17-letter words containing a, d, n, e
- extraordinary ray — the plane-polarized ray of light that does not obey the laws of refraction in a doubly refracting crystal
- facts and figures — details; precise information
- fade in (or out) — to appear or cause to appear (or disappear) gradually; make or become more (or less) distinct
- faint-heartedness — lack of courage
- fairness doctrine — a policy mandated by the Federal Communications Commission, requiring radio and television stations to grant equal time to a political candidate, group, etc., to present an opposing viewpoint to one already aired.
- falkland islander — a person from the Falkland Islands
- fall on deaf ears — the organ of hearing and equilibrium in vertebrates, in humans consisting of an external ear that gathers sound vibrations, a middle ear in which the vibrations resonate against the tympanic membrane, and a fluid-filled internal ear that maintains balance and that conducts the tympanic vibrations to the auditory nerve, which transmits them as impulses to the brain.
- fan-assisted oven — an electric oven in which a fan circulates the air and which uses both top and bottom heat
- fancy dress party — a party at which the guests wear fancy dress
- fear and loathing — (Hunter S. Thompson) A state inspired by the prospect of dealing with certain real-world systems and standards that are totally brain-damaged but ubiquitous - Intel 8086s, COBOL, EBCDIC, or any IBM machine except the Rios (also known as the RS/6000).
- feathered friends — Birds are sometimes referred to as our feathered friends.
- federal land bank — a U.S. federal bank for making long-term loans to farmers.
- feint-ruled paper — writing paper with light horizontal lines printed across at regular intervals
- fendalton tractor — a four-wheel drive recreational vehicle
- fifth commandment — “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee”: fifth of the Ten Commandments.
- financial adviser — A financial adviser is someone whose job it is to advise people about financial products and services.
- first commandment — “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”: first of the Ten Commandments.
- flagrante delicto — Law. in the very act of committing the offense.
- folie de grandeur — a delusion of grandeur; megalomania.
- for ever and ever — for eternity
- fore-and-aft sail — any of various sails, as jib-headed sails, gaff sails, lugsails, lateen sails, spritsails, staysails, and jibs, that do not set on yards and whose normal position, when not trimmed, is in a fore-and-aft direction amidships.
- forever and a day — without ever ending; eternally: to last forever.
- fort leonard wood — a military reservation and U.S. Army training center in SW Missouri, SW of Rolla.
- foucault pendulum — a pendulum that demonstrates the rotation of the earth by exhibiting an apparent change in its plane of oscillation.
- foundation course — A foundation course is a course that you do at some colleges and universities in order to prepare yourself for a longer or more advanced course.
- fractal dimension — (mathematics) A common type of fractal dimension is the Hausdorff-Besicovich Dimension, but there are several different ways of computing fractal dimension. Fractal dimension can be calculated by taking the limit of the quotient of the log change in object size and the log change in measurement scale, as the measurement scale approaches zero. The differences come in what is exactly meant by "object size" and what is meant by "measurement scale" and how to get an average number out of many different parts of a geometrical object. Fractal dimensions quantify the static *geometry* of an object. For example, consider a straight line. Now blow up the line by a factor of two. The line is now twice as long as before. Log 2 / Log 2 = 1, corresponding to dimension 1. Consider a square. Now blow up the square by a factor of two. The square is now 4 times as large as before (i.e. 4 original squares can be placed on the original square). Log 4 / log 2 = 2, corresponding to dimension 2 for the square. Consider a snowflake curve formed by repeatedly replacing ___ with _/\_, where each of the 4 new lines is 1/3 the length of the old line. Blowing up the snowflake curve by a factor of 3 results in a snowflake curve 4 times as large (one of the old snowflake curves can be placed on each of the 4 segments _/\_). Log 4 / log 3 = 1.261... Since the dimension 1.261 is larger than the dimension 1 of the lines making up the curve, the snowflake curve is a fractal. [sci.fractals FAQ].
- frames per second — (unit) (fps) The unit of measurement of the frame rate of a moving image.
- francis ferdinand — 1863–1914, archduke of Austria: heir apparent to the thrones of Austria and Hungary whose assassination precipitated the outbreak of World War I (nephew of Francis Joseph I).
- frankenstein food — any foodstuff that has been genetically modified
- freedmen's bureau — an agency of the War Department set up in 1865 to assist freed slaves in obtaining relief, land, jobs, fair treatment, and education.
- french somaliland — a former name of Djibouti (def 1).
- freund's adjuvant — a water-in-oil emulsion injected with immunogen (Freund's incomplete adjuvant) or with immunogen and killed mycobacteria (Freund's complete adjuvant) to enhance the immune response to the immunogen.
- front-end payment — a payment required or incurred in advance of a project in order to get it under way
- full load current — A full load current is the largest current that a motor or other device is designed to carry under particular conditions.
- further education — adult education.
- fuss and feathers — an excessively elaborate or pretentious display; ostentation.
- game as ned kelly — extremely brave; indomitable
- garden apartments — a complex of low apartment buildings surrounded by lawn or landscaped areas
- garden heliotrope — the common valerian, Valeriana officinalis, especially when cultivated as an ornamental.
- garden mignonette — a Mediterranean plant, Resida odorata, which has spikes of small greenish-white flowers with prominent anthers
- garden strawberry — a plant which has white flowers and red edible fruits and is spread by runners, Fragaria ananassa
- gaseous diffusion — the passage of gas through microporous barriers, a technique used for isotope separation, especially in the preparation of fuel for nuclear reactors.
- general admission — an admission charge for unreserved seats at a theatrical performance, sports event, etc.
- general discharge — a discharge from military service of a person who has served honorably but who has not met all the conditions of an honorable discharge.
- general knowledge — commonly known facts
- generalized other — an individual's internalized impression of societal norms and expectations.
- giovanni demedici — Catherine de', Catherine de Médicis.
- giscard d'estaing — Valéry [va-ley-ree] /va leɪˈri/ (Show IPA), born 1926, French political leader: president 1974–81.
- go down the drain — to withdraw or draw off (a liquid) gradually; remove slowly or by degrees, as by filtration: to drain oil from a crankcase.
- goldbeater's skin — the prepared outside membrane of the large intestine of the ox, used by goldbeaters to lay between the leaves of the metal while they beat it into gold leaf.