12-letter words containing w, b, o
- broken water — a patch of water whose surface is rippled or choppy, usually surrounded by relatively calm water.
- brooks's law — (programming) "Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later" - a result of the fact that the expected advantage from splitting work among N programmers is O(N) (that is, proportional to N), but the complexity and communications cost associated with coordinating and then merging their work is O(N^2) (that is, proportional to the square of N). The quote is from Fred Brooks, a manager of IBM's OS/360 project and author of "The Mythical Man-Month". The myth in question has been most tersely expressed as "Programmer time is fungible" and Brooks established conclusively that it is not. Hackers have never forgotten his advice; too often, management still does. See also creationism, second-system effect, optimism.
- brown bag it — to bring (one's own liquor) to a restaurant or club, especially one that has no liquor license.
- brown bagger — to bring (one's own liquor) to a restaurant or club, especially one that has no liquor license.
- brown butter — beurre noir.
- brown canker — a fungous disease of roses, characterized by leaf and flower lesions, stem cankers surrounded by a reddish-purple border, and dieback.
- brown hackle — an artificial fly having a peacock herl body, golden tag and tail, and brown hackle.
- brown-nosing — If you accuse someone of brown-nosing, you are saying in a rather offensive way that they are agreeing with someone important in order to get their support.
- browser skin — a changeable decorative background for a browser
- brush flower — a flower or inflorescence with numerous long stamens, usually pollinated by birds or bats
- bullet wound — a wound made by a bullet
- buying power — the amount of services or goods a company, person, group or currency is able to purchase
- buying-power — Also called buying power. the ability to purchase goods and services.
- by wholesale — at wholesale
- bzzzt, wrong — (jargon) /bzt rong/ (Usenet, Internet) From the flim "Dead Poets Society", spoofing quiz shows such as "Truth or Consequences" where an incorrect answer earns a blast from the buzzer. An expression of mock-rude disagreement, often following a quote from another poster in a forum. The less abbreviated "*Bzzzzt*, wrong, but thank you for playing" is also common.
- capped elbow — a swelling of the elbow of a horse due to irritation caused by the hoof striking the elbow when lying down.
- cassel brown — Vandyke brown.
- clean bowled — bowled by a ball that breaks the wicket without hitting the batsman or his bat
- collywobbles — an upset stomach
- come between — If someone or something comes between two people, or comes between a person and a thing, they make the relationship or connection between them less close or happy.
- cowboy boots — Cowboy boots are high, leather boots, similar to those worn by cowboys.
- dak bungalow — (in India, formerly) a house where travellers on a dak route could be accommodated
- dessert bowl — A dessert bowl is a bowl in which a dessert is served.
- disallowable — to refuse to allow; reject; veto: to disallow a claim for compensation.
- disemboweled — to remove the bowels or entrails from; eviscerate.
- double crown — a size of printing paper, 20 × 30 inches (51 × 76 cm).
- double-width — twice the usual width: double-wide mobile homes consisting of two sections bolted together.
- downloadable — Capable of being downloaded.
- dumbing down — the act or process of making something less intellectually demanding; a pejorative use
- ebb and flow — tidal movement
- elbow grease — physical effort
- fall webworm — the larva of any of several moths, as Hyphantria cunea (fall webworm) or Loxostege similalis (garden webworm) which spins a web over the foliage on which it feeds.
- fellow being — if you refer to someone as a fellow being, you are emphasizing that you and they are human beings and have things in common
- flow breccia — a volcanic breccia that has solidified from a lava flow.
- forward bias — a voltage applied to a circuit or device, esp a semiconductor device, in the direction that produces the larger current
- gable window — a window in or under a gable.
- gallows bird — a person who deserves to be hanged.
- glassblowing — the art or process of forming or shaping a mass of molten or heat-softened glass into ware by blowing air into it through a tube.
- globeflowers — Plural form of globeflower.
- go walkabout — to wander through the bush
- go-away bird — a common name for a grey-plumaged lourie of the genus Corythaixoides
- golden-brown — of brown with a golden tinge
- gollywobbler — a very large quadrilateral staysail set between the foremast and mainmast of a schooner.
- hangchow bay — a bay of the East China Sea.
- havana brown — a breed of medium-sized cat with large eyes, large ears, and a sleek brown coat
- high wycombe — a town in S central England, in S Buckinghamshire: furniture industry. Pop: 77 178 (2001)
- know by name — to have heard of without having met
- knowableness — the quality of being knowable
- knowledgable — possessing or exhibiting knowledge, insight, or understanding; intelligent; well-informed; discerning; perceptive.
- lawn bowling — a game played with wooden balls on a level, closely mowed green having a slight bias, the object being to roll one's ball as near as possible to a smaller white ball at the other end of the green. Also called bowls, bowling on the green. Compare bowl2 (def 2), bowling green, jack1 (def 7), rink (def 5).