15-letter words containing a, l, f, r, n
- nontransferable — Not transferable; not able to be transferred.
- nuclear fission — fission (def 2).
- oil of lavender — an essential oil distilled from lavender flowers, especially Lavandula angustifolia and L. stoechas, and used in perfumery.
- olfactory nerve — either one of the first pair of cranial nerves, consisting of sensory fibers that conduct to the brain the impulses from the mucous membranes of the nose.
- 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.
- perfluorocarbon — a fluorocarbon consisting only of fluorine and carbon atoms
- personal friend — a person who is a friend, rather than a colleague or acquaintance
- plain of sharon — a plain in W Israel, between the Mediterranean and the hills of Samaria, extending from Haifa to Tel Aviv
- 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.
- poultry farming — breeding and keeping fowl
- preferentialism — the economic system of preference, esp amongst British commonwealth countries
- preferentialist — someone who believes in preferentialism
- preprofessional — of or relating to the time preceding one's concentrated study or practice of a profession: preprofessional training.
- price inflation — inflation fuelled by rising prices
- prince of wales — Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall ("The Black Prince") 1330–76, English military leader (son of Edward III).
- principal focus — focal point (def 1).
- professionalism — professional character, spirit, or methods.
- professionalist — to give a professional character or status to; make into or establish as a profession.
- professionalize — to give a professional character or status to; make into or establish as a profession.
- profit and loss — the gain and loss arising from commercial or other transactions, applied especially to an account or statement of account in bookkeeping showing gains and losses in business.
- profoundly deaf — unable to hear any sound below 95 decibels in one's better ear
- purslane family — the plant family Portulacaceae, characterized by chiefly herbaceous plants having simple, often fleshy leaves, sometimes showy flowers, and capsular fruit, and including bitterroot, purslane, red maids, rose moss, and spring beauty.
- quarantine flag — a yellow flag, designating the letter Q in the International Code of Signals: flown by itself to signify that a ship has no disease on board and requests a pratique, or flown with another flag to signify that there is disease on board ship.
- quarterfinalist — a participant in a quarterfinal contest.
- ranfurly shield — (in New Zealand) the premier rugby trophy, competed for annually by provincial teams
- read oneself in — to assume possession of a benefice by publicly reading the Thirty-nine Articles
- reality fiction — a satirical parody of a reality TV show
- refamiliarizing — to make (onself or another) well-acquainted or conversant with something.
- reflexivization — to make (a verb or pronoun) reflexive.
- relapsing fever — one of a group of fevers characterized by relapses, occurring in many tropical countries, and caused by several species of spirochetes transmitted by several species of lice and ticks.
- requalification — a quality, accomplishment, etc., that fits a person for some function, office, or the like.
- reversing falls — a series of rapids in the Saint John River, New Brunswick, Canada, the flow of which regularly reverses itself owing to the force an incoming tide
- rheinland-pfalz — German name of Rhineland-Palatinate.
- saffian leather — leather made of sheepskin or goatskin tanned with sumac and usually dyed a bright color
- self-abhorrence — a feeling of extreme repugnance or aversion; utter loathing; abomination.
- self-absorption — preoccupation with oneself or one's own affairs.
- self-admiration — a feeling of wonder, pleasure, or approval.
- self-flattering — praise and exaggeration of one's own achievements coupled with a denial or glossing over of one's faults or failings; self-congratulation.
- self-generating — producing from within itself.
- self-generation — production or reproduction of something without the aid of an external agent; spontaneous generation.
- self-lacerating — to tear roughly; mangle: The barbed wire lacerated his hands.
- self-laceration — the result of lacerating; a rough, jagged tear.
- self-persuasion — the act of persuading or seeking to persuade.
- self-regulating — adjusting, ruling, or governing itself without outside interference; operating or functioning without externally imposed controls or regulations: a self-regulating economy; the self-regulating market.
- self-regulation — control by oneself or itself, as in an economy, business organization, etc., especially such control as exercised independently of governmental supervision, laws, or the like.
- self-revelation — disclosure of one's private feelings, thoughts, etc., especially when unintentional.
- simple fraction — a ratio of two integers.
- slumpflationary — of or relating to slumpflation
- snafu principle — /sna'foo prin'si-pl/ [WWII Army acronym for "Situation Normal: All Fucked Up"] "True communication is possible only between equals, because inferiors are more consistently rewarded for telling their superiors pleasant lies than for telling the truth." - a central tenet of Discordianism, often invoked by hackers to explain why authoritarian hierarchies screw up so reliably and systematically. The effect of the SNAFU principle is a progressive disconnection of decision-makers from reality. This lightly adapted version of a fable dating back to the early 1960s illustrates the phenomenon perfectly: In the beginning was the plan, and then the specification; And the plan was without form, and the specification was void. And darkness was on the faces of the implementors thereof; And they spake unto their leader, saying: "It is a crock of shit, and smells as of a sewer." And the leader took pity on them, and spoke to the project leader: "It is a crock of excrement, and none may abide the odor thereof." And the project leader spake unto his section head, saying: "It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong, such that none may abide it." The section head then hurried to his department manager, and informed him thus: "It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide its strength." The department manager carried these words to his general manager, and spoke unto him saying: "It containeth that which aideth the growth of plants, and it is very strong." And so it was that the general manager rejoiced and delivered the good news unto the Vice President. "It promoteth growth, and it is very powerful." The Vice President rushed to the President's side, and joyously exclaimed: "This powerful new software product will promote the growth of the company!" And the President looked upon the product, and saw that it was very good. After the subsequent disaster, the suits protect themselves by saying "I was misinformed!", and the implementors are demoted or fired.