17-letter words containing a, l, f, r, n
- language transfer — transfer (def 20).
- laplace transform — a map of a function, as a signal, defined especially for positive real values, as time greater than zero, into another domain where the function is represented as a sum of exponentials.
- last-in first-out — stack
- law of reflection — the principle that when a ray of light, radar pulse, or the like, is reflected from a smooth surface the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence, and the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
- law of refraction — the principle that for a ray, radar pulse, or the like, that is incident on the interface of two media, the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is equal to the ratio of the velocity of the ray in the first medium to the velocity in the second medium and the incident ray, refracted ray, and normal to the surface at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
- lie in wait (for) — to wait so as to catch after planning an ambush or trap (for)
- life and/or death — If you say that something is a matter of life and death, you are emphasizing that it is extremely important, often because someone may die or suffer great harm if people do not act immediately.
- lifelong learning — the provision or use of both formal and informal learning opportunities throughout people's lives in order to foster the continuous development and improvement of the knowledge and skills needed for employment and personal fulfilment
- line of scrimmage — an imaginary line parallel to the goal lines that passes from one sideline to the other through the point of the football closest to the goal line of each team.
- litigation friend — a person acting on behalf of an infant or other person under legal disability
- loose-leaf binder — a hard cover with metal rings inside which is used to hold loose pieces of paper
- low-hanging fruit — the fruit that grows low on a tree and is therefore easy to reach
- lyon king of arms — the chief herald of Scotland
- macfarlane burnet — Sir (Frank) Macfarlane [muh k-fahr-luh n] /məkˈfɑr lən/ (Show IPA), 1899–1985, Australian physician: Nobel Prize in Physiology 1960.
- manufacturability — The condition of being manufacturable.
- metallofullerenes — Plural form of metallofullerene.
- methyltransferase — any of a class of enzymes that catalyze the transfer of methyl groups from one molecule to another.
- minimal free form — the smallest unit of language that can make sense on its own
- monarch butterfly — a large, deep-orange butterfly, Danaus plexippus, having black and white markings, the larvae of which feed on the leaves of milkweed.
- natural frequency — the frequency at which a system vibrates when set in free vibration
- non-proliferation — Non-proliferation is the limiting of the production and spread of something such as nuclear or chemical weapons.
- noninertial frame — a frame of reference that moves with the object, so that the moving object appears to violate Newton's laws of motion since it accelerates despite having no horizontal forces on it.
- not lift a finger — any of the terminal members of the hand, especially one other than the thumb.
- not spare oneself — to exert oneself to the full
- nuclear-free zone — any area in which nuclear weapons, power plants, or materials are not allowed.
- off-year election — (in the US) an election held in a year when a presidential election does not take place
- old norman french — Norman French (sense 1)
- one-parent family — A one-parent family is a family that consists of one parent and his or her children living together.
- orange flower oil — neroli oil.
- out of all reason — unreasonable
- overreach oneself — to fail because of trying to do more than one can
- palette of narmer — a king of Egypt identified by modern scholars as the Menes of tradition and depicted as the unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt on an ancient slate tablet (Narmer Palette or Palette of Narmer) c3200 b.c. with relief carvings on both sides.
- phenylformic acid — benzoic acid.
- plains of abraham — a high plain adjoining the city of Quebec, Canada: battlefield where the English under Wolfe defeated the French under Montcalm in 1759.
- plug and feathers — an apparatus for splitting stone, consisting of two tapered bars (feathers) inserted into a hole drilled into the stone, between which a narrow wedge (plug) is hammered to spread them.
- polarizing filter — a camera lens filter used to control the plane of polarization of light entering the lens.
- portfolio manager — a person employed by others to make investments for them
- pre-qualification — a quality, accomplishment, etc., that fits a person for some function, office, or the like.
- preferential shop — a shop in which union members are preferred, usually by agreement of an employer with a union.
- prelingually deaf — deaf from birth or having acquired deafness before learning to speak
- professional army — an army of trained soldiers
- professional foul — In football, if a player commits a professional foul, they deliberately do something which is against the rules in order to prevent another player from scoring a goal.
- programming fluid — (jargon) (Or "wirewater") Coffee, unleaded coffee (decaffeinated), Cola, or any caffeinacious stimulant. Many hackers consider these essential for those all-night hacking runs.
- proportional font — a font type in which the width of letters and symbols varies depending on the letter or symbol
- rational function — a function that can be written as the quotient of two polynomials with integral coefficients.
- recursion formula — a formula for determining the next term of a sequence from one or more of the preceding terms.
- reduction formula — a formula, such as sin (90° ± A) = cos A, expressing the values of a trigonometric function of any angle greater than 90° in terms of a function of an acute angle
- reference library — A reference library is a library that contains books which you can look at in the library itself but which you cannot borrow.
- reflection nebula — a cloud of interstellar gas and dust that reflects the light of neighboring stars.
- republic of china — People's Republic of, a country in E Asia. 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). Capital: Beijing.