16-letter words containing b, r, u, s
- library pictures — a caption used to alert viewers that footage being broadcast is from an earlier time and is not happening now
- like gangbusters — a law-enforcement officer who specializes in breaking up organized crime, often by forceful or sensational means.
- louise bourgeois — Léon Victor Auguste [ley-awn veek-tawr oh-gyst] /leɪˈɔ̃ vikˈtɔr oʊˈgyst/ (Show IPA), 1851–1925, French statesman: Nobel Peace Prize 1920.
- lumberjack shirt — a thick checked shirt, as worn by lumberjacks
- mesembryanthemum — any of various chiefly Old World plants of the genus Mesembryanthemum, having thick, fleshy leaves and often showy flowers.
- mossbauer effect — the phenomenon in which an atom in a crystal undergoes no recoil when emitting a gamma ray, giving all the emitted energy to the gamma ray, resulting in a sharply defined wavelength.
- murasaki shikibu — Lady, 978?–1031? Japanese poet and novelist.
- nash equilibrium — (in game theory) a stable state of a system involving the interaction of two or more players in which no player can gain by a unilateral change of strategy if the strategies of the other players remain unchanged
- neuroborreliosis — A disorder of the central nervous system caused by a spirochete of the genus Borrelia.
- nitrous bacteria — bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrites in the soil
- nondurable goods — goods that remain usable for, or must be replaced within, a relatively short period of time, as food, apparel, or fabrics
- obsequent stream — a stream flowing in a direction opposite to that of the dip of the local strata.
- obstreperousness — resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; unruly.
- obstructionistic — a person who deliberately delays or prevents progress.
- obtuse bisectrix — See under bisectrix (def 1).
- october surprise — a major event, occurring shortly before a presidential election, which influences the result
- oversubscription — to subscribe for more of than is available, expected, or required: The charity drive was oversubscribed by several thousand dollars.
- paint-by-numbers — formulaic; showing no original thought or creativity
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- plumber's helper — plunger (def 3).
- pre-subscription — a sum of money given or pledged as a contribution, payment, investment, etc.
- prometheus bound — a tragedy (c457 b.c.) by Aeschylus.
- public ownership — ownership by the state; nationalization
- public relations — (used with a plural verb) the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.
- public transport — fare-paying travel
- put sb/sth first — If you put someone or something first, you treat or consider them as more important than anything else.
- rambunctiousness — difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
- raster subsystem — (graphics) The part of a graphics system concerned with an image after it has been transformed and scaled to screen coordinates. It includes scan conversion and display.
- reasonable doubt — law: grounds for believing sb is innocent
- rectus abdominis — a long flat muscle that extends along the whole length of both sides of the abdomen. It flexes the vertebral column, particularly the lumbar portion; it also tenses the anterior abdominal wall and assists in compressing the abdominal contents
- redistributional — a distribution performed again or anew.
- reserve buoyancy — the difference between the volume of a hull below the designed waterline and the volume of the hull below the lowest opening incapable of being made watertight.
- rhythm and blues — a folk-based but urbanized form of black popular music that is marked by strong, repetitious rhythms and simple melodies and was developed, in a commercialized form, into rock-'n'-roll.
- rhythm-and-blues — a folk-based but urbanized form of black popular music that is marked by strong, repetitious rhythms and simple melodies and was developed, in a commercialized form, into rock-'n'-roll.
- rich tea biscuit — any of various semisweet biscuits
- robin's-egg blue — a pale green to a light greenish-blue color.
- saint petersburg — Also called Russian Empire. Russian Rossiya. a former empire in E Europe and N and W Asia: overthrown by the Russian Revolution 1917. Capital: St. Petersburg (1703–1917).
- san buenaventura — a city in SW California.
- scarborough lily — a plant, Vallota speciosa, of the amaryllis family, native to southern Africa, having clusters of funnel-shaped, scarlet flowers.
- schaumburg-lippe — a former state in NW Germany.
- security blanket — a blanket or other familiar item carried especially by a young child to provide reassurance and a feeling of psychological security.
- self-lubricating — to apply some oily or greasy substance to (a machine, parts of a mechanism, etc.) in order to diminish friction; oil or grease (something).
- self-lubrication — the process of becoming lubricated without external factors
- semisubterranean — half below the surface of the ground: the semisubterranean houses of some Indian tribes.
- slubberdegullion — a slovenly or worthless person
- sodium carbonate — Also called soda ash. an anhydrous, grayish-white, odorless, water-soluble powder, Na 2 CO 3 , usually obtained by the Solvay process and containing about 1 percent of impurities consisting of sulfates, chlorides, and bicarbonates of sodium: used in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, soaps, paper, petroleum products, sodium salts, as a cleanser, for bleaching, and in water treatment.
- sodium perborate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, NaBO 2 ⋅3H 2 O or NaBO 3 ⋅4H 2 O, used chiefly as a bleaching agent and antiseptic.
- soft brown sugar — a type of moist sugar made by coating white sugar with dark molasses
- south burlington — a town in NW Vermont.
- southerly buster — a sudden violent cold wind on the SE coast of Australia causing a rapid drop in temperature