14-letter words containing s, t, r, a
- bayes' theorem — the fundamental result which expresses the conditional probability P(E/A) of an event E given an event A as P(A/E).P(E)/P(A); more generally, where En is one of a set of values Ei which partition the sample space, P(En/A) = P(A/En)P(En)/Σ P(A/Ei)P(Ei). This enables prior estimates of probability to be continually revised in the light of observations
- be in the wars — If someone has been in the wars, they have been injured, for example in a fight or in an accident.
- beard-stroking — deep thought
- beaufort scale — an international scale of wind velocities ranging for practical purposes from 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane force). In the US an extension of the scale, from 13 to 17 for winds over 64 knots, is used
- beggar's-ticks — tick trefoil
- belaya tserkov — city in WC Ukraine: pop. 204,000
- belletristical — relating to the fine arts
- belvoir castle — a castle in Leicestershire, near Grantham (in Lincolnshire): seat of the Dukes of Rutland; rebuilt by James Wyatt in 1816
- bermuda shorts — close-fitting shorts that come down to the knees
- beta structure — a secondary structure occurring in many proteins, consisting of several polypeptide chains running in parallel or alternating directions and joined by intermolecular hydrogen bonds, creating a flexible, strong arrangement.
- betray oneself — to reveal one's true character, intentions, etc
- binding strake — a very strong, heavy strake of planking, especially one next to a sheer strake.
- bioaeronautics — the use of aircraft in the discovery, development, and protection of natural and biological resources
- bioinformatics — the branch of information science concerned with large databases of biochemical or pharmaceutical information
- bioregionalist — someone who believes in bioregionalism
- bipartisanship — representing, characterized by, or including members from two parties or factions: Government leaders hope to achieve a bipartisan foreign policy.
- bipolarisation — the act of bipolarising
- bird sanctuary — an area of land in which birds are protected and encouraged to breed
- biscuit barrel — an airtight container of circular section equipped with a lid and used for storing biscuits
- bitter cassava — a species of cassava (Manihot esculenta) whose poisonous roots when processed yield tapioca starch
- black panthers — (in the US) a militant Black political party founded in 1965 to end the political dominance of White people
- black redstart — a small, Passerine bird, Phoenicurus ochruros, found in Central and S Europe
- blacktip shark — a widely distributed sand shark, Charcharinus limbatus, having fins that appear to have been dipped in ink, inhabiting shallow waters of warm seas.
- blepharoplasty — cosmetic surgery performed on the eyelid
- bletheranskate — a blatherer
- blind staggers — the staggers
- blister-packed — presented in a blister pack
- blue straggler — one of a small group of blue stars within a cluster that falls near the main sequence even though other stars of its color have evolved off the main sequence.
- boatswain bird — tropic bird.
- booster cables — jumper cables
- born yesterday — brought forth by birth.
- boundary-stone — a stone marking a boundary, sometimes giving information such as the initials of the local authority in whose jurisdiction the boundary is
- bracket fungus — any saprotroph or parasitic fungus of the basidiomycetous family Polyporaceae, growing as a shelflike mass (bracket) from tree trunks and producing spores in vertical tubes in the bracket
- branchiostegal — of or relating to the operculum covering the gill slits of fish
- brandy snifter — snifter (def 1).
- brass farthing — something of little or no value
- break the news — announce sth
- breakfast club — a service that provides a breakfast for children who arrive early at school
- breakfast food — any prepared cereal for breakfast
- breakfast room — a room set aside for serving and eating breakfast, esp in a hotel or guesthouse
- breakfast show — a radio or television broadcast that airs around breakfast time
- breakfast time — Breakfast time is the period of the morning when most people have their breakfast.
- breast implant — an object such as a sachet filled with gel introduced surgically into a woman's breast to enlarge it
- breast-beating — public or ostentatious expression of guilt, remorse, or sorrow
- breast-feeding — to nurse (a baby) at the breast; suckle.
- bremsstrahlung — the radiation produced when an electrically charged particle, esp an electron, is slowed down by the electric field of an atomic nucleus or an atomic ion
- brewer's yeast — a yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, used in brewing
- brewster chair — a chair of 17th-century New England having heavy turned uprights with vertical turned spindles filling in the back, the space beneath the arms, and the spaces between the legs.
- brewster's law — the law that light will receive maximum polarization from a reflecting surface when it is incident to the surface at an angle (angle of polarization or polarizing angle) having a tangent equal to the index of refraction of the surface.
- bring onstream — To bring onstream a plant, mine, oilfield, etc. is to start production there.