bottoming
A substance used to prepare a material for dyeing.
Entries starting with B
623 entries.
boule
nounWoodworking
A through-sawn log with the slices restacked in the order and orientation they originally had in the log, usually with waney edges.
boulework
Archaic form of buhl work.
bounce
To land hard and lift off again due to excess momentum.
bounceless
adjectiveManufacturing
Designed to reduce bouncing.
Bourbon rose
A class of hybrid rose originating from the island of Réunion, resulting from a natural cross between China roses.
bourgeois
A size of type between brevier and long primer, standardized as 9-point.
bow
A crude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun's altitude at sea.
Bower-Barff process
nameMetalworking
A method of coating iron or steel with magnetic iron oxide in order to minimize atmospheric corrosion. The articles to be treated are put into a closed retort and a current of superheated steam passed through for a period, followed by a current of producer gas (carbon monoxide), to reduce any higher oxides that may have been formed.
box
To enclose (images, text, etc.) in a box.
box stitch
A reinforcing stitch used to secure the corners of patches, hems, or belt loops.
box van
nounRail equipment
An enclosed railway goods wagon, typically with a sliding door.
boxcar
nounRail equipment
An enclosed railway goods wagon, typically with a sliding door.
boxer engine
nounAutomotive
An engine with two horizontally opposed cylinder banks, commonly used in Porsche and Subaru automobiles.
BR
nameRail equipment
Initialism of British Rail, formerly British Railways up to 1965.
brace up
verbConstruction
To strengthen with bracing material.
brachy
A breve, as applied to Ancient Greek <˘>.
bracket
A short crooked timber, resembling a knee, used as a support.
bracketry
nounAutomotive
The mounting hardware used to hold one part to another, typically consisting of stamped metal pieces that make up the actual bracket, and any other bolts, nuts, rubber etc. needed to complete the mounting of the part.
Bradshaw
nounRail equipment
A former railway guide and timetable published by George Bradshaw. Publication ceased in May 1961.
brake
A tool used for breaking flax or hemp.
brake assembly
The collective replacement parts used to repair an automobile's worn down brakes.
brake check
To deliberately brake in an unexpected place to hinder or startle the driver behind.
brake fade
Partial or total loss of braking force with prolonged continuous or repetitive application of a heavy vehicle's brakes, due to the effects on the brake system of the heat generated by heavy braking.
brake light
nounAutomotive
A light on a vehicle's instrument panel indicating a failure or malfunction of the vehicle's brake system.
brake line
nounAutomotive
A line that conveys fluid from a vehicle's brake pedal to the brakes when they are applied.
brake shoe
An element of a drum brake into which the friction-producing brake lining is attached.
brake van
A railway vehicle used to brake a (goods) train, usually placed at the end of the train. These were essential before continuous train braking became universal.
braked
adjectiveMechanical engineering
Equipped with brakes (the vehicle-stopping devices).
brakeforce
nounAutomotive
The force applied to a vehicle's brakes.
brakeman
A person employed to work the steam engine or other machinery that raises the coal from the mine.
brakepipe
A continuous pipe or hose filled with high-pressure air and running the length of a train, used to recharge the train's brake reservoirs with compressed air and to control the train's air brakes through changes in its internal air pressure.
braking time
nounAutomotive
The approximate duration of time required for a vehicle to come to a complete stop after applying the brakes.
branch
A certificate given by Trinity House to a pilot qualified to take navigational control of a ship in British waters.
branch line
nounRail equipment
A secondary railroad route or one subsidiary to a railroad's mainlines.
branch out
To white out or expand the whitespace around the title or other words, lines, etc. in a document.
brandmobile
nounAutomotive
A motorized vehicle that is customized to resemble a consumer product as a promotional tool for advertising and marketing.
brat
A thin bed of coal mixed with pyrites or carbonate of lime.
brattice
A partition in a coal mine, made from wood or from canvas sheeting coated in tar.
bratticer
A worker who erects brattices.
brayer
A hand printing tool, in the US often a roller, used to spread a thin even layer of ink. Early brayers, consisting of a vertical cylinder with a single handle, were designed to break up thick inks before spreading.
breadbasket
A region which has favourable conditions to produce a large quantity of grain or, by extension, other food products; a food bowl.
breadboard
A device used to build a (usually temporary) prototype of an electronic circuit and for experimenting with circuit designs. Both solder and solderless versions are available; the solderless type are easily reusable.
break
nounManufacturing
A crease or fold arising where the pants leg reaches the shoe.
break of gauge
nounRail equipment
an occurrence where a railway with one track gauge meets another railway of a different gauge, thus requiring transhipment of goods and passengers, or a change of bogies on the train.
break up
Of a conversation, to cease to be understandable because of a bad connection; of a signal, to deteriorate.
break-of-gauge station
a railway station where railways of different track gauges meet, and where transhipment of goods and passengers takes place. Some of these stations have a bogie changing facility.
breakdown crane
A crane that can be used in the event of accidents and derailments, as well as for engineering work on the railway; the crane is usually coupled to another vehicle on which the jib can be rested when travelling, or when the crane is not in use.
breaking point
The point at which the increasing strain in a material causes it to break.
breakout board
A minimal PCB with a single component, used for easier prototyping.
breakthrough
nounConstruction
The penetration of a separating wall or the remaining distance to an adjacent hollow (a crosscut in mining) or between two parts of a tunnel build from both ends.
breast down
To use a process of sequential drilling and blasting in building tunnels for mining, subways, etc.
breastheight
The typical height above ground of an adult's breast, used as a reference height for measuring the diameters of trees.
breather
An air inlet path to the crankcase
breccia
A rock composed of angular fragments in a matrix that may be of a similar or a different material.
breezer
nounPlumbing
A vertical pipe attached to a septic system's distribution pipe that rises above the ground to provide ventilation.
Bresnan nozzle
A rotating nozzle with multiple outlets, capable of spraying jets of water in a circular pattern when lowered through the floor above.
breve
A semicircular diacritical mark (˘) placed above a vowel, commonly used to mark its quantity as short.
brevier
The size of type between minion and bourgeois, standardized as 8-point.
brewer's yeast
nounManufacturing
Any live yeast used in brewing or yeast obtained as a by-product of brewing, dried and killed, and used as nutritional yeast.