15-letter words containing a, b, r, s
- disreputability — The state of being disreputable.
- distractibility — inability to sustain one's attention or attentiveness, which is rapidly diverted from one topic to another: a symptom of a variety of mental disorders, as manic disorder, schizophrenia, or anxiety states.
- distributor cap — the cap of an engine's distributor that holds in place the wires from the distributor to the sparking plugs
- dog's breakfast — a disorderly mixture; hodgepodge.
- 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 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-breasted — (of a coat, jacket, etc.) overlapping sufficiently in front to allow for two rows of buttons.
- dribs and drabs — small sporadic amounts
- drop handlebars — aerodynamic handlebars that drop down and curve towards the rider at the ends rather than turning upwards as on conventional bicycles
- dysmorphophobia — an obsessive fear that one's body, or any part of it, is repulsive or may become so
- elastic rebound — a theory of earthquakes that envisages gradual deformation of the fault zone without fault slippage until friction is overcome, when the fault suddenly slips to produce the earthquake
- eta abstraction — eta conversion
- fabric softener — a substance added to fabrics during laundering to make them puffier and softer.
- false buckthorn — a spiny shrub or small tree, Bumelia lanuginosa, of the sapodilla family, native to the southern U.S., having gummy, milky sap and white, bell-shaped flowers and yielding a hard, light-brown wood.
- false hellebore — any of various plants belonging to the genus Veratrum, of the lily family, especially a North American species, V. viride, which has clusters of yellowish-green flowers and is the source of substances used in certain medicines and insecticides.
- fibrocartilages — Plural form of fibrocartilage.
- fish and brewis — a Newfoundland dish of cooked salt cod and soaked hard bread
- fishing harbour — a place where fishing boats are tied up
- flatbed scanner — a type of optical scanner having a flat, stationary surface on which a page is scanned by a moving head.
- flemish brabant — a province of central Belgium, formed in 1995 from the N part of Brabant province: densely populated and intensively farmed, with large industrial centres. Pop: 1 031 904 (2004 est). Area: 2106 sq km (813 sq miles)
- floral tributes — bunches or arrangements of flowers left as a memorial at the site of a fatal incident
- francis bushman — Francis X(avier) 1883–1966, U.S. film actor.
- francis turbine — a water turbine designed to produce high flow from a low head of pressure: used esp in hydroelectric power generation
- gambier islands — a group of islands in the S Pacific Ocean, in French Polynesia. Chief settlement: Rikitéa. Pop: 1097 (2002). Area: 30 sq km (11 sq miles)
- gamma ray burst — a short-lived, extremely luminous burst of gamma radiation from an unknown astronomical source, occurring at random positions in the sky several times a day. Abbreviation: GRB.
- gamma-ray burst — a short-lived, extremely luminous burst of gamma radiation from an unknown astronomical source, occurring at random positions in the sky several times a day. Abbreviation: GRB.
- garboard strake — the first strake on each side of a keel.
- gastric balloon — an inflatable rubber bag placed in the stomach to reduce its capacity as an aid to losing weight
- gaudier-brzeska — Henri (ɑ̃ri), original name Henri Gaudier. 1891–1915, French vorticist sculptor
- gilbert islands — a group of islands in the W Pacific: with Banaba, the Phoenix Islands, and three of the Line Islands they constitute the independent state of Kiribati; until 1975 they formed part of the British colony of Gilbert and Ellice Islands; achieved full independence in 1979. Pop: 82 902 (2005). Area: 295 sq km (114 sq miles)
- give sb a break — You can say 'give me a break' to show that you are annoyed by what someone has said or done.
- grafenberg spot — a patch of tissue in the front wall of the vagina, claimed to be erectile and highly erogenous.
- great south bay — an Atlantic Ocean inlet, between the S shore of Long Island and Fire Island and other barrier islands. 45 miles (72 km) long.
- groundbreakings — Plural form of groundbreaking.
- guns and butter — a symbol for the economic policy of a government insofar as spending is allocated for either military or social purposes
- gyrostabilizers — Plural form of gyrostabilizer.
- harbour station — the part of a port where boats shelter or station
- hard-shell crab — a crab, especially an edible crab, that has not recently molted and has a hard shell.
- heartbrokenness — The state or quality of being heartbroken.
- herpes labialis — oral herpes.
- hoosier cabinet — a tall kitchen cabinet mass-produced during the early part of the 20th century, usually of oak, featuring an enameled work surface, storage bins, a flour sifter, etc.
- horse-and-buggy — of or relating to the last few generations preceding the invention of the automobile: vivid recollections of horse-and-buggy days.
- hypercatabolism — an abnormally high metabolic breakdown of a substance or tissue which leads to weight loss and physical deterioration
- hypermetabolism — Biology, Physiology. the sum of the physical and chemical processes in an organism by which its material substance is produced, maintained, and destroyed, and by which energy is made available. Compare anabolism, catabolism.
- ibero-maurusian — of or relating to an Epipaleolithic culture of northwestern Africa that preceded the Capsian culture and was once erroneously thought to have originated in southwestern Europe; characterized by the use of backed bladelets, occupation of the maritime plain, and the hunting of the Barbary sheep.
- immeasurability — Immeasurableness.
- immensurability — The quality of being immensurable.
- immunoadsorbent — immunosorbent.
- imperial bushel — a unit of dry measure containing 4 pecks, equivalent in the U.S. (and formerly in England) to 2150.42 cubic inches or 35.24 liters (Winchester bushel) and in Great Britain to 2219.36 cubic inches or 36.38 liters (Imperial bushel) Abbreviation: bu., bush.