17-letter words containing s, t, e, n
- 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.
- bite one's tongue — either of the two fleshy parts or folds forming the margins of the mouth and functioning in speech.
- bjarne stroustrup — (person) The father of C++ and author of the C++ bible.
- black-box testing — functional testing
- blank endorsement — an endorsement on a bill of exchange, cheque, etc, naming no payee and thus making the endorsed sum payable to the bearer
- blessed sacrament — the consecrated elements of the Eucharist
- blue dot syndrome — (graphics, jargon) The inability to display an image file or text embedded in an image file on your monitor.
- blue-sky thinking — Blue-sky thinking is the activity of trying to find completely new ideas.
- bluegrass country — region in central Ky. where there is much bluegrass
- 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
- boots and saddles — a bugle call formerly used in the US Cavalry to summon soldiers to mount
- bottom-up testing — (programming) An integration testing technique that tests the low-level components first using test drivers for those components that have not yet been developed to call the low-level components for test. Compare bottom-up implementation.
- bow street runner — (in Britain from 1749 to 1829) an officer at Bow Street magistrates' court, London, whose duty was to pursue and arrest criminals
- bowel obstruction — a blockage in the bowel
- branch delay slot — delayed control-transfer
- break one's heart — to grieve or cause to grieve very deeply, esp through love
- british cameroons — a former British trust territory of West Africa
- british-cameroons — German Kamerun. a region in W Africa: a German protectorate 1884–1919; divided in 1919 into British and French mandates.
- brocot escapement — a type of anchor escapement.
- bronze star medal — a U.S. military decoration awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement or service in combat not involving aerial flight
- 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.
- buncher resonator — See under Klystron.
- bursting strength — the capacity of a thing or substance to resist change when under pressure.
- bushman's singlet — a sleeveless heavy black woollen singlet, used as working clothing by timber fellers
- butacaine sulfate — a colorless, crystalline substance, (C18H30N2O2)2·H2SO4, used as a local anesthetic, esp. on mucous membranes
- buttonhole stitch — a reinforcing looped stitch for the edge of material, such as around a buttonhole
- buyers' inflation — inflation in which rising demand results in a rise in prices.
- by return of post — by the next mail in the opposite direction
- by the same token — You use by the same token to introduce a statement that you think is true for the same reasons that were given for a previous statement.
- cache consistency — cache coherency
- caesarean section — A Caesarean or a Caesarean section is an operation in which a baby is lifted out of a woman's womb through an opening cut in her abdomen.
- campus university — a university in which the buildings, often including shops and cafés, are all on one site
- cancer specialist — a medical professional who specializes in the treatment or study of malignant growths or tumours
- candidate species — any plant or animal species that is a candidate for designation as an endangered species or threatened species.
- cannot choose but — to be obliged to
- capital-intensive — Capital-intensive industries and businesses need the investment of large sums of money. Compare labour-intensive.
- carbon offsetting — a program in which a company, country, etc., reduces or offsets its carbon emissions through the funding of activities and projects that improve the environment: Carbon offsetting does not always have a quantifiable impact on the planet.
- cartesian product — the set of all ordered pairs of members of two given sets. The product A × B is the set of all pairs <a, b> where a is a member of A and b is a member of B
- cast/run your eye — If you cast your eye or run your eye over something, you look at it or read it quickly.
- castilla la nueva — Spanish name of New Castile.
- casting the runes — (jargon) What a guru does when you ask him or her to run a particular program because it never works for anyone else; especially used when nobody can ever see what the guru is doing different from what J. Random Luser does. Compare incantation, runes, examining the entrails; also see the AI koan about Tom Knight.
- castle in the air — a hope or desire unlikely to be realized; daydream
- cat-o'-nine-tails — a rope whip consisting of nine knotted thongs, used formerly to flog prisoners
- catch one's death — to contract a severe cold
- catcher resonator — See under Klystron.
- caudal anesthesia — anesthesia below the pelvis, induced by injecting an anesthetic into the sacral portion of the spinal canal.
- cavalier servente — a lover; suitor.
- celestial horizon — the line or circle that forms the apparent boundary between earth and sky.
- cellulose nitrate — a compound made by treating cellulose with nitric and sulphuric acids, used in plastics, lacquers, and explosives: a nitrogen-containing ester of cellulose