17-letter words containing t, a, b, l
- bottlebrush grass — a North American grass, Hystrix patula, having loose flower spikes with long awns.
- bouncebackability — the ability to recover after a setback, esp in sport
- branch delay slot — delayed control-transfer
- brazilian peridot — a light yellowish-green tourmaline used as a gem: not a true peridot.
- brazilian rhatany — See under rhatany (def 1).
- breakdown voltage — the minimum applied voltage that would cause a given insulator or electrode to break down.
- breathe life into — revive, rejuvenate
- 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
- brompton cocktail — an analgesic mixture, usually containing morphine and cocaine and sometimes other narcotic substances in an alcohol solution, administered primarily to advanced cancer patients.
- bronze star medal — a U.S. military decoration awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement or service in combat not involving aerial flight
- budgetary control — a system of managing a business by applying a financial value to each forecast activity. Actual performance is subsequently compared with the estimates
- 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
- butterfly bandage — a butterfly-shaped strip of adhesive medical tape used, when stitches are not required, to keep a deep cut or incision tightly closed while it heals
- butterfly diagram — a graphical butterfly-shaped representation of the sunspot density on the solar disc in the 11-year sunspot cycle
- buyers' inflation — inflation in which rising demand results in a rise in prices.
- buys ballot's law — a law stating that if an observer stands with his back to the wind in the N hemisphere, atmospheric pressure is lower on his left, and vice versa in the S hemisphere
- buys-ballot's law — the law stating that if one stands with one's back to the wind, in the Northern Hemisphere the atmospheric pressure will be lower on one's left and in the Southern Hemisphere it will be lower on one's right: descriptive of the relationship of horizontal winds to atmospheric pressure.
- cabbage butterfly — a common white butterfly (Pieris rapae) whose green larvae feed upon cabbage and related plants
- calcium carbonate — a white crystalline salt occurring in limestone, chalk, marble, calcite, coral, and pearl: used in the production of lime and cement. Formula: CaCO3
- called to the bar — admitted to the practice of law as a barrister
- camberwell beauty — a nymphalid butterfly, Nymphalis antiopa, of temperate regions, having dark purple wings with cream-yellow borders
- camberwell carrot — a large, almost conical, marijuana cigarette
- canadian football — a game resembling American football, played on a grass pitch between two teams of 12 players
- cantilever bridge — a bridge having spans that are constructed as cantilevers and often a suspended span or spans, each end of which rests on one end of a cantilever span
- centrifugal brake — a safety mechanism on a hoist, crane, etc, that consists of revolving brake shoes that are driven outwards by centrifugal force into contact with a fixed brake drum when the rope drum revolves at excessive speed
- cerebral accident — a disturbance of the blood supply to parts of the brain because of blockage or hemorrhage, causing unconsciousness, paralysis, etc.; stroke
- checkable deposit — a checking account
- chicklet keyboard — (spelling) It's spelled "chiclet keyboard".
- chocolate biscuit — a biscuit covered with chocolate
- churchyard beetle — a blackish nocturnal ground beetle, Blaps mucronata, found in cellars and similar places
- city of gibraltar — a city on the Rock of Gibraltar, a limestone promontory at the tip of S Spain: settled by Moors in 711 and taken by Spain in 1462; ceded to Britain in 1713; a British crown colony (1830–1969), still politically associated with Britain; a naval and air base of strategic importance. Pop: 29 111 (2013 est). Area: 6.5 sq km (2.5 sq miles)
- civil libertarian — a person who actively supports or works for the protection or expansion of civil liberties.
- clare boothe luce — Clare Boothe, 1903–87, U.S. writer, politician, and diplomat.
- clear box testing — white box testing
- climbing accident — an accident occurring during climbing
- coffee-table book — A coffee-table book is a large expensive book with a lot of pictures, which is designed to be looked at rather than to be read properly, and is usually placed where people can see it easily.
- coliform bacteria — a large group of bacteria inhabiting the intestinal tract of humans and animals that may cause disease and whose presence in water is an indicator of faecal pollution
- collaborativeness — Quality of being collaborative.
- combinatory logic — (logic) A system for reducing the operational notation of logic, mathematics or a functional language to a sequence of modifications to the input data structure. First introduced in the 1920's by Schoenfinkel. Re-introduced independently by Haskell Curry in the late 1920's (who quickly learned of Schoenfinkel's work after he had the idea). Curry is really responsible for most of the development, at least up until work with Feys in 1958. See combinator.
- compilation album — a musical recording consisting of works chosen for a particular purpose or theme
- contingency table — an array having the frequency of occurrence of certain events in each of a number of samples
- contrasuggestible — responding or tending to respond to a suggestion by doing or believing the opposite
- cross-lot bracing — bracing extending from one side of an excavation to the opposite to retain the earth on both sides.
- cypriot syllabary — a syllabic script in use on Cyprus in the first millennium b.c., used for the writing of Greek and of an unknown language.
- cyrillic alphabet — the alphabet derived from that of the Greeks, supposedly by Saint Cyril, for the writing of Slavonic languages: now used primarily for Russian, Bulgarian, and the Serbian dialect of Serbo-Croat
- cytotrophoblastic — Relating to, or containing, cytotrophoblasts.
- dagestan republic — a constituent republic of S Russia, on the Caspian Sea: annexed from Persia in 1813; rich mineral resources. Capital: Makhachkala. Pop: 2 584 200 (2002). Area: 50 278 sq km (19 416 sq miles)
- deathwatch beetle — a beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum, whose woodboring larvae are a serious pest. The adult produces a rapid tapping sound with its head that was once popularly supposed to presage death