17-letter words containing a, l, s, t
- base rate fallacy — the tendency, when making judgments of the probability with which an event will occur, to ignore the base rate and to concentrate on other information
- basketball player — someone who plays basketball
- beauty specialist — a person who helps someone to improve their beauty, such as a make-up artist
- beer and skittles — enjoyment or pleasure
- bell laboratories — One of AT&T's research sites, in Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA. It was the birthplace of the transistor, Unix, C and C++ and the current home of research on Plan 9 and ODE.
- bell-hanger's bit — a bit for drilling small holes through studs or the like.
- betagalactosidase — any of a family of enzymes capable of liberating galactose from carbohydrates.
- binet-simon scale — a test comprising questions and tasks, used to determine the mental age of subjects, usually children
- bitmapped display — bitmap display
- black forest cake — a torte consisting typically of thin layers of chocolate cake spread with alternating layers of chocolate, cherry, and whipped-cream filling and covered with whipped cream
- black nationalism — a movement advocating the establishment of a separate black nation within the U.S.
- black swallowtail — the tail of a swallow or a deeply forked tail like that of a swallow.
- black swallowwort — celandine (def 1).
- black-box testing — functional testing
- blackcurrant bush — a bush of the blackcurrant plant
- blackout curtains — thick, lined curtains designed to shut out all daylight and keep a room in complete darkness
- bland-allison act — an act of Congress (1878) requiring the federal government to purchase at the market price from two to four million dollars' worth of silver monthly for conversion into silver dollars containing 16 times more silver per coin than gold in dollar coins of gold.
- blank endorsement — an endorsement on a bill of exchange, cheque, etc, naming no payee and thus making the endorsed sum payable to the bearer
- blessed sacrament — the consecrated elements of the Eucharist
- block association — an association for the residents of a particular block in a neighbourhood to discuss and act on matters of common concern
- blood transfusion — A blood transfusion is a process in which blood is injected into the body of a person who is badly injured or ill.
- blue sky software — eHelp Corporation
- bluegrass country — region in central Ky. where there is much bluegrass
- boothia peninsula — a peninsula of N Canada: the northernmost part of the mainland of North America, lying west of the Gulf of Boothia, an arm of the Arctic Ocean
- boots and saddles — a bugle call formerly used in the US Cavalry to summon soldiers to mount
- bottlebrush grass — a North American grass, Hystrix patula, having loose flower spikes with long awns.
- branch delay slot — delayed control-transfer
- british columbian — of or relating to British Columbia or its inhabitants
- british israelite — a member of a religious movement claiming that the British people are descended from the lost tribes of Israel
- bronze star medal — a U.S. military decoration awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement or service in combat not involving aerial flight
- bushman's singlet — a sleeveless heavy black woollen singlet, used as working clothing by timber fellers
- butacaine sulfate — a colorless, crystalline substance, (C18H30N2O2)2·H2SO4, used as a local anesthetic, esp. on mucous membranes
- buyers' inflation — inflation in which rising demand results in a rise in prices.
- buys ballot's law — a law stating that if an observer stands with his back to the wind in the N hemisphere, atmospheric pressure is lower on his left, and vice versa in the S hemisphere
- buys-ballot's law — the law stating that if one stands with one's back to the wind, in the Northern Hemisphere the atmospheric pressure will be lower on one's left and in the Southern Hemisphere it will be lower on one's right: descriptive of the relationship of horizontal winds to atmospheric pressure.
- café-au-lait spot — a brown patch on the skin that can occur normally in small numbers or in neurofibromatosis, when they are more numerous
- calcium phosphate — the insoluble nonacid calcium salt of orthophosphoric acid (phosphoric(V) acid): it occurs in bones and is the main constituent of bone ash. Formula: Ca3(PO4)2
- calf's-foot jelly — a jelly made from the stock of boiled calves' feet and flavourings, formerly often served to invalids
- cancer specialist — a medical professional who specializes in the treatment or study of malignant growths or tumours
- capital gains tax — a tax on the profit made from the sale of an asset
- capital structure — the way that a company finances its assets through a combination of equity, debt etc
- capital-intensive — Capital-intensive industries and businesses need the investment of large sums of money. Compare labour-intensive.
- carlos de austria — Don [dawn] /dɔn/ (Show IPA), 1545–68, eldest son of Philip II of Spain: died during imprisonment for conspiracy against his father.
- castilla la nueva — Spanish name of New Castile.
- castilla la vieja — Spanish name of Old Castile.
- castle in the air — a hope or desire unlikely to be realized; daydream
- castor and pollux — the twin sons of Leda: Pollux was fathered by Zeus, Castor by the mortal Tyndareus. After Castor's death, Pollux spent half his days with his half-brother in Hades and half with the gods in Olympus
- cat-o'-nine-tails — a rope whip consisting of nine knotted thongs, used formerly to flog prisoners
- catalina (island) — Santa Catalina (Island)
- catholic epistles — the epistles of James, I and II Peter, I John, and Jude, which were addressed to the universal Church rather than to an individual or a particular church