| bacteriolysis | (noun) dissolution or destruction of bacteria | - |
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| bacteriophage | (noun) a virus that is parasitic (reproduces itself) in bacteria | Synonyms: phage |
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| bacteriostasis | (noun) inhibition of the growth of bacteria | - |
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| bacteriostat | (noun) a chemical or biological material that inhibits bacterial growth | - |
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| bacterium | (noun) (microbiology) single-celled or noncellular spherical or spiral or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission; important as pathogens and for biochemical properties; taxonomy is difficult; often considered to be plants | Synonyms: bacteria |
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| bacteroid | (noun) a rodlike bacterium (especially any of the rod-shaped or branched bacteria in the root nodules of nitrogen-fixing plants) | - |
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| barbacan | (noun) a tower that is part of a defensive structure (such as a castle) | Synonyms: barbican |
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| biofeedback | (noun) a training program in which a person is given information about physiological processes (heart rate or blood pressure) that is not normally available with the goal of gaining conscious control of them | - |
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| blowback | (noun) Blowback is a system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains energy from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gases created by the ignition of the propellant charge. | - |
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| (noun) misinformation resulting from the recirculation into the source country of disinformation previously planted abroad by that country's intelligence service | - |
| (noun) the backward escape of gases and unburned gunpowder after a gun is fired | Synonyms: backfire |
| buyback | (noun) the act of purchasing back something previously sold | Synonyms: redemption, repurchase |
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| callback | (noun) a request by the manufacturer of a defective product to return the product (as for replacement or repair) | Synonyms: recall |
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| canvasback | (noun) North American wild duck valued for sport and food | Synonyms: Aythya valisineria, canvasback duck |
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| celibacy | (noun) abstaining from sexual relations (as because of religious vows) | Synonyms: chastity, sexual abstention |
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| (noun) an unmarried status | - |
| chawbacon | (noun) a person who is not very intelligent or interested in culture | Synonyms: bumpkin, hayseed, hick, rube, yahoo, yokel |
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| clawback | (noun) finding a way to take money back from people that they were given in another way | - |
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| coccobacillus | (noun) a bacterial cell intermediate in morphology between a coccus and a bacillus; a very short bacillus | - |
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| comeback | (noun) return by a celebrity to some previously successful activity | - |
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| (noun) a quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one) | Synonyms: counter, rejoinder, replication, retort, return, riposte |
| cornerback | (noun) a defensive football player stationed outside the linebackers | - |
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| corynebacterium | (noun) any species of the genus Corynebacterium | - |
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| crookback | (noun) a person whose back is hunched because of abnormal curvature of the upper spine | Synonyms: humpback, hunchback |
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| cutback | (noun) a reduction in quantity or rate | - |
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| cyanobacteria | (noun) predominantly photosynthetic prokaryotic organisms containing a blue pigment in addition to chlorophyll; occur singly or in colonies in diverse habitats; important as phytoplankton | Synonyms: blue-green algae |
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| debacle | (noun) a sound defeat | Synonyms: drubbing, slaughter, thrashing, trouncing, walloping, whipping |
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| (noun) a sudden and violent collapse | Synonyms: fiasco |
| (noun) flooding caused by a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river during the spring or summer | - |
| diamondback | (noun) large deadly rattlesnake with diamond-shaped markings | Synonyms: Crotalus adamanteus, diamondback rattlesnake |
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| dieback | (noun) a disease of plants characterized by the gradual dying of the young shoots starting at the tips and progressing to the larger branches | - |
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| drawback | (noun) the quality of being a hindrance | - |
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| enterobacteria | (noun) rod-shaped Gram-negative bacteria; most occur normally or pathogenically in intestines of humans and other animals | Synonyms: enteric bacteria, enterics, entric |
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| eubacteria | (noun) a large group of bacteria having rigid cell walls; motile types have flagella | Synonyms: eubacterium, true bacteria |
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| eubacterium | (noun) a large group of bacteria having rigid cell walls; motile types have flagella | Synonyms: eubacteria, true bacteria |
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| fallback | (noun) to break off a military action with an enemy | Synonyms: disengagement, pullout |
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| fatback | (noun) salt pork from the back of a hog carcass | - |
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| feedback | (noun) response to an inquiry or experiment | - |
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| (noun) the process in which part of the output of a system is returned to its input in order to regulate its further output | - |
| finback | (noun) large flat-headed whalebone whale having deep furrows along the throat; of Atlantic and Pacific | Synonyms: Balaenoptera physalus, common rorqual, fin whale, finback whale |
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| flashback | (noun) a transition (in literary or theatrical works or films) to an earlier event or scene that interrupts the normal chronological development of the story | - |
