17-letter words containing a, l
- 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.
- blood-and-thunder — sensationalism, violence, or exaggerated melodrama: a movie full of blood and thunder.
- blow hot and cold — to vacillate
- blow someone away — to kill by shooting
- blowpipe analysis — a type of chemical analysis in which the intensely hot flame of a blowpipe vaporizes a mineral or other substance with a characteristically colored flame and a unique odor, so as to identify chemical elements in a substance
- blue dog democrat — a fiscally conservative member of the Democratic Party
- blue false indigo — a North American plant, Baptisia australis, of the legume family, having wedge-shaped leaflets and blue, clustered flowers.
- blue sky software — eHelp Corporation
- blue-headed vireo — solitary vireo.
- bluegrass country — region in central Ky. where there is much bluegrass
- board and lodging — If you are provided with board and lodging, you are provided with food and a place to sleep, especially as part of the conditions of a job.
- board-and-shingle — a small dwelling with wooden walls and a shingle roof
- boat-billed heron — a nocturnal, tropical American wading bird (Cochlearius cochlearius) with a large, broad bill: it is the only member of a family (Cochleariidae) of wading birds
- body center plate — one of a pair of plates that fit together and support the body of a car on a truck, while allowing the truck to rotate with respect to the body. One plate (body center plate) is attached to the underside of the car body and the other (truck center plate) is part of the car truck.
- boileau-despreaux — Nicolas [nee-kaw-lah] /ni kɔˈlɑ/ (Show IPA), 1636–1711, French critic and poet.
- bombardier beetle — any of various small carabid beetles of the genus Brachinus, esp B. crepitans of Europe, which defend themselves by ejecting a jet of volatile fluid
- boolean operation — any operation in which each of the operands and the result take one of two values.
- 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.
- boulder raspberry — a shrub, Rubus deliciosus, of Colorado, having large white flowers and purple fruit.
- bouncebackability — the ability to recover after a setback, esp in sport
- branch delay slot — delayed control-transfer
- brazilian emerald — a green variety of tourmaline used as a gem: not a true emerald.
- brazilian peridot — a light yellowish-green tourmaline used as a gem: not a true peridot.
- brazilian rhatany — See under rhatany (def 1).
- breakdown voltage — the minimum applied voltage that would cause a given insulator or electrode to break down.
- breathe life into — revive, rejuvenate
- bricks and clicks — a combination of traditional business carried out on physical premises and internet trading
- brigadier general — In the United States, a brigadier general is a senior officer in the armed forces who is often in charge of a brigade and has a rank above colonel and below major general.
- 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
- broderie anglaise — open embroidery on white cotton, fine linen, etc
- brompton cocktail — an analgesic mixture, usually containing morphine and cocaine and sometimes other narcotic substances in an alcohol solution, administered primarily to advanced cancer patients.
- bronze star medal — a U.S. military decoration awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement or service in combat not involving aerial flight
- bubble and squeak — Bubble and squeak is a dish made from a mixture of cold cooked cabbage, potato, and sometimes meat. It can be grilled or fried.
- buckingham palace — the London residence of the British sovereign: built in 1703, rebuilt by John Nash in 1821–36 and partially redesigned in the early 20th century
- budgetary control — a system of managing a business by applying a financial value to each forecast activity. Actual performance is subsequently compared with the estimates
- building labourer — an unskilled worker on construction sites
- bushman's singlet — a sleeveless heavy black woollen singlet, used as working clothing by timber fellers
- business as usual — In a difficult situation, if you say it is business as usual, you mean that people will continue doing what they normally do.
- butacaine sulfate — a colorless, crystalline substance, (C18H30N2O2)2·H2SO4, used as a local anesthetic, esp. on mucous membranes
- butterfly bandage — a butterfly-shaped strip of adhesive medical tape used, when stitches are not required, to keep a deep cut or incision tightly closed while it heals
- butterfly diagram — a graphical butterfly-shaped representation of the sunspot density on the solar disc in the 11-year sunspot cycle
- 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.
- cabbage butterfly — a common white butterfly (Pieris rapae) whose green larvae feed upon cabbage and related plants
- 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
- cage zone melting — zone melting of a square bar of the material to be purified, done so that the impurities are concentrated at the corners.