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17-letter words containing a, i, s, l

  • financial futures — futures in a stock-exchange index, currency exchange rate, or interest rate enabling banks, building societies, brokers, and speculators to hedge their involvement in these markets
  • first call on sth — If you have first call on something, you will be asked before anyone else whether you want to buy or use it.
  • first normal form — database normalisation
  • first-aid classes — classes which teach people how to give immediate medical help in an emergency
  • flea in one's ear — a sharp rebuke
  • flickertail state — North Dakota (used as a nickname).
  • fluvioterrestrial — (of animals) able to live in rivers and on land
  • 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.
  • foreign relations — (used with a singular verb) the field of foreign affairs: an expert in foreign relations.
  • 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].
  • fraternal society — a club or other association, usually of men, having a limited membership and devoted to professional, religious, charitable, or social activities.
  • french somaliland — a former name of Djibouti (def 1).
  • frostbite sailing — the sport of sailing in temperate latitudes during the winter despite cold weather.
  • fulgencio batista — Fulgencio [fool-hen-syaw] /fulˈhɛn syɔ/ (Show IPA), (Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar) 1901–73, Cuban military leader: dictator of Cuba 1934–40; president 1940–44, 1952–59.
  • functional isomer — any of several structural isomers that have the same molecular formula but with the atoms connected in different ways and therefore falling into different functional groups.
  • galapagos islands — a group of 15 islands in the Pacific west of Ecuador, of which they form a province: discovered (1535) by the Spanish; main settlement on San Cristóbal. Pop: 18 640 (2001). Area: 7844 sq km (3028 sq miles)
  • garlic mayonnaise — mayonnaise flavoured with garlic
  • gause's principle — the principle that similar species cannot coexist for long in the same ecological niche
  • general admission — an admission charge for unreserved seats at a theatrical performance, sports event, etc.
  • general discharge — a discharge from military service of a person who has served honorably but who has not met all the conditions of an honorable discharge.
  • general insurance — insurance (such as house insurance and car insurance) that does not insure someone's life
  • general paralysis — a syphilitic brain disorder characterized by chronic inflammation and degeneration of cerebral tissue resulting in mental and physical deterioration.
  • general sarmiento — a city in E Argentina, a suburb of Buenos Aires.
  • general semantics — a philosophical approach to language, developed by Alfred Korzybski, exploring the relationship between the form of language and its use and attempting to improve the capacity to express ideas.
  • geological survey — U.S. Government. a division of the Department of the Interior, created in 1879, that studies the nation's water and mineral resources, makes topographic surveys, and classifies and leases public lands.
  • gestatorial chair — a ceremonial chair on which the pope is carried
  • glass box testing — white box testing
  • glastonbury chair — a folding chair having legs crossed front-to-back and having arms connected to the back and to the front seat rail.
  • glycosaminoglycan — any of a class of polysaccharides derived from hexosamine that form mucins when complexed with proteins: formerly called mucopolysaccharide.
  • glymphatic system — Anatomy. the system or process by which cerebrospinal fluid moves through channels formed by glia, cleansing the mammalian brain of harmful waste.
  • go like hot cakes — to be sold very quickly or in large quantities
  • goldbeater's skin — the prepared outside membrane of the large intestine of the ox, used by goldbeaters to lay between the leaves of the metal while they beat it into gold leaf.
  • great vowel shift — a series of changes in the quality of the long vowels between Middle and Modern English as a result of which all were raised, while the high vowels (ē) and (o̅o̅), already at the upper limit, underwent breaking to become the diphthongs (ī) and (ou).
  • haematocrystallin — Alternative form of hematocrystallin.
  • haitian solenodon — a rare shrewlike nocturnal mammal of the Caribbean, Solenodon paradoxus, having a long hairless tail and an elongated snout: family Solenodontidae, order Insectivora (insectivores)
  • 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.
  • hammer and sickle — the emblem of the Soviet Union, adopted in 1923 and consisting of an insignia of a hammer with its handle across the blade of a sickle and a star above.
  • harmonic analysis — the calculation of Fourier series and their generalization.
  • haroun-al-raschid — Harun al-Rashid.
  • have feelings for — to be emotionally or sexually attracted to
  • high-carbon steel — steel containing between 0.5 and 1.5 per cent carbon
  • hippocampal gyrus — a convolution on the inner surface of the temporal lobe of the cerebrum, bordering the hippocampus.
  • histamine blocker — any of various substances that act at a specific receptor site to block certain actions of histamine.
  • histopathological — the science dealing with the histological structure of abnormal or diseased tissue; pathological histology.
  • historical method — the process of establishing general facts and principles through attention to chronology and to the evolution or historical course of what is being studied.
  • historical school — a school of economists that arose in Germany in the 19th century in reaction to the principles of the classical economists, and that maintained that the factors making up an economy are variable and develop out of social institutions.
  • historiographical — the body of literature dealing with historical matters; histories collectively.
  • hit the headlines — be prominently featured in the news
  • hollandaise sauce — a sauce of egg yolks, butter, lemon juice, and seasonings.
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