15-letter words containing a, b, e, r, d
- cattle breeding — the science or business of breeding and raising cattle
- chandler wobble — a slight, irregular nutation of the earth's rotational axis with a period of c. 428 days
- child battering — child abuse in the form of battering
- child-battering — the physical abuse of a child by a parent or guardian, as by beating.
- chromosome band — any of the transverse bands that appear on a chromosome after staining. The banding pattern is unique to each type of chromosome, allowing characterization
- cinderella book — (publication) "Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation", by John Hopcroft and Jeffrey Ullman, (Addison-Wesley, 1979). So called because the cover depicts a girl (putatively Cinderella) sitting in front of a Rube Goldberg device and holding a rope coming out of it. On the back cover, the device is in shambles after she has (inevitably) pulled on the rope. See also book titles.
- circumambulated — Simple past tense and past participle of circumambulate.
- colorado beetle — a black-and-yellow beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, that is a serious pest of potatoes, feeding on the leaves: family Chrysomelidae
- contract bridge — the most common variety of bridge, in which the declarer receives points counting towards game and rubber only for tricks he bids as well as makes, any overtricks receiving bonus points
- coordinate bond — a type of covalent chemical bond in which both the shared electrons are provided by one of the atoms
- corps de ballet — In ballet, the corps de ballet is the group of dancers who dance together, in contrast to the main dancers, who dance by themselves.
- counterbalanced — Simple past tense and past participle of counterbalance.
- counterblockade — a retaliatory blockade
- countermandable — able to be countermanded
- cranberry gourd — a South American vine, Abobra tenuifolia, of the gourd family, having deeply lobed, ovate leaves and bearing a berrylike scarlet fruit.
- credibility gap — A credibility gap is the difference between what a person says or promises and what they actually think or do.
- cylinder barrel — the metal casting containing a cylinder of a reciprocating internal-combustion engine
- d. c. power lab — The former site of SAIL. This name was very funny because the obvious connection to electrical engineering was nonexistent - the lab was named after a Donald C. Power. Compare Marginal Hacks.
- darkling beetle — any of a family (Tenebrionidae) of sluggish, dark beetles that feed on plants at night
- database server — A stand-alone computer in a local area network that holds and manages the database. It implies that database management functions, such as locating the actual record being requested, is performed in the server computer. Contrast with file server, which acts as a remote disk drive and requires that large parts of the database, for example, entire indexes, be transmitted to the user's computer where the real database management tasks are performed. First-generation personal computer database software was not designed for a network; thus, modified versions of the software released by the vendors employed the file server concept. Second-generation products, designed for local area networks, perform the management tasks in the server where they should be done, and consequently are turning the file server into a database server.
- davenport table — a table with drawers, having drop leaves at both ends, often placed in front of or behind a sofa.
- de broglie wave — a hypothetical wave associated with the motion of a particle of atomic or subatomic size that describes effects such as the diffraction of beams of particles by crystals.
- de bruijn graph — (mathematics) A class of graphs with elegant properties. De Bruijn graphs are especially easy to use for routing, with shifting of source and destination addresses.
- dead and buried — If you say that something such as an idea or situation is dead and buried, you are emphasizing that you think that it is completely finished or past, and cannot happen or exist again in the future.
- dead letter box — a place where messages and other material can be left and collected secretly without the sender and the recipient meeting
- debureaucratize — to divide an administrative agency or office into bureaus.
- decarboxylation — the removal or loss of a carboxyl group from an organic compound
- decarburization — The act, process, or result of decarburizing.
- decipherability — to make out the meaning of (poor or partially obliterated writing, etc.): to decipher a hastily scribbled note.
- decree absolute — A decree absolute is the final order made by a court in a divorce case which ends a marriage completely.
- deerfield beach — a town in S Florida.
- democratifiable — able to be made into a democracy
- demonstrability — The quality of being demonstrable.
- departure board — a board in an airport, bus terminal, etc displaying the times and destinations of future departures
- describableness — The quality of being describable.
- determinability — the quality of being determinable
- detribalisation — Alternative form of detribalization.
- detribalization — to cause to lose tribal allegiances and customs, chiefly through contact with another culture.
- disembarrassing — Present participle of disembarrass.
- disjecta membra — scattered fragments, esp parts taken from a writing or writings
- disreputability — The state of being disreputable.
- dithiocarbamate — any salt or ester of dithiocarbamic acid, commonly used as fungicides
- dog's breakfast — a disorderly mixture; hodgepodge.
- dolomite marble — coarse-grained dolomite.
- dorsibranchiate — having branchiae or gills along the back
- double in brass — twice as large, heavy, strong, etc.; twofold in size, amount, number, extent, etc.: a double portion; a new house double the size of the old one.
- double integral — an integral in which the integrand involves a function of two variables and that requires two applications of the integration process to evaluate.
- double jeopardy — the subjecting of a person to a second trial or punishment for the same offense for which the person has already been tried or punished.
- double standard — any code or set of principles containing different provisions for one group of people than for another, especially an unwritten code of sexual behavior permitting men more freedom than women. Compare single standard (def 1).
- double-barreled — having two barrels mounted side by side, as a shotgun.