16-letter words containing d, r, a, f
- femme de chambre — a chambermaid
- ferdinand marcos — Ferdinand E(dralin) [ed-ruh-lin] /ˈɛd rə lɪn/ (Show IPA), 1917–1989, Philippine political leader: president 1965–86.
- ferricyanic acid — a brown, crystalline, unstable, water-soluble solid, H 3 Fe(CN) 6 , obtained by the interaction of a ferricyanide and an acid.
- ferrocyanic acid — a white, crystalline, unstable, water-soluble solid, H 4 Fe(CN) 6 , obtained by the interaction of a ferrocyanide and an acid.
- fielding average — a measure of the fielding ability of a player, obtained by dividing the number of put-outs and assists by the number of put-outs, assists, and errors and carrying out the result to three decimal places. A player with ten errors in 600 chances has a fielding average of .984.
- finance director — financial manager
- find favour with — to be approved of by someone
- firework display — a public event at which fireworks are set alight
- first derivative — the derivative of a function: Velocity is the first derivative of distance with respect to time.
- first-aid worker — someone who is trained to give immediate medical help in an emergency
- fisherman's bend — a knot made by taking a round turn on the object to which the rope is to be fastened, passing the end of the rope around the standing part and under the round turn, and securing the end.
- flamborough head — a chalk promontory in NE England, on the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire
- flat-bed plotter — a mechanized drafting device, usually computer driven, incorporating a moving pen whose horizontal and vertical range in two dimensions is limited only by the size of the bed of the device.
- flat-bed scanner — a type of optical scanner having a flat, stationary surface on which a page is scanned by a moving head.
- flatheaded borer — the larva of a metallic wood-boring beetle, having an expanded and flattened anterior end.
- flight indicator — artificial horizon (def 3).
- floridean starch — the storage polysaccharide of red algae.
- 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
- follow-my-leader — a game in which the players must repeat the actions of the leader
- food intolerance — an intolerance of a specific type of food, causing an adverse reaction
- food irradiation — the exposure of food to electromagnetic radiation to kill bacteria and retard deterioration
- fool around with — have casual sex
- 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 good measure — a unit or standard of measurement: weights and measures.
- for the duration — If you say that something will happen for the duration, you mean that it will happen for as long as a particular situation continues.
- forbid the banns — to raise an objection to a marriage announced in this way
- forbush decrease — the sudden decrease in the intensity of cosmic rays after an increase in solar activity.
- force one's hand — the terminal, prehensile part of the upper limb in humans and other primates, consisting of the wrist, metacarpal area, fingers, and thumb.
- forced vibration — Forced vibration is a type of vibration in which a force is repeatedly applied to a mechanical system.
- fore and aft rig — a sail set in a line from one end the other of a vessel rather than in a square
- fore-and-aft rig — a rig in which the principal sails are fore-and-aft.
- forefathers' day — the anniversary of the day (December 21, 1620, in Old Style December 11) on which the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Mass. Owing to an error in changing the date from the Old Style to the New, it is generally observed on December 22.
- forward analysis — An analysis which determines properties of the output of a program from properties of the inputs.
- forward chaining — A data-driven technique used in constructing goals or reaching inferences derived from a set of facts. Forward chaining is the basis of production systems. Oppose backward chaining.
- forward contract — a contract to buy or sell an asset at a point in the future at a previously agreed price
- forward delivery — delivery at a future date.
- forward exchange — a foreign bill purchased at a stipulated price and payable at a future date.
- forward planning — business: making future provisions
- forward-thinking — planning or tending to plan for the future; forward-looking.
- forwarding agent — freight forwarder.
- founders' shares — shares awarded to the founders of a company and often granting special privileges
- four-deal bridge — a version of bridge in which four hands only are played, the players then cutting for new partners
- 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).
- fourth amendment — an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, prohibiting unlawful search and seizure of personal property.
- fraises des bois — wild strawberries
- francis townsend — Francis Everett, 1867–1960, U.S. physician and proposer of the Townsend plan.
- franz josef land — an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, E of Spitzbergen and N of Novaya Zemlya: belongs to the Russian Federation.
- frederic mistral — Frédéric [frey-dey-reek] /freɪ deɪˈrik/ (Show IPA), 1830–1914, French Provençal poet: Nobel prize 1904.
- freeboard length — the length of a vessel, measured on the summer load line from the fore side of the stem to some part of the stern, usually the after side of the rudderpost.