16-letter words containing a, e, r, o, t, n
- extension ladder — a ladder that can be made longer by pulling out an extra section
- external auditor — sb brought in to check financial records
- external storage — storage, as on disk or tape, supplemental to and slower than main storage, not under the direct control of the CPU and generally contained outside it: Secondary storage for this system is contained on videodisk.
- extradimensional — (jargon, science fiction) Originating outside the known physical reality of the universe.
- extrinsic factor — vitamin B12
- face recognition — the ability of a computer to scan, store, and recognize human faces for use in identifying people
- father confessor — confessor (def 2).
- federation wheat — an early-maturing drought-resistant variety of wheat developed by William Farrar in 1902
- feedback control — (electronics) A control system which monitors its effect on the system it is controlling and modifies its output accordingly. For example, a thermostat has two inputs: the desired temperature and the current temperature (the latter is the feedback). The output of the thermostat changes so as to try to equalise the two inputs. Computer disk drives use feedback control to position the read/write heads accurately on a recording track. Complex systems such as the human body contain many feedback systems that interact with each other; the homeostasis mechanisms that control body temperature and acidity are good examples.
- feel constrained — If you feel constrained to do something, you feel that you must do it, even though you would prefer not to.
- feulgen reaction — a reaction in which an aldehyde combines with a modified Schiff's reagent to produce a purplish compound: used especially to test for the presence of DNA
- fifth-generation — denoting developments in computer design to produce machines with artificial intelligence
- finance director — financial manager
- fire regulations — rules intended to make sure that people and property stay safe in the event of a fire
- first generation — 1. (architecture) first generation computer. 2. (language) first generation language.
- first-generation — being the first generation of a family to be born in a particular country.
- fisherman's knot — a knot for joining two ropes of equal thickness consisting of an overhand knot or double overhand knot by each rope round the other, so that the two knots jam when pulled tight
- flabbergastation — (colloquial) Bewildered shock or surprise; the state or condition of being flabbergasted.
- flash eliminator — a device fitted to the muzzle of a firearm to reduce the flash made by the ignited propellant gases
- floridean starch — the storage polysaccharide of red algae.
- fluorescent lamp — a tubular electric discharge lamp in which light is produced by the fluorescence of phosphors coating the inside of the tube.
- food intolerance — an intolerance of a specific type of food, causing an adverse reaction
- for a/one minute — If you say that you do not believe for a minute or for one minute that something is true, you are emphasizing that you do not believe that it is true.
- for a/one moment — If you say that you do not believe for a moment or for one moment that something is true, you are emphasizing that you do not believe that it could possibly be true.
- for external use — If medicine is for external use, it is intended to be used only on the outside of your body, and not to be eaten or drunk.
- for the duration — If you say that something will happen for the duration, you mean that it will happen for as long as a particular situation continues.
- for the meantime — For the meantime means for a period of time from now until something else happens.
- forbid the banns — to raise an objection to a marriage announced in this way
- forced vibration — Forced vibration is a type of vibration in which a force is repeatedly applied to a mechanical system.
- fore and aft rig — a sail set in a line from one end the other of a vessel rather than in a square
- fore-and-aft rig — a rig in which the principal sails are fore-and-aft.
- foreign national — citizen of another country
- formation packer — A formation packer is a substance that is used as a seal between the casing and the borehole so that part of the hole can be tested.
- fort leavenworth — a military reservation and U.S. Army training center in E Kansas adjoining Leavenworth, one of the oldest (1827) military posts W of the Mississippi and site of federal penitentiary.
- fortin barometer — an adjustable cistern barometer, the most common of those employing mercury.
- forwarding agent — freight forwarder.
- fourth amendment — an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, prohibiting unlawful search and seizure of personal property.
- francis townsend — Francis Everett, 1867–1960, U.S. physician and proposer of the Townsend plan.
- fraternity house — a house occupied by a college or university fraternity.
- free association — the uncensored expression of the ideas, impressions, etc., passing through the mind of the analysand, a technique used to facilitate access to the unconscious.
- freeboard length — the length of a vessel, measured on the summer load line from the fore side of the stem to some part of the stern, usually the after side of the rudderpost.
- friction gearing — wheels or disks transmitting power by means of frictional contact.
- from one's heart — very sincerely or deeply
- front and center — If a topic or question is front and center, a lot of attention is being paid to it or a lot of people are talking about it.
- front-end loader — a loader having a shovel or bucket at the end of an articulated arm located at the front of the vehicle.
- frontier orbital — the highest-energy occupied orbital or lowest-energy unoccupied orbital in a molecule. Such orbitals have a large influence on chemical properties
- functional water — water containing additives that provide extra nutritional value
- funeral director — a person, usually a licensed embalmer, who supervises or conducts the preparation of the dead for burial and directs or arranges funerals.
- gamma correction — (hardware) Adjustments applied during the display of a digital representation of colour on a screen in order to compensate for the fact that the Cathode Ray Tubes used in computer monitors (and televisions) produce a light intensity which is not proportional to the input voltage. The light intensity is actually proportional to the input voltage raised to the inverse power of some constant, called gamma. Its value varies from one display to another, but is usually around 2.5. Because it is more intuitive for the colour components (red, green and blue) to be varied linearly in the computer, the actual voltages sent to the monitor by the display hardware must be adjusted in order to make the colour component intensity on the screen proportional to the value stored in the computer's display memory. This process is most easily achieved by a dedicated module in the display hardware which simply scales the outputs of the display memory before sending them to the digital-to-analogue converters. More expensive graphics cards and workstations (particularly those used for CAD applications) will have a gamma correction facility. In combination with the "white-point" gamma correction is used to achieve precise colour matching.
- gastro-resistant — A gastro-resistant tablet is designed to temporarily withstand attack by stomach acid.