14-letter words containing ba
- backscratching — a long-handled device for scratching one's own back.
- backside cache — (hardware, processor) An implementation of secondary cache memory that allows it to be directly accessed by the CPU. Backside cache is used by Apple Computers, Inc. in their PowerPC G3 processor. Previous PowerPC processors used the system bus to access both secondary cache and main memory. In the PowerPC G3 a dedicated bus handles only CPU/cache transactions. This bus can operate faster than the system bus thus improving the overall performance of the processor. The term apparently derives from the relocation of the secondary cache from the motherboard to the processor card itself, i.e. on the backside of the processor card.
- backside-front — backend-to.
- backstage pass — a document or badge that entitles the bearer to go backstage at an event, esp a pop concert
- backstrap loom — a simple horizontal loom, used especially in Central and South America, on which one of two beams holding the warp yarn is attached to a strap that passes across the weaver's back.
- backup pumpkin — pumpkin
- bacteriologist — a branch of microbiology dealing with the identification, study, and cultivation of bacteria and with their applications in medicine, agriculture, industry, and biotechnology.
- bacteriophages — Plural form of bacteriophage.
- bacteriostasis — inhibition of the growth and reproduction of bacteria, esp by the action of a chemical agent
- bacteriostatic — the prevention of the further growth of bacteria.
- bactrian camel — a two-humped camel, Camelus bactrianus, used as a beast of burden in the cold deserts of central Asia
- badger baiting — an illegal sport in which dogs are encouraged to draw a badger out of its burrow and attack it
- bahr el ghazal — a river in SW Sudan, flowing E to contribute to headwaters of the White Nile. About 500 miles (805 km) long.
- balance bridge — a bascule bridge
- balance spring — hairspring.
- balance weight — a weight used in machines to counterbalance a part, as of a crankshaft
- balanced valve — a valve designed so that pressure-induced forces from the fluid being controlled oppose one another so that resistance to opening and closing the valve is negligible.
- ball and chain — (formerly) a heavy iron ball attached to a chain and fastened to a prisoner
- ball cartridge — a cartridge containing a primer and a ball and a full charge of powder
- ball indicator — a flight instrument that measures the angle of roll about an aircraft's horizontal axis, thereby indicating whether or not the aircraft is skidding or slipping.
- ball lightning — a luminous electrically charged ball occasionally seen during electrical storms
- ball of muscle — a very strong, fit, or forceful person
- ball-and-chain — a heavy iron ball fastened by a chain to a prisoner's leg.
- ballast pocket — a depression that is formed beneath the ballast layer by penetration of ballast particles into the subgrade and that tends to collect moisture.
- ballet slipper — a heelless cloth or leather slipper worn by ballet dancers.
- ballistic wind — a single wind vector that would have the same net effect on the trajectory of a projectile as the varying winds encountered in flight.
- ballon d'essai — a project or policy put forward experimentally to gauge reactions to it
- balloon sleeve — a sleeve fitting tightly from wrist to elbow and becoming fully rounded from elbow to shoulder
- ballot rigging — Ballot rigging is the act of illegally changing the result of an election by producing a false record of the number of votes.
- ballroom dance — a social dance, popular since the beginning of the 20th century, in conventional rhythms, such as the foxtrot and the quickstep
- balm of gilead — any of several trees of the burseraceous genus Commiphora, esp C. opobalsamum of Africa and W Asia, that yield a fragrant oily resin
- balm-of-gilead — any of several plants of the genus Commiphora, especially C. opobalsamum and C. meccanensis, which yield a fragrant oleoresin.
- balsam of peru — an aromatic balsam that is obtained from the tropical South American leguminous tree Myroxylon pereirae and is similar to balsam of Tolu
- balsam of tolu — tolu
- balsaminaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Balsaminaceae, a family of flowering plants, including balsam and touch-me-not, that have irregular flowers and explosive capsules
- baltimore chop — a batted ball that takes a high bounce upon hitting the ground on or immediately in front of home plate, often enabling the batter to reach first base safely.
- balto-slavonic — a hypothetical subfamily of Indo-European languages consisting of Baltic and Slavonic. It is now generally believed that similarities between them result from geographical proximity rather than any special relationship
- bamboo curtain — (esp in the 1950s and 1960s) the political and military barrier to communications around the People's Republic of China
- bamboo network — a network of close-knit Chinese entrepreneurs with large corporate empires in southeast Asia
- bamboo turning — turning of spindles and framing members to simulate the jointing of bamboo.
- ban-the-bomber — a person who vigorously advocates banning the development or use of nuclear weapons.
- banach algebra — (mathematics) An algebra in which the vector space is a Banach space.
- banana problem — (programming, humour) From the story of the little girl who said "I know how to spell "banana", but I don't know when to stop". Not knowing where or when to bring a production to a close (compare fencepost error). One may say "there is a banana problem" of an algorithm with poorly defined or incorrect termination conditions, or in discussing the evolution of a design that may be succumbing to featuritis (see also creeping elegance, creeping featuritis).
- bancroft prize — one of a group of annual awards for literary achievement in American history and biography: administered by Columbia University.
- bandar lampung — a port in Indonesia, in S Sumatra on the Sunda Strait; formed by merging the cities of Tanjungkarang and Telukbetung, and sometimes still referred to as Tanjungkarang-Telukbetung. Pop: 742 749 (2000)
- bang to rights — caught red-handed
- bang's disease — a type of infectious brucellosis affecting cattle, caused by a bacterium (Brucella abortus) and often resulting in abortion
- bank annuities — British government bonds; consols
- bank statement — A bank statement is a printed document showing all the money paid into and taken out of a bank account. Bank statements are usually sent by a bank to a customer at regular intervals.
- banker's check — cashier's check.