18-letter words containing a, f, l, o
- self-instructional — pertaining to or constituting learning materials and conditions arranged so that students can proceed to learn on their own with little or no supervision.
- self-interrogation — the act of interrogating; questioning.
- self-justification — the act or fact of justifying oneself, especially of offering excessive reasons, explanations, excuses, etc., for an act, thought, or the like.
- self-manifestation — an act of manifesting.
- self-mortification — the inflicting of pain or privation on oneself: He was certain that self-mortification was the only road to salvation.
- self-preoccupation — the state of being preoccupied.
- self-raising flour — flour with baking powder
- self-recrimination — the act of recriminating, or countercharging: Hope gave way to recrimination with both sides claiming the moral high ground.
- shatterproof glass — glass designed to resist shattering
- significant symbol — a verbal or nonverbal gesture, as a word or smile, that has acquired a conventionalized meaning.
- soda-lime feldspar — plagioclase.
- sodium thiosulfate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, Na 2 S 2 O 3 ⋅5H 2 O, used as a bleach and in photography as a fixing agent.
- soft touch sealing — Soft touch sealing is a copolymer seal for a tank, with characteristics designed for softness, used instead of a metal seal to help avoid fire when sparks are generated.
- software backplane — (programming, tool) A CASE framework from Atherton.
- solid-fuel heating — heating that uses solid fuel, such as coal or coke
- speak for yourself — If you say 'Speak for yourself' when someone has said something, you mean that what they have said is only their opinion or applies only to them.
- spotted flycatcher — a European woodland songbird, Muscicapa striata, with a greyish-brown streaked plumage: family Muscicapidae (Old World flycatchers)
- standard of living — a grade or level of subsistence and comfort in everyday life enjoyed by a community, class, or individual: The well-educated generally have a high standard of living.
- standoff insulator — a type of insulator that supports an electrical conductor at a distance from other elements or surfaces.
- statement of claim — law: first pleading
- stepping-off place — jumping-off place (def 2).
- stirling's formula — a relation that approximates the value of n factorial (n!), expressed as .
- strait of magellan — a strait between the mainland of S South America and Tierra del Fuego, linking the S Pacific with the S Atlantic. Length: 600 km (370 miles). Width: up to 32 km (20 miles)
- straits of florida — a sea passage between the Florida Keys and Cuba, linking the Atlantic with the Gulf of Mexico
- structural formula — a chemical formula showing the linkage of the atoms in a molecule diagrammatically, as H–O–H.
- sub-classification — to arrange in subclasses.
- sugarloaf mountain — a mountain in SE Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, at the entrance to Guanabara Bay. 1280 feet (390 meters).
- sutton-in-ashfield — a market town in N central England, in W Nottinghamshire. Pop: 41 951 (2001)
- tale of two cities — a historical novel (1859) by Dickens.
- talk of the devil! — used when an absent person who has been the subject of conversation appears
- telford and wrekin — a unitary authority in W Central England, in Shropshire. Pop: 160 300 (2003 est). Area: 289 sq km (112 sq miles)
- the bird has flown — the person in question has fled or escaped
- the family compact — the ruling oligarchy in Upper Canada in the early 19th century
- the final solution — the code name used by the Nazis to refer to the plan of mass murder of the Jews
- the first sea lord — the senior of the two serving naval officers who sits on the admiralty board of the Ministry of Defence
- theater of cruelty — a form of surrealist theater originated by Antonin Artaud and emphasizing the cruelty of human existence by portraying sadistic acts and intense suffering.
- theatre of cruelty — a type of theatre advocated by Antonin Artaud in Le Théâtre et son double that seeks to communicate to its audience a sense of pain, suffering, and evil, using gesture, movement, sound, and symbolism rather than language
- thorfinn karlsefni — 980–after 1007, Icelandic navigator, explorer, and leader of early colonizing expedition to Vinland, in North America.
- to fall from grace — If someone falls from grace, they suddenly stop being successful or popular.
- to fall into place — If things fall into place, events happen naturally to produce a situation you want.
- to find fault with — If you find fault with something or someone, you look for mistakes and complain about them.
- to play favourites — to display favouritism
- to plough a furrow — If you say that someone ploughs a particular furrow or ploughs their own furrow, you mean that their activities or interests are different or isolated from those of other people.
- to pull a fast one — If you say that someone has pulled a fast one on you, you mean that they have cheated or tricked you.
- to save one's life — If you say that someone cannot do something to save their life, you are emphasizing that they do it very badly.
- too clever by half — If someone is too clever by half, they are very clever and they show their cleverness in a way that annoys other people.
- traffic controller — a person whose job is to control the flow of air traffic
- triangle of forces — a triangle whose sides represent the magnitudes and directions of three forces whose resultant is zero and which are therefore in equilibrium
- ultralow frequency — an electromagnetic wave with a frequency between 300 and 3000 hertz. Abbreviation: ULF, ulf.
- ultraviolet filter — a filter used on a lens to absorb ultraviolet radiation that may impart an undesirable blue cast to a photograph.