12-letter words containing a, l, e, f
- effeminately — In an effeminate manner.
- eliza effect — (jargon) /e-li:'z* *-fekt'/ (From ELIZA) The tendency of humans to attach associations to terms from prior experience. For example, there is nothing magic about the symbol "+" that makes it well-suited to indicate addition; it's just that people associate it with addition. Using "+" or "plus" to mean addition in a computer language is taking advantage of the ELIZA effect. The ELIZA effect is a Good Thing when writing a programming language, but it can blind you to serious shortcomings when analysing an Artificial Intelligence system. Compare ad-hockery; see also AI-complete.
- emulsifiable — That can be emulsified, or applied in an emulsion.
- equifinality — The property of being equifinal.
- exfiltration — (military) The process of exiting an area (usually behind enemy lines or in enemy territory).
- exsufflation — (obsolete) A blast from beneath.
- exsufflicate — Empty, inflated, frivolous.
- fabulousness — almost impossible to believe; incredible.
- face flannel — washcloth
- facelessness — The state or condition of being faceless.
- facial angle — Craniometry. the angle formed by a line from nasion to prosthion at its intersection with the plane of the Frankfurt horizontal.
- facial index — Craniometry. the ratio of the breadth of a face to its height.
- facial nerve — either one of the seventh pair of cranial nerves composed of motor fibers that control muscles of the face except those used in chewing.
- facilitative — to make easier or less difficult; help forward (an action, a process, etc.): Careful planning facilitates any kind of work.
- fact of life — any aspect of human existence that must be acknowledged or regarded as unalterable: Old age is a fact of life.
- factionalize — (especially of a political party or other organized group) split or divide into factions.
- factorisable — Alternative spelling of factorizable.
- factorizable — (mathematics, of an integer or polynomial etc) Able to be factorized.
- factualities — of or relating to facts; concerning facts: factual accuracy.
- failed state — a nation in which the government has lost political authority and control and is unable to fulfill the basic responsibilities of a sovereign state.
- fairnitickle — a freckle resembling a fern seed
- faith healer — healing effected through prayer or religious faith; divine healing.
- faith-healer — healing effected through prayer or religious faith; divine healing.
- faithfullest — Superlative form of faithful.
- faithfulness — strict or thorough in the performance of duty: a faithful worker.
- fall in love — become infatuated
- fall webworm — the larva of any of several moths, as Hyphantria cunea (fall webworm) or Loxostege similalis (garden webworm) which spins a web over the foliage on which it feeds.
- false acacia — black locust.
- false aralia — any of several Polynesian shrubs or small trees belonging to the genus Dizygotheca, of the ginseng family, having palmately compound, mottled leaves and often grown as a houseplant.
- false arrest — arrest or detention of a person contrary to or unauthorized by law.
- false bottom — a horizontal partition above the actual bottom of a box, trunk, etc., especially one forming a secret compartment.
- false cirrus — a type of thick cirrus cloud spreading from the top of a cumulonimbus cloud
- false colour — colour used in a computer or photographic display to help in interpreting the image, as in the use of red to show high temperatures and blue to show low temperatures in an infrared image converter
- false friend — a word or expression in one language that, because it resembles one in another language, is often wrongly taken to have the same meaning, for example, the French agenda which means diary, not agenda
- false gavial — a SE Asian crocodile, Tomistoma schlegeli, similar to but smaller than the gavial
- false indigo — any of several North American shrubs belonging to the genus Amorpha, of the legume family, especially A. fruticosa, having compound leaves with pinnate leaflets and long, dense clusters of purplish flowers.
- false mildew — downy mildew (def 1).
- false-acacia — Also called false acacia, yellow locust. a North American tree, Robinia pseudoacacia, of the legume family, having pinnate leaves and clusters of fragrant white flowers.
- false-mildew — Also called false mildew. any fungus of the family Peronosporaceae, causing many plant diseases and producing a white, downy mass of conidiophores, usually on the under surface of the leaves of the host plant.
- falsehearted — Alternative spelling of false-hearted.
- familiarised — Simple past tense and past participle of familiarise.
- familiarized — to make (onself or another) well-acquainted or conversant with something.
- familiarizes — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of familiarize.
- familiarness — commonly or generally known or seen: a familiar sight.
- family bible — a large Bible usually having pages at the front for recording the marriages, births, and deaths in a family.
- family hotel — a hotel owned by a family in which family members work
- family leave — a leave of absence from work in order to have or take care of a baby or to care for an ailing family member.
- family style — a way of serving food, as in boardinghouses and some restaurants, in which the people at the table help themselves from large dishes passed around from hand to hand
- fancifulness — The quality of being fanciful.
- faneuil hall — a market house and public hall in Boston, Massachusetts, called “the Cradle of Liberty” because it was used as a meeting place by American patriots immediately before the Revolutionary War.