12-letter words containing a, f
- aramid fiber — a fiber having resistance to high temperatures and great strength, formed from an aramid and used in materials for bulletproof vests and radial tires.
- arba kanfoth — a rectangular piece of cloth with fringes at the four corners and a hole in the center for the head, worn under the clothes by Orthodox Jewish males.
- archerfishes — Plural form of archerfish.
- archive file — a single computer file that contains one or more files that have been compressed
- arfvedsonite — a type of hornblende with the composition Na3(Fe,Mg)4FeSi8O22(OH)2
- armed forces — The armed forces or the armed services of a country are its military forces, usually the army, navy, marines, and air force.
- army officer — a person in the army who holds a position of authority, responsibility and duty, especially one who holds a commission
- arseniferous — Lb geology Containing or producing arsenic.
- artificially — made by human skill; produced by humans (opposed to natural): artificial flowers.
- artsy-fartsy — pretentiously artistic, sophisticated, etc.
- artzybasheff — Boris Mikhailovich [bawr-is mi-kahy-luh-vich,, bor-;; Russian buh-ryees myi-khahy-luh-vyich] /ˈbɔr ɪs mɪˈkaɪ lə vɪtʃ,, ˈbɒr-;; Russian bʌˈryis myɪˈxaɪ lə vyɪtʃ/ (Show IPA), 1899–1965, U.S. illustrator and writer, born in Russia.
- aschoff body — any of the spindleshaped nodules found in heart tissue and associated with the myocarditis of rheumatic fever.
- assay office — an organization that assays and monitors the purity of precious metals in a particular country
- assuefaction — the condition of being or becoming familiar with or used to something
- astroturfing — a PR tactic used in politics and advertising in which actors are paid to display overt and apparently spontaneous grassroots support for a particular product, policy, or event
- at half-mast — If a flag is flying at half-mast, it is flying from the middle of the pole, not the top, to show respect and sorrow for someone who has just died.
- auger effect — the spontaneous emission of an electron instead of a photon by an excited ion as a result of a vacancy being filled in an inner electron shell
- austin friar — one of the Hermits of St. Augustine.
- autofellatio — Oral stimulation of one's own penis.
- average life — the average time that an unstable particle or nucleus survives before it decays.
- axis of evil — North Korea, Iraq, and Iran when considered together as a perceived threat to world stability
- backflipping — the process of reversing one's position
- baffle board — a plate or mechanical device designed to restrain or regulate the flow of a fluid, the emission of light or sound, or the distribution of sound, esp in a loudspeaker or microphone
- baffle plate — a plate or mechanical device designed to restrain or regulate the flow of a fluid, the emission of light or sound, or the distribution of sound, esp in a loudspeaker or microphone
- baffle-plate — a plate used as a baffle.
- baha'í faith — a religious system founded in 1863 by Baha'ullah, based on Babism and emphasizing the value of all religions and the spiritual unity of all mankind
- bairnsfather — Bruce. 1888–1959, British cartoonist, born in India: best known for his cartoons of the war in the trenches during World War I
- balkan frame — an overhead frame, fastened to a bed, from which a splinted, fractured leg or arm is suspended and held in traction.
- ball of fire — a very lively person
- band of hope — a society promoting lifelong abstention from alcohol among young people: founded in Britain in 1847
- bard of avon — Shakespeare
- barking frog — a robber frog, Hylactophryne augusti, of Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico, having a call like a dog's bark.
- barley field — a piece of land cleared of trees and undergrowth, usually enclosed with a fence or hedge and used for growing barley
- barrack life — the experiences, activities, etc that are characteristic of a soldier's time spent dwelling in a barracks
- barrier reef — a long narrow coral reef near and lying parallel to the shore, separated from it by deep water
- bashkirtseff — Marie, original name Marya Konstantinovna Bashkirtseva. 1858–84, Russian painter and diarist who wrote in French, noted esp for her Journal (1887)
- basification — the process of making something alkaline
- bastard file — a file of the commercial grade of coarseness between coarse and second-cut.
- battery farm — a farm that uses batteries for raising poultry
- battery fire — the firing of a battery of weapons
- battlefields — Plural form of battlefield.
- battlefronts — Plural form of battlefront.
- bay of fundy — an inlet of the Atlantic in SE Canada, between S New Brunswick and W Nova Scotia: remarkable for its swift tides of up to 21 m (70 ft)
- be damned if — If someone says 'I'm damned if I'm going to do it' or 'I'll be damned if I'll do it', they are emphasizing that they do not intend to do something and think it is unreasonable for anyone to expect them to do it.
- beaconsfield — a town in SE England, in Buckinghamshire. Pop: 12 292 (2001)
- beatifically — bestowing bliss, blessings, happiness, or the like: beatific peace.
- beaufort sea — part of the Arctic Ocean off the N coast of North America
- beautifulest — (dated) Most beautiful; more beautiful than anyone or anything else.
- beautifuller — (obsolete) Comparative form of beautiful.
- beaver falls — a city in W Pennsylvania.