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| (noun) an unexpected but vivid recurrence of a past experience (especially a recurrence of the effects of an hallucinogenic drug taken much earlier) | - |
| fullback | (noun) (American football) the position of a back on a football team, generally larger in size than halfbacks | - |
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| (noun) (football) the running back who plays the fullback position on the offensive team | - |
| grayback | (noun) a dowitcher with a grey back | Synonyms: greyback, Limnodromus griseus |
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| (noun) a sandpiper that breeds in the Arctic and winters in the Southern Hemisphere | Synonyms: Calidris canutus, greyback, knot |
| greenback | (noun) a piece of paper money (especially one issued by a central bank) | Synonyms: bank bill, bank note, banker's bill, banknote, bill, Federal Reserve note, government note, note |
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| greyback | (noun) a dowitcher with a grey back | Synonyms: grayback, Limnodromus griseus |
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| (noun) a sandpiper that breeds in the Arctic and winters in the Southern Hemisphere | Synonyms: Calidris canutus, grayback, knot |
| (noun) `Johnny' was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; `greyback' derived from their grey Confederate uniforms | Synonyms: Johnny, Johnny Reb, Reb, Rebel |
| halfback | (noun) (American football) the position of a back on a football team, generally smaller in size than a fullback | - |
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| (noun) (football) the running back who plays the offensive halfback position | - |
| halobacter | (noun) halophiles in saline environments such as the Dead Sea or salt flats | Synonyms: halobacteria, halobacterium |
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| halobacteria | (noun) halophiles in saline environments such as the Dead Sea or salt flats | Synonyms: halobacter, halobacterium |
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| halobacterium | (noun) halophiles in saline environments such as the Dead Sea or salt flats | Synonyms: halobacter, halobacteria |
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| hardback | (noun) a book with cardboard or cloth or leather covers | Synonyms: hardcover |
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| hatchback | (noun) a sloping rear car door that is lifted to open | Synonyms: hatch, hatchback door, liftgate |
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| (noun) a car having a hatchback door | - |
| hibachi | (noun) a portable brazier that burns charcoal and has a grill for cooking | - |
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| hogback | (noun) a narrow ridge of hills | Synonyms: horseback |
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| horseback | (noun) the back of a horse | - |
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| (noun) a narrow ridge of hills | Synonyms: hogback |
| huckaback | (noun) toweling consisting of coarse absorbent cotton or linen fabric | Synonyms: huck |
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| humpback | (noun) large whalebone whale with long flippers noted for arching or humping its back as it dives | Synonyms: humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae |
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| (noun) a person whose back is hunched because of abnormal curvature of the upper spine | Synonyms: crookback, hunchback |
| (noun) an abnormal backward curve to the vertebral column | Synonyms: hunchback, kyphosis |
| hunchback | (noun) a person whose back is hunched because of abnormal curvature of the upper spine | Synonyms: crookback, humpback |
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| (noun) an abnormal backward curve to the vertebral column | Synonyms: humpback, kyphosis |
| kickback | (noun) a commercial bribe paid by a seller to a purchasing agent in order to induce the agent to enter into the transaction | - |
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| lactobacillus | (noun) a Gram-positive rod-shaped bacterium that produces lactic acid (especially in milk) | - |
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| leatherback | (noun) wide-ranging marine turtle with flexible leathery carapace; largest living turtle | Synonyms: Dermochelys coriacea, leatherback turtle, leathery turtle |
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| linebacker | (noun) (American football) the position of a defensive football player who plays close behind the line of scrimmage | Synonyms: line backer |
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| (noun) a defensive football player who takes a position close behind the linemen | Synonyms: line backer |
| lobsterback | (noun) British soldier; so-called because of his red coat (especially during the American Revolution) | Synonyms: redcoat |
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| mossback | (noun) an extremely old-fashioned conservative | - |
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| mycobacteria | (noun) rod-shaped bacteria some saprophytic or causing diseases | Synonyms: mycobacterium |
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| mycobacterium | (noun) rod-shaped bacteria some saprophytic or causing diseases | Synonyms: mycobacteria |
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| myxobacter | (noun) bacteria that form colonies in self-produced slime; inhabit moist soils or decaying plant matter or animal waste | Synonyms: gliding bacteria, myxobacteria, myxobacterium, slime bacteria |
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| myxobacteria | (noun) bacteria that form colonies in self-produced slime; inhabit moist soils or decaying plant matter or animal waste | Synonyms: gliding bacteria, myxobacter, myxobacterium, slime bacteria |
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| myxobacterium | (noun) bacteria that form colonies in self-produced slime; inhabit moist soils or decaying plant matter or animal waste | Synonyms: gliding bacteria, myxobacter, myxobacteria, slime bacteria |
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| nitrobacteria | (noun) soil bacteria that convert nitrites to nitrates | Synonyms: nitric bacteria |
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| nitrobacterium | (noun) any of the bacteria in the soil that take part in the nitrogen cycle; they oxidize ammonium compounds into nitrites or oxidize nitrites into nitrates | - |
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| nitrosobacteria | (noun) soil bacteria that oxidize ammonia to nitrites | Synonyms: nitrous bacteria |
