17-letter words containing a, n, f
- artificial person — a human being, whether an adult or child: The table seats four persons.
- asset-backed fund — a fund in which the money is invested in property, shares, etc, rather than being deposited with a bank or building society
- assistant referee — An assistant referee is the same as a linesman.
- association fiber — any of several nerve fibers connecting different areas of the cerebral cortex in the same hemisphere.
- at one fell swoop — to sweep through the air, as a bird or a bat, especially down upon prey.
- at someone's feet — as someone's disciple
- at the expense of — If you achieve something at the expense of someone, you do it in a way which might cause them some harm or disadvantage.
- attorneys-in-fact — a person authorized by power of attorney to act on the authorizer's behalf outside a court of law.
- axis of ordinates — y-axis (def 1).
- axis-of-ordinates — y-axis (def 1).
- babinski's reflex — a reflex extension of the great toe with flexion of the other toes, evoked by stroking the sole of the foot: normal in infants but otherwise denoting central nervous system damage.
- balance of nature — the stable state in which natural communities of animals and plants exist, maintained by adaptation, competition, and other interactions between members of the communit ies and their nonliving environment
- balance of terror — military deterrence based on the possession of weapons of mass destruction by opponents in a conflict
- bald-faced hornet — any large, stinging paper wasp of the family Vespidae, as Vespa crabro (giant hornet) introduced into the U.S. from Europe, or Vespula maculata (bald-faced hornet or white-faced hornet) of North America.
- barbed wire fence — a fence constructed from strong wire that has sharply pointed barbs at close intervals along its length
- barkhausen effect — the phenomenon of short, sudden changes in the magnetism of a ferromagnetic substance occurring when the intensity of the magnetizing field is continuously altered.
- barrow-in-furness — an industrial town in NW England, in S Cumbria. Pop: 47 194 (2001)
- bathroom fittings — plumbing fixtures or accessories suitable for use in a bathroom
- battle of britain — (in World War II) the series of aerial combats that took place between British and German aircraft during the autumn of 1940 and that included the severe bombardment of British cities.
- be off one's head — If you say that someone is off their head, you mean that they have taken so many drugs that they do not know what they are doing.
- bed and breakfast — Bed and breakfast is a system of accommodation in a hotel or guest house, in which you pay for a room for the night and for breakfast the following morning. The abbreviation B&B is also used.
- bed-and-breakfast — an accommodation offered by an inn, hotel, or especially a private home, consisting of a room for the night and breakfast the next morning for one inclusive price.
- beefsteak begonia — an ornamental plant, Begonia erythrophylla, having light-pink flowers and nearly round, thick, fleshy leaves that are red on the underside.
- benjamin franklin — Aretha [uh-ree-thuh] /əˈri θə/ (Show IPA), born 1942, U.S. singer.
- bent out of shape — very angry, upset, or agitated
- bill of adventure — a certificate made out by a merchant to show that goods handled by him and his agents are the property of another party at whose risk the dealing is done
- bill of attainder — (formerly) a legislative act finding a person guilty without trial of treason or felony and declaring him attainted
- biotransformation — the metabolizing of some substance, esp. a drug, in the body
- birth of a nation — an American film (1915), directed by D. W. Griffith.
- blood transfusion — A blood transfusion is a process in which blood is injected into the body of a person who is badly injured or ill.
- blue false indigo — a North American plant, Baptisia australis, of the legume family, having wedge-shaped leaflets and blue, clustered flowers.
- board of managers — a group of people responsible for managing an organization
- body modification — any method of permanently adorning the body, including tattooing and piercing
- bradford spinning — a wool-spinning method in which the fibers are oiled prior to combing and subsequently spun into worsted yarn.
- breathe life into — revive, rejuvenate
- butacaine sulfate — a colorless, crystalline substance, (C18H30N2O2)2·H2SO4, used as a local anesthetic, esp. on mucous membranes
- butterfly bandage — a butterfly-shaped strip of adhesive medical tape used, when stitches are not required, to keep a deep cut or incision tightly closed while it heals
- buyers' inflation — inflation in which rising demand results in a rise in prices.
- cafeteria benefit — a fringe benefit chosen by an employee from a range of benefits offered under a cafeteria plan.
- california condor — either of two large, New World vultures of the family Cathartidae, Gymnogyps californianus (California condor) or Vultur gryphus (Andean condor) the largest flying birds in the Western Hemisphere: the California condor is almost extinct; the Andean condor is greatly reduced in number and rare in many areas.
- california laurel — a Pacific coast shrub or tree (Umbellularia californica) of the laurel family, having aromatic evergreen leaves and hard wood; Oregon myrtle: a source of bay leaves
- california nutmeg — a tall, pungently aromatic California evergreen tree, Torreya californica, of the yew family, having a fissured, gray-brown bark and small, purple-streaked, green fruit.
- california privet — a privet, Ligustrum ovalifolium, of the olive family, native to Japan, having glossy, oval leaves and long clusters of white flowers, widely used for hedges in the U.S.
- call-by-reference — (programming) An argument passing convention where the address of an argument variable is passed to a function or procedure, as opposed to passing the value of the argument expression. Execution of the function or procedure may have side-effects on the actual argument as seen by the caller. The C language's "&" (address of) and "*" (dereference) operators allow the programmer to code explicit call-by-reference. Other languages provide special syntax to declare reference arguments (e.g. ALGOL 60). See also call-by-name, call-by-value, call-by-value-result.
- canadian fleabane — a plant, Conyza (or Erigeron) canadensis, with small white tubular flower heads
- canadian football — a game resembling American football, played on a grass pitch between two teams of 12 players
- canarybird flower — a nasturtium, Tropaeolum peregrinum, of Peru, having round, deeply lobed leaves and yellow flowers.
- capital formation — the net additions to a capital stock in an accounting period
- carbon offsetting — a program in which a company, country, etc., reduces or offsets its carbon emissions through the funding of activities and projects that improve the environment: Carbon offsetting does not always have a quantifiable impact on the planet.
- center of gravity — The center of gravity of an object is a point in it. If this point is above the base of the object, it stays stable, rather than falling over.