16-letter words that end in n
- bacterioplankton — (biology) The bacterial component of marine plankton.
- baltimore canyon — a submarine valley cut into the continental shelf and slope seaward of Chesapeake Bay.
- bastard culverin — a 16th-century cannon, smaller than a culverin, firing a shot of between 5 and 8 pounds (11 and 17.6 kg).
- batch production — production of goods in batches, rather than continuously
- be one's own man — to be independent or free
- beef bourguignon — boeuf bourguignon
- beg the question — If you say that something begs a particular question, you mean that it makes people want to ask that question; some people consider that this use is incorrect.
- behavior pattern — a recurrent way of acting by an individual or group toward a given object or in a given situation.
- belgian tervuren — one of a Belgian breed of medium-sized dogs having a long, straight coat, fawn to mahogany in color, differing from the Belgian sheepdog only in color.
- benoit samuelson — Joan (Joan Benoit) born 1957, U.S. distance runner: first Olympic marathon women's winner, 1984.
- beta abstraction — [lambda-calculus] The conversion of an expression to an application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. Some subterm of the original expression becomes the argument of the abstraction and the rest becomes its body. E.g. 4+1 --> (\ x . x+1) 4 The opposite of beta abstraction is beta reduction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion.
- bicapitalisation — The act said to have been performed on trademarks (such as PostScript, NeXT, NeWS, VisiCalc, FrameMaker, TK!solver, EasyWriter) that have been raised above the ruck of common coinage by nonstandard capitalisation. Too many marketroid types think this sort of thing is really cute, even the 2,317th time they do it. Compare studlycaps.
- binary operation — a mathematical operation in which two elements are combined to yield a single result: Addition and multiplication are binary operations on the set of real numbers.
- binocular fusion — fusion (def 5a).
- binocular-fusion — the act or process of fusing; the state of being fused.
- biodeterioration — biodegradation.
- biofortification — the process of breeding staple crops to have higher levels of essential nutrients, either through selective breeding or genetic modification: iron biofortification of rice; biofortification of wheat with zinc.
- biomagnification — biological magnification.
- bird of ill omen — a person who brings bad news.
- bird's-nest fern — a tropical fern, Asplenium nidus, having fronds arranged in clumps resembling a bird's nest.
- black-eyed susan — any of several North American plants of the genus Rudbeckia, esp R. hirta, having flower heads of orange-yellow rays and brown-black centres: family Asteraceae (composites)
- blasting gelatin — a type of plastic dynamite containing about 7 percent of a cellulose nitrate, used chiefly in underwater work.
- bluegrass region — a region in central Kentucky, famous for its horse farms and fields of bluegrass.
- board and batten — a siding consisting of wide boards or of sheets of plywood set vertically with butt joints covered by battens.
- boeuf bourgignon — casserole of beef, vegetables, herbs, etc, cooked in red wine
- bombing campaign — a concerted, intensive and prolonged bombing of a target
- botanical garden — a place where collections of plants and trees are kept for scientific study and exhibition
- bring to bear on — to cause to have an effect on
- brother jonathan — the United States or its people: predecessor of Uncle Sam
- brown-eyed susan — a composite plant, Rudbeckia triloba, of the southeastern U.S., having a single flower with yellow rays darkening to an orange orbrown at the base and a brownish-black disk.
- brussels griffon — one of a Belgian breed of toy dogs having a thick, wiry, reddish-brown coat.
- burning question — urgent matter for discussion
- bypass operation — an operation involving redirection of blood flow, either to avoid a diseased blood vessel or in order to perform heart surgery
- cable television — Cable television is a television system in which signals are sent along wires rather than by radio waves.
- call in question — a sentence in an interrogative form, addressed to someone in order to get information in reply.
- capillary action — Also called capillary action, capillary attraction. Physics. a manifestation of surface tension by which the portion of the surface of a liquid coming in contact with a solid is elevated or depressed, depending on the adhesive or cohesive properties of the liquid.
- capillary-action — Also called capillary action, capillary attraction. Physics. a manifestation of surface tension by which the portion of the surface of a liquid coming in contact with a solid is elevated or depressed, depending on the adhesive or cohesive properties of the liquid.
- carry conviction — to be convincing
- cash transaction — a piece of business, for example an act of buying or selling something
- cassini division — the gap or dark region between the two main outer rings of Saturn: it has a width of about 4,700 km (2,920 mi)
- catch oneself on — to realize that one's actions are mistaken
- catchwater drain — a channel cut along the edge of high ground to catch surface water from it and divert it away from low-lying ground
- cedar of lebanon — a cedar, Cedrus libani, of SW Asia with level spreading branches and fragrant wood
- cedar revolution — the popular protests in 2005 that brought down the Lebanese cabinet and prompted Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon
- central american — of or relating to Central America or its inhabitants
- central european — involving or denoting the people, countries, cultures, or languages of Central Europe
- century meltdown — Year 2000
- cesarean section — Also called Cesarean section, C-section. an operation by which a fetus is taken from the uterus by cutting through the walls of the abdomen and uterus.
- characterisation — (British spelling) Alternative form of characterization.
- characterization — Characterization is the way an author or an actor describes or shows what a character is like.