20-letter words containing s, t, o, r, e
- basic lead carbonate — ceruse.
- basic object adapter — (architecture) (BOA) Part of the CORBA architecture.
- bats-wing coral-tree — a small tree, Erythrina verspertilio, of tropical and subtropical Australia with red flowers and leaves shaped like the wings of a bat
- be (or get) wise to — to be (or become) aware of; have (or attain) a proper understanding of
- be getting somewhere — If you say that you are getting somewhere, you mean that you are making progress towards achieving something.
- be hard pushed to do — If you are hard pushed to do something, you find it very difficult to do it.
- be shot through with — If something is shot through with an element or feature, it contains a lot of that element or feature.
- be there for someone — If someone is there for you, they help and support you, especially when you have problems.
- beat around the bush — to talk around a subject without getting to the point
- beaverhead mountains — a mountain range on the border of E Idaho and SW Montana, in the Bitterroot Range. 10,961 feet (3343 meters).
- belgorod-dnestrovski — a port in SW Ukraine, on the Dniester estuary: belonged to Romania from 1918 until 1940; under Soviet rule (1944–91). Pop: 48 100 (2004 est)
- belgorod-dnestrovsky — a seaport in SW Ukraine, on the Black Sea.
- benztropine mesylate — a synthetic anticholinergic, C 21 H 25 NO⋅CH 4 O 3 S, used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
- benzyl isoamyl ether — a colorless liquid, C 12 H 18 O, used in soap perfumes.
- bernese mountain dog — a strong sturdy dog of a breed with a bushy tail and a long silky black coat with reddish-brown and white markings, often used as a working farm dog
- best-efforts selling — a method of underwriting a security whereby a syndicate takes a new issue without any guarantees of sale to the issuer.
- biological diversity — Biological diversity is the same as biodiversity.
- bird-footed dinosaur — theropod.
- bloodless revolution — the events of 1688–89 by which James II was expelled and the sovereignty conferred on William and Mary.
- blue ridge mountains — a mountain range in the eastern US, extending from West Virginia into Georgia: part of the Appalachian mountains. Highest peak: Mount Mitchell, 2038 m (6684 ft)
- blue screen of death — (humour) (BSOD) The infamous white-on-blue text screen which appears when Microsoft Windows crashes. BSOD is mostly seen on the 16-bit systems such as Windows 3.1, but also on Windows 95 and apparently even under Windows NT 4. It is most likely to be caused by a GPF, although Windows 95 can do it if you've removed a required CD-ROM from the drive. It is often impossible to recover cleanly from a BSOD. The acronym BSOD is sometimes used as a verb, e.g. "Windoze just keeps BSODing on me today".
- bomb disposal expert — an expert in bomb disposal
- bone mineral density — a measurement of the amount of calcium and other minerals in a segment of bone, a higher mineral content indicating a higher bone density and strength, used to detect osteoporosis or monitor its treatment.
- bottom hole pressure — Bottom hole pressure is the pressure at the bottom of the hole, usually measured in pounds per square inch.
- bottom-up processing — a processing technique, either in the brain or in a computer, in which incoming information is analysed in successive steps and later-stage processing does not affect processing in earlier stages
- boy-meets-girl story — a film, book, etc whose plot is conventionally or trivially romantic
- breakerless ignition — electronic ignition.
- breakfast television — Breakfast television refers to television programmes which are broadcast in the morning at the time when most people are having breakfast.
- bring down the house — to receive enthusiastic applause from the audience
- bring the house down — to win great applause
- bring to one's knees — to force to submit or give in
- bring to sb's notice — If you bring something to someone's notice, you make them aware of it.
- bring x to its knees — To present a computer, operating system, piece of software, or algorithm with a load so extreme or pathological that it grinds to a halt. "To bring a MicroVAX to its knees, try twenty users running vi - or four running Emacs." Compare hog.
- british north borneo — former name of Sabah.
- brittle bone disease — bone disorder
- broaden o's/the mind — If an experience broadens your mind, it makes you more willing to accept other people's beliefs and customs.
- buoyancy compensator — an inflatable vest used to control one's buoyancy underwater or to rest at the surface, usually having a connecting hose for inflation or deflation by mouth and a CO 2 cartridge for rapid, emergency inflation.
- bureau of the census — the division of the Department of Commerce that gathers, tabulates, and correlates census statistics.
- caesar and cleopatra — a comedy (1898) by G. B. Shaw.
- cancel a reservation — If you cancel a reservation, you stop it because someone who has booked a room has informed you that they no longer wish to stay there.
- canine leptospirosis — an often fatal intestinal disease in dogs, caused by any of several spirochetes of the genus Leptospira.
- capacitive crosstalk — Capacitive crosstalk is a situation in which a signal on one line can cause a smaller version of the same signal on an adjacent line because of the capacitance between the lines.
- carbon sequestration — the prevention of greenhouse gas build-up in the earth's atmosphere by methods such as planting trees to absorb carbon dioxide or pumping carbon dioxide into underground reservoirs
- carry off one's feet — to fill with enthusiasm
- cartesian coordinate — Usually, Cartesian coordinates. a member of a system of coordinates for locating a point on a plane (Cartesian plane) by its distance from each of two intersecting lines, or in space by its distance from each of three planes intersecting at a point.
- cassegrain telescope — an astronomical reflecting telescope in which incident light is reflected from a large concave paraboloid mirror onto a smaller convex hyperboloid mirror and then back through a hole in the concave mirror to form the image
- cast a pall over sth — If something unpleasant casts a pall over an event or occasion, it makes it less enjoyable than it should be.
- cast the first stone — the hard substance, formed of mineral matter, of which rocks consist.
- catastrophic failure — Catastrophic failure is sudden and complete failure which cannot be put right.
- catastrophic illness — A catastrophic illness is a major health event that takes place during a particular period of time, such as a heart attack, stroke, or cancer.