16-letter words containing a, l, f, r
- buttercup family — the plant family Ranunculaceae, typified by mostly herbaceous plants having usually alternate leaves, multistaminate flowers sometimes lacking petals but with colorful sepals, and including the anemone, buttercup, clematis, columbine, delphinium, and monkshood.
- butterfly ballot — a ballot paper in the form of two leaves extending from a central spine
- butterfly damper — a damper, as in a flue, that rotates about a central axis across its face.
- cabbage root fly — a dipterous fly, Erioischia brassicae, whose larvae feed on the roots and stems of cabbages and other brassicas: family Muscidae (houseflies, etc)
- calcium fluoride — a white, crystalline compound, CaF 2 , insoluble in water, occurring in nature as the mineral fluorite: used as a flux in metallurgy and as a decay preventive in dentifrices.
- california poppy — a papaveraceous plant, Eschscholtzia californica, of the Pacific coast of North America, having yellow or orange flowers and finely divided bluish-green leaves
- california quail — a quail, Callipepla californica, of the western coast of the U.S., having grayish-brown plumage with black, white, and chestnut markings.
- canada mayflower — a small wildflower (Maianthemum canadense) of the lily family, with white flowers and red, beadlike berries, found in the N U.S. and in Canada; bead-ruby
- carbon bisulfide — carbon disulfide
- carbon disulfide — a heavy, volatile, colorless liquid, CS2, highly flammable and poisonous, used as a solvent, insecticide, etc.
- cedar of lebanon — a cedar, Cedrus libani, of SW Asia with level spreading branches and fragrant wood
- centrifugal pump — a pump having a high-speed rotating impeller whose blades throw the water outwards
- chemical warfare — warfare in which chemicals other than explosives are used as weapons, esp warfare using asphyxiating or nerve gases, poisons, defoliants, etc
- chilean firebush — South American shrub with scarlet flowers
- cholera infantum — an often fatal form of gastroenteritis occurring in infants, not of the same cause as cholera but having somewhat similar characteristics.
- clarified butter — butter with the water and milk solids removed, used for cooking at high temperatures without burning
- clermont-ferrand — a city in S central France: capital of Puy-de-Dôme department; industrial centre. Pop: 140 957 (2011)
- colles' fracture — a fracture of the radius just above the wrist, with backward and outward displacement of the hand
- complex fraction — a fraction in which the numerator or denominator or both contain fractions
- conference table — a large table, often rectangular, around which a number of people may be seated, as when holding a conference
- control freakery — an obsessive need to be in control of what is happening
- coreferentiality — (of two words or phrases) having reference to the same person or thing.
- counterfactually — a conditional statement the first clause of which expresses something contrary to fact, as “If I had known.”.
- court of appeals — A Court of Appeals is a court which deals with appeals against legal judgments.
- criminal offence — an action which is punishable under the law
- cross of calvary — a Latin cross with a representation of steps beneath it.
- croydon facelift — the tightening effect on the skin of a woman's face caused by securing the hair at the back of the head in a tight ponytail
- decimal fraction — a fraction whose denominator is some power of 10, usually indicated by a dot (decimal point or point) written before the numerator: as 0.4 = 4/10; 0.126 = 126/1000.
- definite article — The word 'the' is sometimes called the definite article.
- deflationary gap — a situation in which total spending in an economy is insufficient to buy all the output that can be produced with full employment
- depart this life — to die
- dictionary flame — [Usenet] An attempt to sidetrack a debate away from issues by insisting on meanings for key terms that presuppose a desired conclusion or smuggle in an implicit premise. A common tactic of people who prefer argument over definitions to disputes about reality. Compare spelling flame.
- distrito federal — Federal District. Abbreviation: D.F.
- documentary film — factual, informative film
- dolce far niente — pleasing inactivity.
- dorothy canfield — Dorothy, Fisher, Dorothy Canfield.
- edsel ford range — a mountain range in Antarctica, E of the Ross Sea.
- electric furnace — any furnace in which the heat is provided by an electric current
- electrical fault — a fault caused by something electrical
- electronic flash — Photography
- erlenmeyer flask — conical container used in laboratory
- external affairs — (formerly) the Canadian federal Foreign Affairs department
- facial neuralgia — paroxysmal darting pain and muscular twitching in the face, evoked by rubbing certain points of the face.
- fahrenheit scale — Gabriel Daniel [German gah-bree-el dah-nee-el] /German ˈgɑ briˌɛl ˈdɑ niˌɛl/ (Show IPA), 1686–1736, German physicist: devised a temperature scale and introduced the use of mercury in thermometers.
- fair to middling — free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice: a fair decision; a fair judge.
- false beechdrops — either of two parasitic or saprophytic plants of the genus Monotropa, especially the tawny or reddish M. hypopithys (false beechdrops) of eastern North America.
- false dragonhead — a North American plant, Physostegia virginiana, of the mint family, having a spike of tubular, two-lipped, pink or white flowers.
- family of curves — a collection of curves whose equations differ only by values assigned a parameter or parameters.
- fancy dress ball — a ball at which the guests wear fancy dress
- farewell address — (initial capital letters) U.S. History. a statement that President George Washington published in a Philadelphia newspaper in 1796 to announce that he would not run for a third term and to give his views on foreign and domestic policy.