16-letter words containing a, u, s, o
- escutcheon plate — a plate or shield that surrounds a keyhole, door handle, light switch, etc, esp an ornamental one protecting a door or wall surface
- exclusion clause — (in a contract) something that serves to limit liabilities
- exemption clause — a clause in a contract that exempts one party from liability for something
- exhaust manifold — An exhaust manifold is a heat-resistant tube that connects an engine to an exhaust pipe.
- extemporaneously — In an extemporaneous manner; without prior preparation or planning.
- family of curves — a collection of curves whose equations differ only by values assigned a parameter or parameters.
- farmhouse cheese — cheese that is made by traditional methods, on or as if on a farm
- fashion business — the business dealing with style in clothes, cosmetics, behaviour, etc, esp the latest or most admired style
- fashion industry — the industry that deals with the world of fashion
- father-surrogate — a male who replaces an absent father and becomes an object of attachment.
- ferrous sulphate — an iron salt with a saline taste, usually obtained as greenish crystals of the heptahydrate, which are converted to the white monohydrate above 100°C: used in inks, tanning, water purification, and in the treatment of anaemia. Formula: FeSO4
- fire regulations — rules intended to make sure that people and property stay safe in the event of a fire
- fish or cut bait — any of various cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates, having gills, commonly fins, and typically an elongated body covered with scales.
- flashbulb memory — the clear recollections that a person may have of the circumstances associated with a dramatic event
- flight simulator — a device used in pilot and crew training that provides a cockpit environment and sensations of flight under actual conditions.
- fluorescent lamp — a tubular electric discharge lamp in which light is produced by the fluorescence of phosphors coating the inside of the tube.
- fluosilicic acid — an unstable acid, H 2 SiF 6 , known only in its colorless, poisonous, fuming aqueous solution or in the form of its salts: used chiefly as a wood preservative, a disinfectant, and as a hardening agent in the manufacture of ceramic ware, cement, and concrete.
- focused strategy — a business strategy in which an organization divests itself of all but its core activities, using the funds raised to enhance the distinctive abilities that give it an advantage over its rivals
- follicular phase — a stage of the menstrual cycle, from onset of menstruation to ovulation.
- for a good cause — If you say that something is for a good cause, you mean that it is worth doing or giving to because it will help other people, for example by raising money for charity.
- for external use — If medicine is for external use, it is intended to be used only on the outside of your body, and not to be eaten or drunk.
- for good measure — a unit or standard of measurement: weights and measures.
- forbush decrease — the sudden decrease in the intensity of cosmic rays after an increase in solar activity.
- fort sam houston — a military reservation and U.S. Army training center in San Antonio, Tex.
- foundation stone — any of the stones composing the foundation of a building.
- founders' shares — shares awarded to the founders of a company and often granting special privileges
- four-course meal — A four-course meal is a meal that consists of four parts served one after the other.
- four-dimensional — of a space having points, or a set having elements, which require four coordinates for their unique determination.
- four-masted brig — jackass bark (def 2).
- four-star petrol — petrol containing lead, formerly sold in the UK
- fourier analysis — the expression of any periodic function as a sum of sine and cosine functions, as in an electromagnetic wave function. Compare Fourier series.
- francis of paula — Saint, 1416–1507, Italian monk: founder of the order of Minims.
- frankfurt school — a school of thought, founded at the University of Frankfurt in 1923 by Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and others, derived from Marxist, Freudian, and Hegelian theory
- fraternity house — a house occupied by a college or university fraternity.
- fraunhofer lines — a set of dark lines appearing in the continuous emission spectrum of the sun. It is caused by the absorption of light of certain wavelengths coming from the hotter region of the sun by elements in the cooler outer atmosphere
- functional shift — a change in the grammatical function of a word, as in the use of the noun input as a verb or the noun fun as an adjective.
- garlic mushrooms — mushrooms, often pan-fried, cooked with garlic
- gas liquefaction — Gas liquefaction is the process of refrigerating a gas to a temperature that is below its critical temperature in order to form a liquid.
- general solution — a solution to a differential equation that contains arbitrary, unevaluated constants.
- globular cluster — a comparatively older, spherically symmetrical, compact group of up to a million old stars, held together by mutual gravitation, that are located in the galactic halo and move in giant and highly eccentric orbits around the galactic center.
- gold-of-pleasure — a yellow-flowered Eurasian plant, Camelina sativa, widespread as a weed, esp in flax fields, and formerly cultivated for its oil-rich seeds: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)
- golden handcuffs — payments deferred over a number of years that induce a person to stay with a particular company or in a particular job
- grand inquisitor — (often initial capital letters) the presiding officer of a court of inquisition.
- great soil group — according to a system of classification that originated in Russia, any of several broad groups of soils with common characteristics usually associated with particular climates and vegetation types.
- ground substance — Also called matrix. the homogeneous substance in which the fibers and cells of connective tissue are embedded.
- growth substance — any substance, produced naturally by a plant or manufactured commercially, that, in very low concentrations, affects plant growth; a plant hormone
- guaranteed stock — stock for which dividends are guaranteed by a company other than the one issuing the stock.
- gulf of honduras — an inlet of the Caribbean, on the coasts of Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize
- gulf of san blas — an inlet of the Caribbean on the N coast of Panama
- gun control laws — the laws that restrict the possession and use of guns