20-letter words containing d, e, f, t, l
- information overload — an excess of incoming information, as might confront a pedestrian on a crowded city street, that forces one to be selective in the information received and retained.
- intestinal fortitude — courage; resoluteness; endurance; guts: to have intestinal fortitude.
- jerez de la frontera — a town in SW Spain: famous for the making of sherry. Pop: 191 002 (2003 est)
- justifiable homicide — murder committed under extenuating circumstances
- kill the fatted calf — the young of the domestic cow or other bovine animal.
- la canada-flintridge — a town in SW California.
- lafayette escadrille — a contingent of American aviators who in 1916 served as volunteers (Escadrille Américaine) in the French air force and in 1918 became the 103rd Pursuit Squadron of the U.S. Army.
- like a dose of salts — very quickly indeed
- liquidity preference — (in Keynesian economics) the degree of individual preference for cash over less liquid assets.
- make head or tail of — to attempt to understand (a problem, etc)
- margaret of scotland — Saint. 1045–93, queen consort of Malcolm III of Scotland. Her piety and benefactions to the church led to her canonization (1250). Feast days: June 10, Nov 16
- marquis de lafayette — Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier [ma-ree zhaw-zef pawl eev rawk zheel-ber dy maw-tyey] /maˈri ʒɔˈzɛf pɔl iv rɔk ʒilˈbɛr dü mɔˈtyeɪ/ (Show IPA), Marquis de. Also, La Fayette. 1757–1834, French soldier, statesman, and liberal leader, who served in the American Revolutionary Army as aide-de-camp to General Washington, and took a leading part in the French revolutions of 1789 and 1830.
- old man of the woods — an edible, mild-tasting mushroom, Strobilomyces floccopus, occurring in coniferous woodlands of eastern North America.
- order of the thistle — an ancient Scottish order of knighthood revived by James VII of Scotland in 1687. It consists of the sovereign, 16 knights brethren, and extra members created by statute. It is the equivalent of the Order of the Garter, and is usually conferred on Scots
- parallel of altitude — almucantar.
- parallel of latitude — parallel (def 9).
- partial differential — an expression obtained from a given function of several variables by taking the partial derivative with respect to one of the variables and multiplying by the increment in that variable.
- paternal grandfather — the father of someone's father
- period of revolution — a rather large interval of time that is meaningful in the life of a person, in history, etc., because of its particular characteristics: a period of illness; a period of great profitability for a company; a period of social unrest in Germany.
- pleased with oneself — If someone seems very satisfied with something they have done, you can say that they are pleased with themselves, especially if you think they are more satisfied than they should be.
- potential difference — voltage
- quantum field theory — any theory in which fields are treated by the methods of quantum mechanics; each field can then be regarded as consisting of particles of a particular kind, which may be created and annihilated.
- refuse disposal unit — a unit or part of a sink that disposes of waste food, etc, by grinding
- second law of motion — any of three laws of classical mechanics, either the law that a body remains at rest or in motion with a constant velocity unless an external force acts on the body (first law of motion) the law that the sum of the forces acting on a body is equal to the product of the mass of the body and the acceleration produced by the forces, with motion in the direction of the resultant of the forces (second law of motion) or the law that for every force acting on a body, the body exerts a force having equal magnitude and the opposite direction along the same line of action as the original force (third law of motion or law of action and reaction)
- see the light of day — come into being
- self-differentiating — to form or mark differently from other such things; distinguish.
- sodium fluoroacetate — a white, amorphous, water-soluble, poisonous powder, C 2 H 2 FO 2 Na, used as a rodenticide.
- sodium metabisulfite — Sodium metabisulfite is a crystalline compound used as an antioxidant.
- software methodology — (programming) The study of how to navigate through each phase of the software process model (determining data, control, or uses hierarchies, partitioning functions, and allocating requirements) and how to represent phase products (structure charts, stimulus-response threads, and state transition diagrams).
- split the difference — the state or relation of being different; dissimilarity: There is a great difference between the two.
- the luck of the draw — If you say that something is the luck of the draw, you mean that it is the result of chance and you cannot do anything about it.
- the-lady-of-the-lake — a narrative poem (1810) by Sir Walter Scott.
- thomas of erceldoune — Thomas of, Thomas of Erceldoune.
- to fall on deaf ears — If a request falls on deaf ears or if the person to whom the request is made turns a deaf ear to it, they take no notice of it.
- to flog a dead horse — If you say that someone is flogging a dead horse, you mean that they are trying to achieve something impossible.
- to land on your feet — If you say that someone always lands on their feet, you mean that they are always successful or lucky, although they do not seem to achieve this by their own efforts.
- twilight of the gods — Götterdämmerung.
- unified field theory — electroweak theory.
- vertical lift bridge — lift bridge.
- wardrobe malfunction — an embarrassing situation caused by the clothes a person is wearing
- white-flowered gourd — the hard-shelled fruit of any of various plants, especially those of Lagenaria siceraria (white-flowered gourd or bottle gourd) whose dried shell is used for bowls and other utensils, and Cucurbita pepo (yellow-flowered gourd) used ornamentally. Compare gourd family.
- white-fringed beetle — any of several weevils of the genus Graphognathus, native to South America and now of southeastern and mid-Atlantic U.S., whose larvae feed on roots and cause serious damage to a wide variety of plants.