17-letter words containing s, i, l
- bartholin's gland — either of two small glands near the vaginal opening: during sexual excitement they secrete a mucous lubricating substance
- basal anaesthesia — preliminary and incomplete anaesthesia induced to prepare a surgical patient for total anaesthesia with another agent
- base lending rate — a minimum interest rate on which financial institutions base the rates they use for lending
- be well rid of sb — If you say that someone is well rid of someone, you think it is good that the person has gone because you did not like them or you think they caused a lot of problems.
- beauty specialist — a person who helps someone to improve their beauty, such as a make-up artist
- beer and skittles — enjoyment or pleasure
- bell laboratories — One of AT&T's research sites, in Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA. It was the birthplace of the transistor, Unix, C and C++ and the current home of research on Plan 9 and ODE.
- bell-hanger's bit — a bit for drilling small holes through studs or the like.
- belleville spring — a spring having the form of a washer or dished disk with an open center, used for cushioning heavy loads with short motion.
- belted kingfisher — a grayish-blue, North American kingfisher, Ceryle alcyon, having a white breast marked with a grayish-blue band.
- benevolent sexism — a theory that sexism toward women is multidimensional, one form (hostile sexism) reflecting negative views of women who challenge traditional gender roles, and the other form (benevolent sexism) reflecting positive views of women who conform to these roles.
- bergisch gladbach — city in W Germany, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia: pop. 105,000
- bergisch-gladbach — an industrial city in W Germany, near Cologne.
- betagalactosidase — any of a family of enzymes capable of liberating galactose from carbohydrates.
- bicycle motocross — a bicycle race over a rough cross-country course, usually consisting of jumps, obstacles, and turns. Abbreviation: BMX.
- binet-simon scale — a test comprising questions and tasks, used to determine the mental age of subjects, usually children
- bioelectrogenesis — the production of electricity by organisms.
- biological shield — a protective shield impervious to radiation, esp the thick concrete wall surrounding the core of a nuclear reactor
- bird's-eye chilli — a small red hot-tasting chilli
- bitmapped display — bitmap display
- black nationalism — a movement advocating the establishment of a separate black nation within the U.S.
- black renaissance — a renewal and flourishing of black literary and musical culture during the years after World War I in the Harlem section of New York City.
- black swallowtail — the tail of a swallow or a deeply forked tail like that of a swallow.
- black-box testing — functional testing
- blackout curtains — thick, lined curtains designed to shut out all daylight and keep a room in complete darkness
- blackwells island — a former name of Roosevelt Island.
- bland-allison act — an act of Congress (1878) requiring the federal government to purchase at the market price from two to four million dollars' worth of silver monthly for conversion into silver dollars containing 16 times more silver per coin than gold in dollar coins of gold.
- blasphemous libel — In Britain, previously, the crime committed if a person insults, offends, or vilifies the deity, Christ, or the Christian religion
- block association — an association for the residents of a particular block in a neighbourhood to discuss and act on matters of common concern
- blood transfusion — A blood transfusion is a process in which blood is injected into the body of a person who is badly injured or ill.
- blowpipe analysis — a type of chemical analysis in which the intensely hot flame of a blowpipe vaporizes a mineral or other substance with a characteristically colored flame and a unique odor, so as to identify chemical elements in a substance
- blue false indigo — a North American plant, Baptisia australis, of the legume family, having wedge-shaped leaflets and blue, clustered flowers.
- blue-sky thinking — Blue-sky thinking is the activity of trying to find completely new ideas.
- board-and-shingle — a small dwelling with wooden walls and a shingle roof
- boileau-despreaux — Nicolas [nee-kaw-lah] /ni kɔˈlɑ/ (Show IPA), 1636–1711, French critic and poet.
- boiler horsepower — a unit of measurement of the ability of a boiler to evaporate water, usually given as the ability to evaporate 34½ pounds (15.6 kg) of water an hour, into dry saturated steam from and at 212°F (100°C).
- boothia peninsula — a peninsula of N Canada: the northernmost part of the mainland of North America, lying west of the Gulf of Boothia, an arm of the Arctic Ocean
- bowel obstruction — a blockage in the bowel
- boys will be boys — If you say boys will be boys, for example when a group of men are behaving noisily or aggressively, you are suggesting in a light-hearted way that this is typical male behaviour and will never change.
- bricks and clicks — a combination of traditional business carried out on physical premises and internet trading
- british columbian — of or relating to British Columbia or its inhabitants
- british israelite — a member of a religious movement claiming that the British people are descended from the lost tribes of Israel
- broderie anglaise — open embroidery on white cotton, fine linen, etc
- browserconfig.xml — (web) A Microsoft configuration file used to customise the appearance and behaviour of website links pinned to the Windows start screen or desktop taskbar. browserconfig.xml allows the site owner to specify things like badges and tile images.
- budget resolution — a resolution adopted by both houses of the U.S. Congress setting forth, reaffirming, or revising the budget for the U.S. government for a fiscal year.
- building industry — the economic sector comprising all companies involved in construction
- bull's-eye mirror — a circular, convex, ornamental mirror.
- bull's-eye window — bull's-eye (def 7).
- bushman's singlet — a sleeveless heavy black woollen singlet, used as working clothing by timber fellers
- business as usual — In a difficult situation, if you say it is business as usual, you mean that people will continue doing what they normally do.