17-letter words containing a, c, f
- spaghettification — the theoretical stretching of an object as it encounters extreme differences in gravitational forces, especially those associated with a black hole.
- spatial frequency — the measure of fine detail in an optical image in terms of cycles per millimetre
- spoonbill catfish — flathead catfish.
- sports facilities — places and things for doing sports
- staff association — an association of employees that performs some of the functions of a trade union, such as representing its members in discussions with the management, and may also have other social and professional purposes
- standard function — a subprogram provided by a translator that carries out a task, for example the computation of a mathematical function, such as sine, square root, etc
- stare in the face — to gaze fixedly and intently, especially with the eyes wide open.
- stay of execution — If you are given a stay of execution, you are legally allowed to delay obeying an order of a court of law.
- stock certificate — a certificate evidencing ownership of one or more shares of stock in a corporation.
- suffice it to say — Suffice it to say or suffice to say is used at the beginning of a statement to indicate that what you are saying is obvious, or that you will only give a short explanation.
- sufficient reason — the principle that nothing happens by pure chance, but that an explanation must always be available
- supreme sacrifice — the sacrifice of one's own life: Many made the supreme sacrifice during the war.
- surface condenser — a device condensing steam or vapor by passing it over a cool surface.
- surface structure — a structural representation of the final syntactic form of a sentence, as it exists after the transformational component has modified a deep structure. Compare deep structure.
- surface treatment — A surface treatment is a process applied to the surface of a material to make it better in some way, for example by making it more resistant to corrosion or wear.
- sword of damocles — Damocles (def 2).
- take no notice of — pay no attention to, disregard
- take the place of — replace, be a substitute for
- teaching software — computer software for use in providing online education
- technical offence — an action which is prohibited by law, but for which no blame can be attached to the person who commits it
- the bag of tricks — every device; everything
- the carboniferous — the Carboniferous period or rock system
- the confederation — the original 13 states of the United States of America constituted under the Articles of Confederation and superseded by the more formal union established in 1789
- the factory floor — all the workers in a factory
- the facts of life — the details of sexual behaviour and reproduction, esp as told to children
- the final curtain — the closing of the curtain at the end of the action of a play
- the olympic flame — the flame that is symbolically lit at the site of the ancient Olympics in Olympia and transported by relay to the place where the Olympic Games are to be held. It is used to ignite a fire in a cauldron that will burn throughout the Games
- the rann of kutch — an extensive salt waste in W central India, and S Pakistan: consists of the Great Rann in the north and the Little Rann in the southeast; seasonal alternation between marsh and desert; some saltworks. In 1968 an international tribunal awarded about 10 per cent of the border area to Pakistan. Area: 23 000 sq km (9000 sq miles)
- the south pacific — the part of the Pacific Ocean to the south of the equator
- thiosulfuric acid — an acid, H 2 S 2 O 3 , that may be regarded as sulfuric acid with one oxygen atom replaced by sulfur.
- to show your face — If you show your face somewhere, you go there and see people, although you are not welcome, are rather unwilling to go, or have not been there for some time.
- traffic diversion — a special route arranged for traffic to follow when the normal route cannot be used
- traffic policeman — a policeman controlling traffic, esp while stationed at an intersection, or enforcing traffic regulations
- traffic violation — driving offence
- transfer function — The transfer function of a circuit is the ratio of the response to the input.
- transignification — (in the Eucharist) a change in the significance of the bread and wine to symbolize the body and blood of Christ.
- trapdoor function — a function defined from data by means of a mathematical procedure in such a way that it is easy to obtain the function when the data are known, but when the procedure and data are not known it becomes very difficult to determine the original data: used in cryptography, where the data are the characters of the plain text, or message, and the trapdoor function is the cryptogram.
- tyrant flycatcher — flycatcher (def 2).
- unclassified road — a road that has not been given a grade because it is of a basic standard
- uncomfortableness — causing discomfort or distress; painful; irritating.
- unconformity trap — An unconformity trap is a hydrocarbon trap where the closure is made by an unconformity (= a formation of rock layers which represents a gap in the geological record).
- unify corporation — (company) Developers of the Unify relational database. At one time, before Sybase, they were a competitor of Oracle, et al.
- unofficial strike — a strike that is not approved by the strikers' trade union
- walleye surfperch — a common black and silvery surfperch (Hyperprosopon argenteum) found off the coast of California
- wave-cut platform — a flat surface at the base of a cliff formed by erosion by waves
- welfare economics — a branch of economics concerned with improving human welfare and social conditions chiefly through the optimum distribution of wealth, the relief or reduction of unemployment, etc.
- willow flycatcher — a North American flycatcher, Empidonax alnorum, of alder thickets and other moist areas, that has greenish-brown upper parts and whitish underparts and is almost indistinguishable except by voice from E. traillii (willow flycatcher)
- wind chill factor — A wind chill factor is a measure of the cooling effect of the wind on the temperature of the air.
- wind-chill factor — the apparent temperature felt on the exposed human body owing to the combination of temperature and wind speed.
- with a difference — If you describe a job or holiday, for example, as a job with a difference or a holiday with a difference, you mean that the job or holiday is very interesting and unusual.