B battery
A battery used to provide the plate voltage for a vacuum tube.
Entries starting with B
623 entries.
B-pillar
nounAutomotive
The vertical support dividing a car's front side window from its rear or central side window.
B-unit
nounRail equipment
A locomotive with an engine, generator, and traction motors, but without a control cab.
B10
nounAutomotive
A motor vehicle fuel blend of 90% diesel and 10% biodiesel
B100
nounAutomotive
A motor vehicle fuel composed of pure biodiesel.
B5
nounAutomotive
A motor vehicle fuel blend of 95% diesel and 5% biodiesel
Baby Bell
Any of the Regional Bell Operating Companies resulting from the division of AT&T Corporation into a number of smaller companies in the 1980s as part of an antitrust agreement.
babysitter test
A test for the ease of use of household appliances.
back
The roof of a horizontal underground passage.
back door
nounAutomotive
A rear side door of a car, or at the back of a van.
back gray
A piece of dark, heavy cotton cloth that is run under another piece of cloth to be printed, serving to take up the color on the roller outside the width of the print cloth.
back to back ticket
Any of a series of airline tickets, issued with overlapping travel dates, used to circumvent airfare minimum stay requirements.
back-butter
verbConstruction
To apply adhesive to the back of (a tile) before placing it on the substrate.
back-counterbore
verbMachining
To counterbore from the backside of a workpiece by using a boring tool that passes through a through hole, deploys a cutting edge (or receives it by manual insertion from an operator), counterbores the far side, retracts the cutting edge (or has it removed), and then retreats back through the hole (toward the tool's origin).
back-countersink
verbMachining
To countersink from the backside of a workpiece by using a tool that passes through a through hole, deploys a cutting edge (or receives it by manual insertion from an operator), countersinks the far side, retracts the cutting edge (or has it removed), and then retreats back through the hole (toward the tool's origin).
back-overman
A person employed to superintend the pit during the "back" or afternoon shift, in the absence of the overman.
back-seat driving
Excessive commenting on the actions and decisions of someone operating a motor vehicle by a person who is not operating the vehicle.
back-spotface
verbMachining
To spotface from the backside of a workpiece by using a tool that passes through a through hole, deploys a cutting edge (or receives it by manual insertion from an operator), spotfaces the far side, retracts the cutting edge (or has it removed), and then retreats back through the hole (toward the tool's origin).
back-sweeten
verbManufacturing
To sweeten (an alcoholic drink) after fermentation by adding further sugar.
back-to-back connection
The direct connection of the output of one telecommunications device to the input of another.
backboard
The port or larboard side of a ship
backbore
verbMachining
To bore from the backside of a workpiece by using a boring tool that passes through one or more through holes, deploys a cutting edge (or receives it by manual insertion from an operator), bores a feature on the far side, retracts the cutting edge (or has it removed), and then retreats back through the hole (toward the tool's origin).
backdraft
Sudden, dangerous recombustion that occurs when there is a rapid reintroduction of oxygen to an enclosed space containing a fire.
backerboard
nounWoodworking
A board used behind or under other material, often as support.
backfire
To set a back fire (small, controlled fire to limit spread of a larger fire).
backlash
The looseness through which one part of connected machinery, such as a wheel, gear, piston, or screw, can be moved without moving the connected parts, or a measurement of the distance moved thereby; either intentional (as allowance) or unintentional (from error or wear).
backload
To load (cargo, shipment, etc.) after unloading has been completed.
backloading
The transportation of cargo or shipment on a return trip, using the space already paid for and used for the outward leg.
backout
A reversed countdown (i.e. ascending numbers) in response to problems leading up to a launch.
backplane
A circuit board that connects several connectors in parallel to each other, so that each pin of each connector is linked to the same relative pin of all the other connectors, forming a computer bus.
backplate
nounAutomotive
A rigid metal plate inside the brake drum, which supports the wheel cylinder, brake shoes, and other parts of a drum brake.
backprime
verbCarpentry
To apply a layer of primer to the back side of (a surface).
backshell
Part of an electrical conductor or other electrical device, such as a cable clamp or adapter, that is threaded onto the rear connector accessory threads of plug or receptacle connectors to make up the total connector assembly.
backsight
nounSurveying
A measurement of a previously shot point, used to set the angle to zero when occupying a new position.
backstitch
nounManufacturing
A type of sewing stitch where the stitch goes backwards on the top side of the fabric and doubles forward on the bottom, coming out farther in front, then repeats. The backstitch is a very tight and secure stitch, and also looks very neat.
backstretch
The laying of a supply line from the region of the fire backwards toward the water source.
backtrack
To taxi down an active runway in the opposite direction to that being used for takeoff.
backup camera
nounAutomotive
A camera installed on the rear of a vehicle, to help in reversing and in eliminating rear end blindspots.
backwasher
A machine used for washing wool after carding to remove the impurities.
bag
To drop away from the correct course.
baggage car
nounRail equipment
A railway vehicle in passenger trains used to carry passengers' heavy luggage; a luggage van.
bailiff
The foreman or overman of a mine.
bailout
The situation where a firefighter uses equipment to escape a structure where fire has proven uncontrollable.
bainite
nounMetallurgy
A microstructure of steel consisting of needle-like particles of cementite embedded in a ferrite matrix.
bakehead
A fireman (person who keeps the fire going underneath a steam boiler on a railroad locomotive).
bakkie
A small pick-up truck or ute, generally open and sometimes fitted with a removable canopy, but distinct from an enclosed van and a large truck.
balance
To contract, as a sail, into a narrower compass.
balk
An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing.
ball
verbMetalworking
To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
ball bearing
A bearing assembly which uses spherical bearing balls as the rolling elements, usually consisting of two ballraces (rings).
ball grid array
A type of surface mount used to connect integrated circuits to printed circuit boards.
ball joint
nounAutomotive
A spherical bearing that connects the control arm to the steering knuckle.
ball vein
A sort of iron ore, found in loose masses of a globular form, containing sparkling particles.
ballast
device used for stabilizing current in an electric circuit (e.g. in a tube lamp supply circuit)
ballast wagon
nounRail equipment
a hopper wagon used to carry ballast (stone) for railway track maintenance purposes.
ballgown
nounManufacturing
A formal gown to be worn by women to balls and similar social events.
balling
An incident when worker bees surround a queen bee, usually leading to her death by suffocation or starvation.
balloon
Of an aircraft: to plunge alternately up and down.
balloon frame
nounCarpentry
A house frame constructed entirely of small timber. It uses long continuous framing members (wall studs) that run from the sill plate to the top plate, with intermediate floor structures let into and nailed to them.
ballout
The pinout of a ball grid array integrated circuit.