8-letter words that end in a
- blastoma — a tumour composed of embryonic tissue that has not yet developed a specialized function
- blastula — an early form of an animal embryo that develops from a morula, consisting of a sphere of cells with a central cavity
- bletilla — any of several terrestrial orchids of the genus Bletilla, of eastern Asia, as B. striata, having terminal clusters of showy purple or white flowers.
- boadicea — Boudicca
- boba tea — bubble tea.
- bogalusa — a city in SE Louisiana.
- boltonia — any North American plant of the genus Boltonia, having daisy-like flowers with white, violet, or pinkish rays: family Compositae (composites)
- bombilla — a tube or drinking straw with a strainer at one end, especially for drinking maté.
- bona dea — an ancient Roman goddess of chastity and fertility.
- borrelia — a genus of helical spirochete bacteria, some causing relapsing fever
- botanica — a shop that sells herbs, charms, and other items associated with alternative medicine or magic
- botswana — a republic in southern Africa: established as the British protectorate of Bechuanaland in 1885 as a defence against the Boers; became an independent state within the Commonwealth in 1966; consists mostly of a plateau averaging 1000 m (3300 ft), with the extensive Okavango swamps in the northwest and the Kalahari Desert in the southwest. Languages: English and Tswana. Religion: animist majority. Currency: pula. Capital: Gaborone. Pop: 2 127 825 (2013 est). Area: about 570 000 sq km (220 000 sq miles)
- boudicca — died 62 ad, a queen of the Iceni, who led a revolt against Roman rule in Britain; after being defeated she poisoned herself
- boulimia — bulimia.
- bozcaada — Turkish island in the Aegean, near the Dardanelles: 15 sq mi (39 sq km): in Greek legend, as Tenedos, the base of the Greek fleet in the Trojan War
- braciola — (in Italian cooking) a thin slice of pan-fried beef
- brahmana — any of a number of sacred treatises added to each of the Vedas
- branchia — a gill in aquatic animals
- brasilia — the capital of Brazil (since 1960), on the central plateau: the former capital was Rio de Janeiro. Pop: 3 341 000 (2005 est)
- brassica — Brassicas are vegetables such as cabbages, broccoli and turnips.
- bresaola — (in Italian cookery) air-dried, salted beef
- brodiaea — any of several plants belonging to the genus Brodiaea, of the amaryllis family, native to western North America, having grasslike basal leaves and clusters of usually purplish flowers.
- bromelia — any plant of the family Bromeliaceae of tropical American plants, characterized by a short stem and deeply cleft calyx
- bronchia — the ramifications or branches of the bronchi.
- brouhaha — A brouhaha is an excited and critical fuss or reaction to something.
- brucella — any of a genus of nonmotile bacteria that cause brucellosis
- bucovina — Bukovina
- bucrania — (in classical architecture) an ornament, especially on a frieze, having the form of the skull of an ox.
- buddleia — any ornamental shrub of the genus Buddleia, esp B. davidii, which has long spikes of mauve flowers and is frequently visited by butterflies: family Buddleiaceae
- bugzilla — (programming) The web-based bug tracking system used by the Mozilla project.
- bukovina — a region of E central Europe, part of the NE Carpathians: the north was seized by the Soviet Union (1940) and later became part of Ukraine; the south remained Romanian
- bulgaria — a republic in SE Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula on the Black Sea: under Turkish rule from 1395 until 1878; became an independent kingdom in 1908 and a republic in 1946; joined the EU in 2007; consists chiefly of the Danube valley in the north and the Balkan Mountains in the central part, separated from the Rhodope Mountains of the south by the valley of the Maritsa River. Language: Bulgarian. Religion: Christian (Bulgarian Orthodox) majority. Currency: lev. Capital: Sofia. Pop: 6 981 642 (2013 est). Area: 110 911 sq km (42 823 sq miles)
- burletta — a type of comic opera
- bush tea — a leguminous shrub of the genus Cyclopia, of southern Africa
- butt bra — an undergarment for supporting the buttocks
- c++linda — (language)
- caatinga — a Brazilian semi-arid scrub forest
- cabretta — a soft leather obtained from the skins of certain South American or African sheep
- cabrilla — any of various serranid food fishes, esp Epinephelus analogus, occurring in warm seas around Florida and the Caribbean
- cachexia — a generally weakened condition of body or mind resulting from any debilitating chronic disease
- cachucha — a graceful Spanish solo dance in triple time
- caesarea — an ancient port in NW Israel, capital of Roman Palestine: founded by Herod the Great
- cahuilla — a member of a North American Indian people of southern California.
- calabaza — any of several species of gourd of the genus Cucurbita
- calabria — a region of SW Italy: mostly mountainous and subject to earthquakes. Chief town: Reggio di Calabria. Pop: 2 007 392 (2003 est). Area: 15 080 sq km (5822 sq miles)
- calandra — A large Eurasian lark with a stout bill and a black patch on each side of the neck.
- calathea — any plant of the S. American perennial genus Calathea, many species of which are grown as greenhouse or house plants for their decorative variegated leaves, esp the zebra plant (C. zebrina), the leaves of which are purplish below and dark green with lighter stripes above: family Marantaceae
- calcutta — Kolkata
- caldaria — Plural form of caldarium.
- caligula — original name Gaius Caesar, son of Germanicus. 12–41 ad, Roman emperor (37–41), noted for his cruelty and tyranny; assassinated