17-letter words containing a, f, e, r, d
- 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.
- 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.
- four-rowed barley — a class of barley having, in each spike, six rows of grain, with two pairs of rows overlapping.
- fourfold purchase — a tackle that is composed of a rope passed through two fourfold blocks in such a way as to provide mechanical power in the ratio of 1 to 5 or 1 to 4, depending on whether hauling is done on the running or the standing block and without considering friction. Compare tackle (def 2).
- 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
- frederick william — 1795–1861, king of Prussia 1840–61 (brother of William I of Prussia).
- free-body diagram — A free-body diagram is a diagram of a structure in which all supports are replaced by forces.
- 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.
- freight forwarder — a person or firm that arranges to pick up or deliver goods on instructions of a shipper or a consignee from or to a point by various necessary conveyances and common carriers.
- 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.
- from head to foot — all over one's body
- 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.
- grain of paradise — Usually, grains of paradise. one of the pungent, peppery seeds of an African plant, Aframomum melegueta, of the ginger family, used to strengthen cordials and in veterinary medicine.
- grandfather clock — a pendulum floor clock having a case as tall as or taller than a person; tall-case clock; long-case clock.
- great-grandfather — a grandfather of one's father or mother.
- greater forkbeard — a fish of the Phycidae family
- grey-faced petrel — a dark-coloured New Zealand petrel, Pterodroma macroptera gouldi
- grooved fricative — a fricative, as (s), in which air is channeled through a groove along the center of the tongue.
- gulf war syndrome — a group of symptoms occurring in some Gulf War veterans, most commonly including headache and memory loss, muscle pain, skin disorders, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments, possibly caused by exposure to chemical weapons, vaccines, infectious diseases, or other factors.
- half-breadth plan — a diagrammatic plan of one half of the hull of a vessel divided lengthwise amidships, showing water lines, stations, diagonals, and bow and buttock lines.
- half-round chisel — a cold chisel with a semicircular cutting edge used for making narrow channels
- hall of residence — Halls of residence are buildings with rooms or flats, usually built by universities or colleges, in which students live during the term.
- hardware platform — a group of compatible computers that can run the same software.
- have no words for — to be incapable of describing
- head of the river — any of various annual rowing regattas held on particular rivers
- heart of darkness — a short novel (1902) by Joseph Conrad.
- hybrid fiber coax — (networking) (HFC) A kind of physical connection used in networks for audio, video, and data. DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) is used in Europe and DOCSIS is used in N America.
- induction furnace — a type of electric furnace used for melting a charge of scrap by the heat produced by its own electrical resistance.
- interference drag — the drag on an aircraft caused by the interaction of two aerodynamic bodies.
- isherwood framing — a system for framing steel vessels in which light, closely spaced, longitudinal frames are connected by heavy, widely spaced transverse frames with deep webs.
- judgment of paris — the decision by Paris to award Aphrodite the golden apple of discord competed for by Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera.
- kolar gold fields — a city in S India, in SE Karnataka: a major gold-mining centre since 1881. Pop: 176 000 (2005 est)
- life and/or death — If you say that something is a matter of life and death, you are emphasizing that it is extremely important, often because someone may die or suffer great harm if people do not act immediately.
- litigation friend — a person acting on behalf of an infant or other person under legal disability
- loose-leaf binder — a hard cover with metal rings inside which is used to hold loose pieces of paper
- make a difference — have a significant impact
- man's best friend — a dog, especially as a pet.
- manufactured home — a prefabricated house, assembled in modular sections.
- mare fecunditatis — (Sea of Fertility) a dark plain in the fourth quadrant and extending into the first quadrant of the face of the moon: about 160,000 sq. mi. (415,000 sq. km).
- merchant of death — a company, nation, or person that sells military arms on the international market, usually to the highest bidder and without scruple or regard for political ramifications.
- microfiche reader — a machine that displays on a screen a magnified image of a microfiche