15-letter words containing a, i, r, t, f
- margaritiferous — yielding or wearing pearls
- medal for merit — a medal awarded by the U.S. to a civilian for distinguished service to the country: discontinued after World War II.
- metainformation — metadata
- microfiltration — Filtration through a microporous membrane.
- microsoft basic — (language) (MS-BASIC) A dialect of BASIC from Microsoft, originally developed by Bill Gates in a garage back in the CP/M days. It was originally known as GWBasic, then QBASIC and finally MS-BASIC. When the MS-DOS operating system came out, it incorporated the GWBASIC.EXE or BASICA.EXE interpreters. GWBASIC ("Gee Whiz") incorporated graphics and a screen editor and was compatible with earlier BASICs. QBASIC was more sophisticated. Version 4.5 had a full screen editor, debugger and compiler. The compiler could also produce executable files but to run these a utility program (BRUN44.EXE) had to be present. Thus source code could be kept private. From DOS 5.0 or 6.0 onward, MS-BASIC was standard. Version 1.1 produced stand-alone executables and could display graphics.
- mis-informative — to give false or misleading information to.
- moreton bay fig — a large Australian fig tree, Ficus macrophylla, having glossy leaves and smooth bark
- mortgage relief — (formerly) a reduction of tax on income being used to pay off a mortgage
- multiflora rose — a climbing or trailing rose, Rosa multiflora, of Japan and Korea, having hooked prickles and fragrant, dense clusters of flowers.
- multiple factor — polygene.
- myofibroblastic — Relating to myofibroblasts.
- nanofabrication — the design and manufacture of products and structures, especially electronic devices, with dimensions measured in nanometers.
- narcotrafficker — One who traffics in illegal narcotics.
- national forest — forested land owned, maintained, and preserved by the U.S. government.
- negative profit — a financial loss
- non-informative — giving information; instructive: an informative book.
- non-rectifiable — able to be rectified.
- noncertificated — not possessing a certificate, not certified
- nonfermentative — tending to produce or undergo fermentation.
- noninflammatory — Not accompanied by or associated with inflammation.
- noninflationary — Not inflationary; not likely to cause economic inflation.
- official strike — a collective stoppage of work by part or all of the workforce of an organization with the approval of the trade union concerned. The stoppage may be accompanied by the payment of strike pay by the trade union concerned
- old father time — time personified
- on the trail of — If you are on the trail of a person or thing, you are trying hard to find them or find out about them.
- origination fee — a fee charged by a lender for evaluating and processing a loan application, usually a percentage of the face value of the loan.
- out of practice — If you are out of practice at doing something, you have not had much experience of it recently, although you used to do it a lot or be quite good at it.
- out of thin air — suddenly and unexpectedly
- out of training — become unfit
- outside forward — one of two attacking players who usually play on the far side of the field; wing.
- overdraft limit — a limit on the amount of money allowed to be withdrawn in excess of the credit balance of a bank or building society account
- overfamiliarity — The state of being overfamiliar.
- oyster toadfish — See under toadfish (def 1).
- paraffin heater — a heater which is fuelled by paraffin
- passport office — an office which issues passports
- patio furniture — furniture in an area adjoining a house, esp one that is paved and used for outdoor activities
- perforating gun — A perforating gun is a device used to make holes in oil and gas wells in preparation for production.
- performing arts — dance, drama, music
- personification — the attribution of human nature or character to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure.
- peter of amiens — c1050–1115, French monk: preacher of the first Crusade 1095–99.
- photorefractive — of or relating to a change in the index of refraction by spatial variations of the light intensity, as in a laser.
- picture-framing — the job of framing photos, paintings etc
- pied flycatcher — a small black and white migratory bird of Europe and western Asia, Ficedula hypoleuca
- pilgrim fathers — the Pilgrims (of Plymouth Colony)
- plant-hire firm — a company that hires out mobile mechanical equipment for construction, road-making, etc
- platform tennis — a variation of tennis played on a wooden platform enclosed with chicken wire in which the players hit a rubber ball with wooden paddles following the same basic rules as tennis except that only one serve is permitted and balls can be played off the back and side fences.
- platform ticket — a pass allowing a visitor to enter upon a railroad platform from which those not traveling are ordinarily excluded.
- play favourites — to display favouritism
- posttransfusion — occurring after or as a result of a transfusion
- poultry farming — breeding and keeping fowl
- pre-reformation — the act of reforming; state of being reformed.