13-letter words containing n, a, d, s
- ballad stanza — a four-line stanza, often used in ballads, in which the second and fourth lines rhyme and have three stresses each and the first and third lines are unrhymed and have four stresses each
- balloon shade — a window shade that when raised is gathered into a series of puffy festoons created by inverted pleats in the fabric.
- banana spider — a large, yellowish, tropical crab spider (Heteropoda venatoria) occasionally found in bunches of bananas shipped to the Temperate Zones
- band spectrum — a spectrum consisting of a number of bands of closely spaced lines that are associated with emission or absorption of radiation by molecules
- banderilleros — Plural form of banderillero.
- bandspreading — an additional tuning control in some radio receivers whereby a selected narrow band of frequencies can be spread over a wider frequency band, in order to give finer control of tuning
- bank discount — interest on a loan deducted from the principal amount when the loan is made and based on the loan's face value
- barefacedness — The state or quality of being barefaced.
- basket dinner — a group social gathering, as of church members, to which participants contribute casseroles or other dishes to share.
- bastard eigne — the first-born illegitimate son of parents whose second son was legitimate.
- batan islands — a group of islands in the Philippines, north of Luzon. Capital: Basco. Pop: 16 467 (2000). Area: 197 sq km (76 sq miles)
- battlegrounds — Plural form of battleground.
- bay of gdańsk — a wide inlet of the Baltic Sea on the N coast of Poland
- be upstanding — (in a court of law) a direction to all persons present to rise to their feet before the judge enters or leaves the court
- beaked salmon — sandfish (def 2).
- beaked-salmon — sandfish (def 2).
- bearing sword — a large sword carried for its owner by a squire or servant because of its size.
- berchtesgaden — a town in Germany, in SE Bavaria: site of the fortified mountain retreat of Adolf Hitler. Pop: 7667 (2003 est)
- bildungsroman — a novel concerned with a person's formative years and development
- bits and bobs — Bits and bobs are small objects or parts of something.
- bladder senna — a Eurasian leguminous plant, Colutea arborescens, with yellow and red flowers and membranous inflated pods
- blandishments — Blandishments are pleasant things that someone says to another person in order to persuade them to do something.
- blood-stained — stained with blood: a bloodstained knife.
- bloody sunday — (in Northern Ireland) 30th January 1972, when British soldiers shot dead thirteen marchers in Londonderry who were protesting against the UK government's policy of internment
- boarding fees — fees paid for boarding at a school
- boarding pass — A boarding pass is a card that a passenger must have when boarding a plane or a boat.
- boardinghouse — a private house in which accommodation and meals are provided for paying guests
- body and soul — You use body and soul to mean every part of you, including your mind and your emotions.
- body snatcher — (formerly) a person who robbed graves and sold the corpses for dissection
- bonin islands — a group of 27 volcanic islands in the W Pacific: occupied by the US after World War II; returned to Japan in 1968. Largest island: Chichijima. Area: 103 sq km (40 sq miles)
- boom-and-bust — characteristic of a period of economic prosperity followed by a depression.
- boots and all — making every effort; with no holds barred
- borna disease — viral disease found in mammals, esp horses
- bounced flash — a flash bounced off a reflective surface, as a ceiling or wall, to illuminate a subject indirectly.
- boundary scan — The use of scan registers to capture state from device input and output pins. IEEE Standard 1149.1-1990 describes the international standard implementation (sometimes called JTAG after the Joint Test Action Group which began the standardisation work).
- branded goods — goods that are identifiable as being the product of a particular manufacturer or marketing company
- brass foundry — a foundry that makes things from brass
- brassfounding — the practice of making things from brass
- british india — the 17 provinces of India formerly governed by the British under the British sovereign: ceased to exist in 1947 when the independent states of India and Pakistan were created
- brown mustard — black mustard. See under mustard (def 2).
- bundle sheath — a layer of cells in plant leaves and stems that surrounds a vascular bundle.
- buridan's ass — an example intended to show the deficiency of reason. An ass standing equidistant from two identical heaps of oats starves to death because reason provides no grounds for choosing to eat one rather than the other
- burt standish — Burt L. pseudonym of Gilbert Patten.
- business card — A person's business card or their card is a small card which they give to other people, and which has their name and details of their job and company printed on it.
- cakes and ale — the good things of life; worldly pleasures
- canada balsam — a yellow transparent resin obtained from the balsam fir. Because its refractive index is similar to that of glass, it is used as an adhesive in optical devices and as a mounting medium for microscope specimens
- candidateship — candidature
- candle grease — the wax which is used in the manufacture of candles
- candleberries — Plural form of candleberry.
- candleholders — Plural form of candleholder.