15-letter words containing a, s, g, e
- at arm's length — If you hold something at arm's length, you hold it away from your body with your arm straight.
- at first glance — If you say that something is true or seems to be true at first glance, you mean that it seems to be true when you first see it or think about it, but that your first impression may be wrong.
- at right angles — If two things are at right angles, they are situated so that they form an angle of 90° where they touch each other. You can also say that one thing is at right angles to another.
- augmented sixth — an interval greater than a major sixth by a chromatic half step.
- augusta emerita — a market town in W Spain, in Extremadura, on the Guadiana River: founded in 25 bc; became the capital of Lusitania and one of the chief cities of Iberia. Pop: 52 110 (2003 est)
- augusta gregory — Lady Augusta (Isabella Augusta Persse) 1852–1932, Irish dramatist.
- augustus caesar — Also called Octavian (before 27 b.c.)(Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus; Augustus Caesar) 63 b.c.–a.d. 14, first Roman emperor 27 b.c.–a.d. 14: reformer, patron of arts and literature; heir and successor to Julius Caesar.
- autobiographers — Plural form of autobiographer.
- autobiographies — Plural form of autobiography.
- aviator glasses — sunglasses that look like goggles
- back plastering — the introduction of partitions of lath and plaster between the inner and outer surfaces of a stud wall in order to improve the insulating properties of the wall.
- bacterial ghost — a bacterial cell that is emptied and filled artificially with another substance
- bacteriophagous — Pertaining to the predation and consumption of bacterium.
- bag on the side — An extension to an established hack that is supposed to add some functionality to the original. Usually derogatory, implying that the original was being overextended and should have been thrown away, and the new product is ugly, inelegant, or bloated. Also "to hang a bag on the side [of]". "C++? That's just a bag on the side of C." "They want me to hang a bag on the side of the accounting system."
- bangtail muster — a roundup of cattle to be counted, each one having the hairs on its tail docked as it is counted
- base technology — (company) The company which developed and distributes Liana. E-mail: Jack Krupansky <[email protected]> (owner). Address: Base Technology, Attn: Jack Krupansky, 1500 Mass. Ave. NW #114 Washington, DC 2005, USA. 800-786-9505 Telephone: +1 800 876 9505.
- bat-wing sleeve — formed, shaped, etc., like the wing of a bat.
- bathing costume — A bathing costume is a piece of clothing that is worn for swimming, especially by women and girls.
- battleship gray — a subdued bluish gray.
- be having sb on — If you are having someone on, you are pretending that something is true when it is not true, for example as a joke or in order to tease them.
- beat one's gums — to talk much and idly
- beef stroganoff — a dish of thin strips of beef cooked with onions, mushrooms, and seasonings, served in a sour-cream sauce
- benefits agency — an agency that handles the payment of benefits
- big sandy creek — a river in central Colorado, flowing NE and SE to the Arkansas River near Lamar: site of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. 200 miles (322 km) long.
- bird of passage — If you refer to someone as a bird of passage, you mean that they are staying in a place for a short time before going to another place.
- blagoveshchensk — a city and port in E Russia, in Siberia on the Amur River. Pop: 222 000 (2005 est)
- blasting powder — a form of gunpowder made with sodium nitrate instead of saltpeter, used chiefly for blasting rock, ore, etc.
- blue-eyed grass — any of various mainly North American iridaceous marsh plants of the genus Sisyrinchium that have grasslike leaves and small flat starlike blue flowers
- bluegrass state — Kentucky (used as a nickname).
- bologna sausage — a large smoked sausage made of seasoned mixed meats
- book of changes — an ancient Chinese book of divination, in which 64 pairs of trigrams are shown with various interpretations.
- boston marriage — (especially in 19th-century New England) an intimate friendship between two women often maintaining a household together.
- branching rules — rules that are used to break down a complex problem into several smaller problems
- branchiostegous — branchiostegal.
- breaking strain — the amount of strain that, if applied to a particular material, will cause it to break
- breathing space — A breathing space is a short period of time between two activities in which you can recover from the first activity and prepare for the second one.
- breeding season — the time of year during which animals breed
- brights-disease — a disease characterized by albuminuria and heightened blood pressure.
- brunner's gland — any of the glands in the submucosal layer of the duodenum, secreting an alkaline fluid into the small intestine.
- brush discharge — a slightly luminous electrical discharge between points of high charge density when the charge density is insufficient to cause a spark or around sharp points on a highly charged conductor because of ionization of air molecules in their vicinity
- buckinghamshire — a county in SE central England, containing the Vale of Aylesbury and parts of the Chiltern Hills: the geographic and ceremonial county includes Milton Keynes, which became an independent unitary authority in 1997. Administrative centre: Aylesbury. Pop (excluding Milton Keynes): 478 000 (2003 est). Area (excluding Milton Keynes): 1568 sq km (605 sq miles)
- bug fix release — (programming) A release which introduces no new features, but which merely aims to fix bugs in previous releases. All too commonly new bugs are introduced at the same time.
- bughouse square — Informal. any intersection or park mall in a big city where political zealots, agitators, folk evangelists, etc., congregate to argue and make soapbox speeches.
- building trades — the trades and professions concerned with the creation and finishing of buildings, such as carpenters, plasterers, masons, electricians, etc.
- butter-and-eggs — any of various plants, such as toadflax, the flowers of which are of two shades of yellow
- cactus geranium — a plant, Pelargonium echinatum, of the geranium family, native to southern Africa, having prickly stipules and white or reddish flowers.
- cairngorm-stone — smoky quartz.
- calabash nutmeg — a tropical African shrub, Monodora myristica, whose oily aromatic seeds can be used as nutmegs: family Annonaceae
- cape gooseberry — a tropical American solanaceous plant, Physalis peruviana, naturalized in southern Africa, having yellow flowers and edible yellow berries
- cardiac massage — a rhythmic compressing of the heart, using the hands to force blood through the blood vessels: an emergency medical procedure for treating heart failure