16-letter words containing d, t, f
- federal register — a bulletin, published daily by the U.S. federal government, containing the schedule of hearings before Congressional and federal agency committees, together with orders, proclamations, etc., released by the executive branch of the government.
- federalist party — a political group that favored the adoption by the states of the Constitution.
- federated church — a church whose membership includes two or more congregations of different denominational affiliation.
- federation wheat — an early-maturing drought-resistant variety of wheat developed by William Farrar in 1902
- feedback control — (electronics) A control system which monitors its effect on the system it is controlling and modifies its output accordingly. For example, a thermostat has two inputs: the desired temperature and the current temperature (the latter is the feedback). The output of the thermostat changes so as to try to equalise the two inputs. Computer disk drives use feedback control to position the read/write heads accurately on a recording track. Complex systems such as the human body contain many feedback systems that interact with each other; the homeostasis mechanisms that control body temperature and acidity are good examples.
- feel constrained — If you feel constrained to do something, you feel that you must do it, even though you would prefer not to.
- feel the draught — to be short of money
- feel-good factor — When journalists refer to the feel-good factor, they mean that people are feeling hopeful and optimistic about the future.
- feira de santana — a city in BahÍa state, E Brazil.
- feline distemper — distemper1 (def 1c).
- feme-sole trader — a married woman who is entitled to carry on business on her own account and responsibility, independently of her husband.
- finance director — financial manager
- find favour with — to be approved of by someone
- finished product — the product that emerges at the end of a manufacturing process
- 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
- fishing industry — the industry of catching fish
- 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.
- flat-felled seam — a seam on the face of a garment, as on the outside of the legs of blue jeans, made by overlapping or interlocking one seam allowance with the other and top-stitching them together onto the garment with two parallel rows of stitches.
- flathead catfish — a yellow and brown catfish, Pylodictus olivaris, common in the central U.S., having a flattened head and a projecting lower jaw.
- flatheaded borer — the larva of a metallic wood-boring beetle, having an expanded and flattened anterior end.
- flight attendant — an airline employee who serves meals, attends to passengers' comfort, etc., during a flight.
- 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 the crowd — copy what others are doing
- food for thought — sth worth thinking about
- 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
- foot fault judge — on official on the baseline who is responsible for calling foot faults
- foot in the door — If you say that something helps someone to get their foot in the door or their toe in the door, you mean that it gives them an opportunity to start doing something new, usually in an area that is difficult to succeed in.
- footsteps editor — the technician who adds sound effects, such as doors closing, rain falling, etc, during the postproduction sound-dubbing process
- 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
- 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.
- forked lightning — Forked lightning is lightning that divides into two or more parts near the ground.
- forward contract — a contract to buy or sell an asset at a point in the future at a previously agreed price
- forward-thinking — planning or tending to plan for the future; forward-looking.
- forwarding agent — freight forwarder.
- foundation stone — any of the stones composing the foundation of a building.
- four-letter word — any of a number of short words, usually of four letters, considered offensive or vulgar because of their reference to excrement or sex.
- 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.
- fourth dimension — Physics, Mathematics. a dimension in addition to length, width, and depth, used so as to be able to employ geometrical language in discussing phenomena that depend on four variables: Time is considered a fourth dimension for locating points in space-time.
- francis townsend — Francis Everett, 1867–1960, U.S. physician and proposer of the Townsend plan.