12-letter words containing s, u, r, o
- astroturfing — a PR tactic used in politics and advertising in which actors are paid to display overt and apparently spontaneous grassroots support for a particular product, policy, or event
- asynchronous — An asynchronous electric machine is one in which the magnetic field and the rotation are not exactly the same.
- at all hours — If you say that something happens at all hours of the day or night, you disapprove of it happening at the time that it does or as often as it does.
- atheromatous — a sebaceous cyst.
- atmospherium — an optical system used to simulate images of atmospheric phenomena, as cloud formations, storms, and day and night, on the inside of a dome.
- attributions — Plural form of attribution.
- auger shower — a shower of electrons, photons, etc. resulting from the collision of primary cosmic rays with atomic nuclei in the atmosphere
- australopith — (archaeology, anthropology, paleonotology) Of or pertaining to the extinct hominid primates, of the genus Australopithecus, from the Pleistocene period.
- austronesian — of or relating to Austronesia, its peoples, or their languages
- auto-erotism — the arousal and satisfaction of sexual excitement within or by oneself, as by masturbation.
- autochangers — Plural form of autochanger.
- autodestruct — likely to or possessing the power to destroy or obliterate itself or its possessor
- autodiallers — Plural form of autodialler.
- autoexposure — A device that sets the exposure automatically on a camera or other piece of equipment.
- automorphism — the practice of seeing others as having the same characteristics as oneself
- autorickshaw — (in India) a light three-wheeled vehicle driven by a motorcycle engine
- avariciously — characterized by avarice; greedy; covetous.
- barbados nut — an ornamental, tropical American tree, Jatropha curcas, of the spurge family, having ivylike leaves, small, yellow or greenish-yellow flowers, and olive-shaped fruit yielding a purgative, poisonous oil.
- bardolatrous — relating to or characterized by bardolatry
- barge course — the overhang of the gable end of a roof
- barquisimeto — a city in NW Venezuela. Pop: 1 009 000 (2005 est)
- barratrously — In a barratrous manner.
- bean sprouts — the sprouts of newly germinated mung beans, eaten as a vegetable, esp in Chinese dishes
- beardtongues — Plural form of beardtongue.
- beaufort sea — part of the Arctic Ocean off the N coast of North America
- behaviourism — Behaviourism is the belief held by some psychologists that the only valid method of studying the psychology of people or animals is to observe how they behave.
- bio-security — the precautions taken to protect against the spread of lethal or harmful organisms and diseases
- biohazardous — a pathogen, especially one used in or produced by biological research.
- bird's mouth — a right-angled notch cut in the underside of a rafter for fitting over a longitudinal member, as a wall plate.
- black grouse — a large N European grouse, Lyrurus tetrix, the male of which has a bluish-black plumage and lyre-shaped tail
- blue succory — a composite garden plant, Catananche caerulea, of southern Europe, having very hairy leaves and blue flower heads, used by the ancients as a love potion.
- boiler house — a building housing a boiler
- boisterously — rough and noisy; noisily jolly or rowdy; clamorous; unrestrained: the sound of boisterous laughter.
- bonus number — (in the National Lottery) a number announced after the normal six numbers which influences the amount of prize money paid
- boom-or-bust — boom-and-bust.
- booster pump — A booster pump is a pump which is used where pressure is low and needs to be increased.
- booze cruise — a day trip to a foreign country, esp from England across the English Channel to France, for the purposes of buying cheap alcohol, cigarettes, etc
- bourbon rose — a hybrid rose, Rosa borboniana, having dark, carmine-colored flowers, cultivated in many horticultural varieties.
- bourgeoisify — to convert to a bourgeois attitude or appearance
- bourne shell — (sh, Shellish). The original command-line interpreter shell and script language for Unix written by S.R. Bourne of Bell Laboratories in 1978. sh has been superseded for interactive use by the Berkeley C shell, csh but still widely used for writing shell scripts. There were even earlier shells, see glob. [Details?]
- bow thruster — a propeller located in a ship's bow to provide added maneuverability, as when docking.
- brachycerous — (of insects) having short antennae
- brassfounder — a person who makes things from brass
- breastplough — a plough driven by the worker's breast, often used to pare turf
- bridge house — a deckhouse including a bridge or bridges for navigation.
- bristlemouth — any of several small, deep-sea fishes of the family Gonostomatidae, having numerous sharp, slender teeth covering the jaws.
- broncobuster — (in the western US and Canada) a cowboy who breaks in broncos or wild horses
- brontosaurus — any very large herbivorous quadrupedal dinosaur of the genus Apatosaurus, common in North America during Jurassic times, having a long neck and long tail: suborder Sauropoda (sauropods)
- brush border — a layer of tightly packed minute finger-like protuberances on cells that line absorptive surfaces, such as those of the intestine and kidney
- brush flower — a flower or inflorescence with numerous long stamens, usually pollinated by birds or bats