12-letter words containing n, a, b, t, e
- bequeathment — to dispose of (personal property, especially money) by last will: She bequeathed her half of the company to her niece.
- beta orionis — Rigel
- beta testing — (programming) Evaluation of a pre-release (potentially unreliable) version of a piece of software (or possibly hardware) by making it available to selected users ("beta testers") before it goes on general distribution. Beta testign aims to discover bugs that only occur in certain environments or under certain patterns of use, while reducing the volume of feedback to a manageable level. The testers benefit by having earlier access to new products, features and fixes. Beta testing may be preceded by "alpha testing", performed in-house by a handful of users (e.g. other developers or friends), who can be expected to give rapid, high quality feedback on design and usability. Once the product is considered to be usable for its intended purpose it then moves on to "beta testing" by a larger, but typically still limited, number of ordinary users, who may include external customers. Some companies such as Google or Degree Jungle stretch the definition, claiming their products are "in beta" for many months by millions of users. The term derives from early 1960s terminology for product cycle checkpoints, first used at IBM but later standard throughout the industry. "Alpha test" was the unit test, module test or component test phase; "Beta Test" was initial system test. These themselves came from earlier A- and B-tests for hardware. The A-test was a feasibility and manufacturability evaluation done before any commitment to design and development. The B-test was a demonstration that the engineering model functioned as specified. The C-test (corresponding to today's beta) was the B-test performed on early samples of the production design.
- beta version — beta testing
- betacarotene — the most important form of the plant pigment carotene, which occurs in milk, vegetables, and other foods and, when eaten by man and animals, is converted in the body to vitamin A
- betanaphthol — a colorless, crystalline isomer of naphthol, C10H8O, used as an antiseptic and parasiticide
- betweenbrain — the posterior part of the forebrain
- bicentennial — A bicentennial is the same as a bicentenary.
- bien pensant — a right-thinking person
- billingsgate — the largest fish market in London, on the N bank of the River Thames; moved to new site at Canary Wharf in 1982 and the former building converted into offices
- binge eating — the practice of eating excessive amounts of food over a short period of time
- biomagnetics — the study of magnetic fields as a form of therapy
- biomagnetism — animal magnetism.
- biometrician — a person who is knowledgeable about biometry
- biotechnical — relating to biotechnology
- biparentally — from a biparental point of view
- bipropellant — a rocket propellant consisting of two substances, usually a fuel and an oxidizer
- birket karun — a lake in N Egypt. 25 miles (40 km) long; about 5 miles (8 km) wide; 90 sq. mi. (233 sq. km).
- birth parent — a biological mother (birth mother) or biological father (birth father) a biological parent.
- biting stage — the second part of the oral phase of psychosexual development, approximately 8 to18 months of age, during which a child has the urge to bite or chew objects.
- black tongue — canine pellagra.
- blandishment — the act of blandishing; cajolery
- blanket bath — an all-over wash given to a person confined to bed
- blanket roll — a blanket or sleeping bag rolled into a cylindrical pack for easy carrying and outdoor use by hikers, soldiers, cowboys, etc., often with cooking utensils, food, and personal articles carried inside.
- blanket toss — a game in which a person is repeatedly tossed into the air and caught on an open blanket by a group of people who hold the blanket at its edges and stretch and relax it for each toss and catch.
- bletheration — nonsense!
- bloodstained — Someone or something that is bloodstained is covered with blood.
- bluefin tuna — the largest tuna (Thunnus thynnus): it has bright red flesh and is important as a game and food fish
- boating lake — a lake in a park where rowing boats can be hired
- bond servant — a person who serves in bondage; slave.
- bonnet glass — monteith (def 2).
- bonnet-glass — a large punch bowl, usually of silver, having a notched rim for suspending punch cups.
- booklet pane — Philately. any of a number of panes or small pages of postage stamps, stapled together into a booklet for the convenience of users.
- botticellian — Sandro [san-droh,, sahn-;; Italian sahn-draw] /ˈsæn droʊ,, ˈsɑn-;; Italian ˈsɑn drɔ/ (Show IPA), (Alessandro di Mariano dei Filipepi) 1444?–1510, Italian painter.
- boulangerite — a bluish lead-gray mineral, lead antimony sulfide, Pb 5 Sb 4 S 11 , a minor ore of lead.
- bradykinetic — slowness of movement, as found, for example, in Parkinson's disease.
- brain teaser — A brain teaser is a question, problem, or puzzle that is difficult to answer or solve, but is not serious or important.
- brain-teaser — a puzzle or problem whose solution requires great ingenuity.
- brainstormer — a person who brainstorms
- branch depot — one of a several depots receiving stock from the same central supplier
- branch water — water from a stream, as opposed to mineral or soda water
- brazilianite — a mineral, sodium aluminum phosphate, Na 2 Al 6 P 4 O 16 (OH) 8 , occurring in yellow-green crystals with a vitreous luster: used as a gem.
- breathtaking — If you say that something is breathtaking, you are emphasizing that it is extremely beautiful or amazing.
- brevipennate — (of flightless birds) short-winged
- brilliantine — a perfumed oil used to make the hair smooth and shiny
- broken heart — If you say that someone has a broken heart, you mean that they are very sad, for example because a love affair has ended unhappily.
- broken water — a patch of water whose surface is rippled or choppy, usually surrounded by relatively calm water.
- bromoacetone — a colorless and highly toxic liquid, CH 2 BrCOCH 3 , used as a lachrymatory compound in tear gas and chemical warfare gas.
- bromomethane — methyl bromide.
- buenaventura — a major port in W Colombia, on the Pacific coast. Pop: 250 000 (2005 est)