high charge density when the charge density is insufficient to cause a spark or around sharp points on a highly charged conductor because of ionization of air molecules in their vicinity
- buckinghamshire — a county in SE central England, containing the Vale of Aylesbury and parts of the Chiltern Hills: the geographic and ceremonial county includes Milton Keynes, which became an independent unitary authority in 1997. Administrative centre: Aylesbury. Pop (excluding Milton Keynes): 478 000 (2003 est). Area (excluding Milton Keynes): 1568 sq km (605 sq miles)
- bug fix release — (programming) A release which introduces no new features, but which merely aims to fix bugs in previous releases. All too commonly new bugs are introduced at the same time.
- building trades — the trades and professions concerned with the creation and finishing of buildings, such as carpenters, plasterers, masons, electricians, etc.
- cactus geranium — a plant, Pelargonium echinatum, of the geranium family, native to southern Africa, having prickly stipules and white or reddish flowers.
- cairngorm-stone — smoky quartz.
- cardiac massage — a rhythmic compressing of the heart, using the hands to force blood through the blood vessels: an emergency medical procedure for treating heart failure
- carl xvi gustaf — born 1946, king of Sweden from 1973
- cartridge brass — brass composed of about 70 percent copper and 30 percent zinc.
- catastrophising — Present participle of catastrophise.
- catastrophizing — Present participle of catastrophize.
- categoricalness — The quality of being categorical, positive, or absolute.
- categorisations — Plural form of categorisation.
- categorizations — Plural form of categorization.
- centipede grass — a slow-growing grass, Eremochloa ophiuroides, introduced into the U.S. from China and used for lawns in warm areas.
- central casting — a nominal casting agency that delivers stereotypes to films or, figuratively, to real life situations
- channel surfing — to change from one channel on a television set to another with great or unusual frequency, especially by using a remote control.
- channel-surfing — Channel-surfing is the same as channel-hopping.
- choral speaking — recitation of poetry, dramatic pieces, etc. by a chorus of speakers
- chronobiologist — A person who is involved in chronobiology.
- church register — parish register.
- churrigueresque — of or relating to a style of baroque architecture of Spain in the late 17th and early 18th centuries
- cigarette smoke — the acrid smoke produced by cigarettes being smoked
- circumambagious — in a round-about manner
- circumnavigates — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of circumnavigate.
- classical greek — the form of Greek used in classical literature, especially the literary Attic Greek of the 5th and 4th centuries b.c.
- commercialising — Present participle of commercialise.
- commiseratingly — in a manner expressing commiseration
- conglomerations — Plural form of conglomeration.
- congratulations — You say 'Congratulations' to someone in order to congratulate them on something nice that has happened to them or something good that they have done.
- congressionally — of or relating to a congress.
- consulting room — A doctor's or therapist's consulting room is the room in which they see their patients.
- converging lens — a lens that converts parallel rays of light to convergent rays and produces a real image.
- coolgardie safe — a cupboard with wetted hessian walls for keeping food cool: used esp in Australia