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17-letter words containing t, e, r

  • average deviation — a measure of dispersion, computed by taking the arithmetic mean of the absolute values of the deviations of the functional values from some central value, usually the mean or median.
  • average seek time — (storage)   The mean time it takes to move the head of a disk drive from one track to another, averaged over the source and destination cylinders. Usually measured in milliseconds (ms). The average seek time gives a good measure of the speed of the drive in a multi-user environment where successive read/write request are largely uncorrelated. Ten ms is common for a hard disk and 200 ms for an eight-speed CD-ROM.
  • axis of ordinates — y-axis (def 1).
  • axis-of-ordinates — y-axis (def 1).
  • bachelor's button — any of several plants of a genus (Centaurea) of the composite family, that have scaly, vase-shaped bracts below the white, pink, or blue flowers; esp., the cornflower and knapweed
  • bachelor's-button — any of various plants with round flower heads, especially the cornflower.
  • back on the rails — If something is back on the rails, it is beginning to be successful again after a period when it almost failed.
  • background report — a report on someone or something that sheds light on their background, esp a report on the background of a person convicted of a crime before they are sentenced by a judge
  • bacteriologically — In a bacteriological manner; with respect to bacteriology.
  • bacteriorhodopsin — a purple protein containing retinal and found in the plasma membrane of certain bacteria (genus Halobacterium): it directly supplies electrochemical energy from sunlight
  • baden-wurttemberg — a state of SW Germany. Capital: Stuttgart. Pop: 53 938 (2003 est). Area: 35 742 sq km (13 800 sq miles)
  • balance of nature — the stable state in which natural communities of animals and plants exist, maintained by adaptation, competition, and other interactions between members of the communit ies and their nonliving environment
  • balance of terror — military deterrence based on the possession of weapons of mass destruction by opponents in a conflict
  • balanced literacy — a method of teaching reading in which phonics and whole language approaches are both used to maximize student learning.
  • bald-faced hornet — any large, stinging paper wasp of the family Vespidae, as Vespa crabro (giant hornet) introduced into the U.S. from Europe, or Vespula maculata (bald-faced hornet or white-faced hornet) of North America.
  • baltimore clipper — a small, fast American sailing vessel of the early 19th century, having a sharp hull form and two masts with a pronounced rake and carrying a brig or schooner rig.
  • bangalore torpedo — an explosive device in a long metal tube, used to blow gaps in barbed-wire barriers
  • bankruptcy estate — all of the interests that a debtor has at the start of a bankruptcy case
  • bar-tailed godwit — a large wader, Limosa lapponica, of the family Scolopacidae which, in migrating from Alaska to New Zealand, makes the longest journey without stopping for food taken by any animal
  • barchester towers — a novel (1857) by Anthony Trollope.
  • barkhausen effect — the phenomenon of short, sudden changes in the magnetism of a ferromagnetic substance occurring when the intensity of the magnetizing field is continuously altered.
  • barmecide (feast) — a pretended feast with no food
  • barrel distortion — distortion of an image produced by an optical system that causes straight lines at image margins to bulge outwards
  • barren strawberry — a Eurasian plant, Potentilla sterilis, related to the strawberry that does not produce edible fruit
  • base lending rate — a minimum interest rate on which financial institutions base the rates they use for lending
  • base rate fallacy — the tendency, when making judgments of the probability with which an event will occur, to ignore the base rate and to concentrate on other information
  • baseboard heating — a heating system by pipes, through which steam or hot water circulates, near the base of the walls of rooms
  • basement membrane — a thin, extracellular membrane underlying epithelial tissue.
  • basic service set — (networking)   (BSS) A wireless local area network and all the wireless devices (e.g. PCs and laptops) that are associated with it. A BSS may or may not include an access point and is identified by a BSSID.
  • basketball player — someone who plays basketball
  • battle of britain — (in World War II) the series of aerial combats that took place between British and German aircraft during the autumn of 1940 and that included the severe bombardment of British cities.
  • battle-ax culture — a late Neolithic to Copper Age culture of northern Europe marked especially by the production of pottery bearing the imprint of cord and by the use of battle-axes as burial accouterments.
  • bbc microcomputer — A series of 6502-based personal computers launched by Acorn Computers Ltd. in January 1982, for use in the British Broadcasting Corporation's educational programmes on computing. The computers are noted for their reliability (many are still in active service in 1994) and both hardware and software were designed for easy expansion. The 6502-based computers were succeeded in 1987 by the Acorn Archimedes family.
  • be on tenterhooks — If you are on tenterhooks, you are very nervous and excited because you are wondering what is going to happen in a particular situation.
  • be on the rebound — If you say that someone is on the rebound, you mean that they have just ended a relationship with a girlfriend or boyfriend. This often makes them do things they would not normally do.
  • be over the limit — If someone is over the limit, they have drunk more alcohol than they are legally allowed to when driving a vehicle.
  • be sitting pretty — If you say that someone is sitting pretty, you mean that they are in a good, safe, or comfortable position.
  • beat a dead horse — to argue an issue that is already settled
  • beat one's brains — to try hard to remember, understand, or solve something
  • beat one's breast — to display guilt and remorse publicly or ostentatiously
  • beat the drum for — to attempt to arouse interest in
  • bed and breakfast — Bed and breakfast is a system of accommodation in a hotel or guest house, in which you pay for a room for the night and for breakfast the following morning. The abbreviation B&B is also used.
  • bed-and-breakfast — an accommodation offered by an inn, hotel, or especially a private home, consisting of a room for the night and breakfast the next morning for one inclusive price.
  • beer and skittles — enjoyment or pleasure
  • before one's time — prematurely
  • behaviour therapy — any of various means of treating psychological disorders, such as desensitization, aversion therapy, and instrumental conditioning, that depend on the patient systematically learning new modes of behaviour
  • believe it or not — You can use believe it or not to emphasize that what you have just said is surprising.
  • bell laboratories — One of AT&T's research sites, in Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA. It was the birthplace of the transistor, Unix, C and C++ and the current home of research on Plan 9 and ODE.
  • bell-hanger's bit — a bit for drilling small holes through studs or the like.
  • belted kingfisher — a grayish-blue, North American kingfisher, Ceryle alcyon, having a white breast marked with a grayish-blue band.
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