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16-letter words starting with b

  • bargaining scope — the range of topics within the scope of a particular set of negotiations leading to a collective agreement
  • bargaining table — a table around which the parties involved in a negotiation sit
  • barium carbonate — a white, poisonous, water-insoluble powder, BaCO 3 , used chiefly in the manufacture of rodenticides, paints, and dyes.
  • barium hydroxide — a white poisonous crystalline solid, used in the manufacture of organic compounds and in the preparation of beet sugar. Formula: Ba(OH)2
  • barometric error — error of a timepiece due to the fluctuations in density of the atmosphere through which the balance or pendulum moves.
  • baron tweedsmuir — the title of Scottish novelist John Buchan
  • barrier of ideas — the representations of objects which certain accounts of perception interpose between the objects themselves and our awareness of them, so that, as critics argue, we can never know whether there is in reality anything which resembles our perceptions
  • bartholomeu dias — Bartholomeu [bahr-too-loo-me-oo] /ˌbɑr tʊ lʊˈmɛ ʊ/ (Show IPA), c1450–1500, Portuguese navigator: discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope.
  • basal anesthesia — anesthesia induced as a preliminary to further and deeper anesthesia
  • basal metabolism — the amount of energy required by an individual in the resting state, for such functions as breathing and circulation of the blood
  • basement complex — the undifferentiated assemblage of rock (basement rock) underlying the oldest stratified rocks in any region: usually crystalline, metamorphosed, and mostly, but not necessarily, Precambrian in age.
  • bashkir republic — a constituent republic of E central Russia, in the S Urals: established as the first Soviet autonomous republic in 1919; rich mineral resources. Capital: Ufa. Pop: 4 012 900 (2002). Area: 143 600 sq km (55 430 sq miles)
  • basic curriculum — in England and Wales, the National Curriculum plus religious education
  • basic dichromate — an orange-red, amorphous, water-insoluble powder, Bi 2 O 3 ⋅2CrO 3 , used chiefly as a pigment in paints.
  • basic vocabulary — the set of lexical items in a language that are most resistant to replacement, referring to the most common and universal elements of human experience, such as parts of the body (foot, eye), universal features of the environment (water, star), common activities (eat, sleep), and the lowest numerals.
  • basilar membrane — a membrane inside the cochlea that vibrates in response to sound
  • basque provinces — an autonomous region of N Spain, comprising the provinces of Álava, Guipúzcoa, and Vizcaya: inhabited mainly by Basques, who retained virtual autonomy from the 9th to the 19th century. Pop: 1 840 700 (2003 est). Area: about 7250 sq km (2800 sq miles)
  • bastard culverin — a 16th-century cannon, smaller than a culverin, firing a shot of between 5 and 8 pounds (11 and 17.6 kg).
  • bastard daughter — an illegitimate daughter
  • bastard mahogany — an Australian tree, Eucalyptus botryoides, of the myrtle family, having lance-shaped leaves and furrowed bark.
  • bastard pointing — an imitation of tuck pointing, having a fillet made from the mortar of the joint.
  • bastard toadflax — any of several low-growing, often parasitic plants of the genus Comandra, having alternate leaves and clusters of small whitish flowers.
  • batch processing — manufacturing products or treating materials in batches, by passing the output of one process to subsequent processes
  • batch production — production of goods in batches, rather than continuously
  • batesian mimicry — mimicry in which a harmless species is protected from predators by means of its resemblance to a harmful or inedible species
  • bathroom cabinet — a wall-mounted cabinet in a bathroom, typically with a mirror front and used for the storage of medicines and toiletries
  • bathythermograph — a device for measuring the temperature of the ocean at any specific depth down to c. 1,800 m (c. 5,900 ft)
  • batlle y ordonez — José [haw-se] /hɔˈsɛ/ (Show IPA), 1856–1929, Uruguayan statesman: president of Uruguay 1903–07, 1911–15.
  • battery-operated — powered, driven, or operated with batteries
  • battle-axe block — a block of land behind another, with access from the street through a narrow drive
  • bayonet practice — drill in the use of a bayonet
  • bbn technologies — (company)   A company, originally known as Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Inc. (BBN), based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. BBN were awarded the original contract to build the ARPANET and have been extensively involved in Internet development. They are responsible for managing NNSC, CSNET, and NEARnet. The language LOGO was developed at BBN, as was the BBN Butterfly supercomputer.
  • be as good as to — would you please
  • be in one's cups — If someone is in their cups, they are drunk.
  • be in sb's shoes — If you talk about being in someone's shoes, you talk about what you would do or how you would feel if you were in their situation.
  • be of assistance — Someone or something that is of assistance to you is helpful or useful to you.
  • be off your food — If you are off your food, you do not want to eat, usually because you are ill.
  • be on the market — to be offered for sale
  • be one's own man — to be independent or free
  • be out of breath — If you are out of breath, you are breathing very quickly and with difficulty because you have been doing something energetic.
  • be rolling in it — If you say that someone is rolling in it or is rolling in money, you mean that they are very rich.
  • be the making of — to cause the success of
  • bear one's cross — a structure consisting essentially of an upright and a transverse piece, used to execute persons in ancient times.
  • bearing pedestal — an independent support for a bearing, usually incorporating a bearing housing
  • bearish tendency — a tendency for share prices to fall
  • beat to the draw — to be quicker than (another) in doing something, as in drawing one's weapon
  • beautiful people — wealthy, fashionable people of the leisure class
  • beauty therapist — a person whose job is to carry out treatments to improve a person's appearance, such as facials, manicures, removal of unwanted hair, etc
  • beauty treatment — the use of some form of treatment to improve someone's beauty such as a facial, manicure or depilation
  • beaux' stratagem — a comedy (1707) by George Farquhar.
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