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| outback | (noun) the bush country of the interior of Australia | - |
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| paperback | (noun) a book with paper covers | Synonyms: paper-back book, paperback book, soft-cover, soft-cover book, softback, softback book |
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| payback | (noun) the act of taking revenge (harming someone in retaliation for something harmful that they have done) especially in the next life | Synonyms: retribution, vengeance |
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| (noun) financial return or reward (especially returns equal to the initial investment) | - |
| piggyback | (noun) the act of carrying something piggyback | - |
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| playback | (noun) the act of reproducing recorded sound | - |
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| (noun) electronic equipment comprising the part of a tape recorder that reproduces the recorded material | - |
| prickleback | (noun) small elongate fishes of shallow northern seas; a long dorsal fin consists entirely of spines | - |
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| (noun) small (2-4 inches) pugnacious mostly scaleless spiny-backed fishes of northern fresh and littoral waters having elaborate courtship; subjects of much research | Synonyms: stickleback |
| pullback | (noun) (military) the act of pulling back (especially an orderly withdrawal of troops) | - |
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| (noun) a device (as a decorative loop of cord or fabric) for holding or drawing something back | Synonyms: tieback |
| quarterback | (noun) (American football) the position of the football player in the backfield who directs the offensive play of his team | Synonyms: field general, signal caller |
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| (noun) (football) the person who plays quarterback | Synonyms: field general, signal caller |
| razorback | (noun) a mongrel hog with a thin body and long legs and a ridged back; a wild or semi-wild descendant of improved breeds; found chiefly in the southeastern United States | Synonyms: razorback hog, razorbacked hog |
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| (noun) any of several baleen whales of the family Balaenopteridae having longitudinal grooves on the throat and a small pointed dorsal fin | Synonyms: rorqual |
| rollback | (noun) the act of forcing the enemy to withdraw | Synonyms: push back |
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| (noun) reducing prices back to some earlier level | - |
| saddleback | (noun) a double sloping roof with a ridge and gables at each end | Synonyms: gable roof, saddle roof, saddleback roof |
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| (noun) a pass or ridge that slopes gently between two peaks (is shaped like a saddle) | Synonyms: saddle |
| setback | (noun) an unfortunate happening that hinders or impedes; something that is thwarting or frustrating | Synonyms: black eye, blow, reversal, reverse |
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| silverback | (noun) an adult male gorilla with grey hairs across the back | - |
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| slingback | (noun) a shoe that has a strap that wraps around the heel | Synonyms: sling |
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| softback | (noun) a book with paper covers | Synonyms: paper-back book, paperback, paperback book, soft-cover, soft-cover book, softback book |
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| stickleback | (noun) small (2-4 inches) pugnacious mostly scaleless spiny-backed fishes of northern fresh and littoral waters having elaborate courtship; subjects of much research | Synonyms: prickleback |
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| streptobacillus | (noun) any of various rod-shaped Gram-negative bacteria | - |
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| tailback | (noun) (American football) the position of the offensive back on a football team who lines up farthest from the line of scrimmage | - |
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| (noun) (American football) the person who plays tailback | - |
| tambac | (noun) an alloy of copper and zinc (and sometimes arsenic) used to imitate gold in cheap jewelry and for gilding | Synonyms: tombac, tombak |
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| thiobacillus | (noun) small rod-shaped bacteria living in sewage or soil and oxidizing sulfur | - |
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| thiobacteria | (noun) any bacterium of the genus Thiobacillus | Synonyms: sulfur bacteria, sulphur bacteria |
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| throwback | (noun) a reappearance of an earlier characteristic | Synonyms: atavism, reversion |
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| (noun) an organism that has the characteristics of a more primitive type of that organism | Synonyms: atavist |
| tieback | (noun) a device (as a decorative loop of cord or fabric) for holding or drawing something back | Synonyms: pullback |
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| tobacco | (noun) leaves of the tobacco plant dried and prepared for smoking or ingestion | Synonyms: baccy |
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| (noun) aromatic annual or perennial herbs and shrubs | Synonyms: tobacco plant |
| tobacconist | (noun) a shop that sells pipes and pipe tobacco and cigars and cigarettes | Synonyms: tobacco shop, tobacconist shop |
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| (noun) a retail dealer in tobacco and tobacco-related articles | - |
| tombac | (noun) an alloy of copper and zinc (and sometimes arsenic) used to imitate gold in cheap jewelry and for gilding | Synonyms: tambac, tombak |
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| touchback | (noun) (American football) a play in which the opposing team has kicked the football into your end zone | - |
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| wetback | (noun) (ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of Mexican descent | Synonyms: greaser, taco |
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| wingback | (noun) (American football) the position of the offensive back who lines up behind or outside the end | - |
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| (noun) (football) the person who plays wingback | - |
| zwieback | (noun) slice of sweet raised bread baked again until it is brown and hard and crisp | Synonyms: Brussels biscuit, rusk, twice-baked bread |
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