17-letter words containing d, u, f
- first-degree burn — a burned place or area: a burn where fire had ripped through the forest.
- fluid lubrication — lubrication in which bearing surfaces are separated by an oil film sustained by the motion of the parts
- folie de grandeur — a delusion of grandeur; megalomania.
- follow the hounds — to hunt a fox, etc. on horseback with hounds
- foot-pound-second — of or relating to the system of units in which the foot, pound, and second are the principal units of length, mass, and time. Abbreviation: fps, f.p.s.
- forward quotation — the price quoted on a forward delivery.
- foucault pendulum — a pendulum that demonstrates the rotation of the earth by exhibiting an apparent change in its plane of oscillation.
- foundation course — A foundation course is a course that you do at some colleges and universities in order to prepare yourself for a longer or more advanced course.
- four-eyed opossum — a small opossum, Metachirops (Philander) opossum, ranging from Mexico to Brazil, having a white spot above each eye.
- four-letter words — any of a number of short words, usually of four letters, considered offensive or vulgar because of their reference to excrement or sex.
- four-rowed barley — a class of barley having, in each spike, six rows of grain, with two pairs of rows overlapping.
- fourfold purchase — a tackle that is composed of a rope passed through two fourfold blocks in such a way as to provide mechanical power in the ratio of 1 to 5 or 1 to 4, depending on whether hauling is done on the running or the standing block and without considering friction. Compare tackle (def 2).
- freedmen's bureau — an agency of the War Department set up in 1865 to assist freed slaves in obtaining relief, land, jobs, fair treatment, and education.
- freund's adjuvant — a water-in-oil emulsion injected with immunogen (Freund's incomplete adjuvant) or with immunogen and killed mycobacteria (Freund's complete adjuvant) to enhance the immune response to the immunogen.
- full load current — A full load current is the largest current that a motor or other device is designed to carry under particular conditions.
- full-motion video — (video) (FMV) Any kind of video that is theoretically capable of changing the entire content on the screen fast enough that the transitions are not obvious to the human eye, i.e. about 24 times a second or more. In practise most video encoding relies on the fact that in most video there is relatively little change from one frame to the next. This allows for compression of the video data. The term is used, chiefly in computer games, in contrast to techniques such as the use of sprites that move against a more-or-less fixed background.
- further education — adult education.
- fuss and feathers — an excessively elaborate or pretentious display; ostentation.
- gaseous diffusion — the passage of gas through microporous barriers, a technique used for isotope separation, especially in the preparation of fuel for nuclear reactors.
- gulf war syndrome — a group of symptoms occurring in some Gulf War veterans, most commonly including headache and memory loss, muscle pain, skin disorders, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments, possibly caused by exposure to chemical weapons, vaccines, infectious diseases, or other factors.
- half-round chisel — a cold chisel with a semicircular cutting edge used for making narrow channels
- hillel foundation — a national organization, founded in 1924 by the B'nai B'rith, that institutes and administers programs designed to enrich the religious, cultural, and social life of Jewish college students.
- household effects — domestic belongings
- hydrofluoric acid — a colorless, fuming, corrosive liquid, HF, an aqueous solution of hydrogen fluoride, used chiefly for etching glass.
- hydrofluorocarbon — Any of a class of partly chlorinated and fluorinated hydrocarbons, used as an alternative to chlorofluorocarbons in foam production, refrigeration, and other processes.
- hydrogen fluoride — a colorless corrosive gas, HF, the anhydride of hydrofluoric acid, used chiefly as a catalyst and in the fluorination of hydrocarbons.
- identity function — identity (def 9d).
- if you don't mind — People use the expression if you don't mind when they are rejecting an offer or saying that they do not want to do something, especially when they are annoyed.
- in double figures — An amount or number that is in single figures is between zero and nine. An amount or number that is in double figures is between ten and ninety-nine. You can also say, for example, that an amount or number is in three figures when it is between one hundred and nine hundred and ninety-nine.
- indefinite number — a variable or unspecified number.
- induction furnace — a type of electric furnace used for melting a charge of scrap by the heat produced by its own electrical resistance.
- influence peddler — a person who arranges to obtain favors, as government contracts, from high officials on behalf of others for a fee.
- island of the sun — Sicily: the island where Helius kept his oxen.
- judgment of paris — the decision by Paris to award Aphrodite the golden apple of discord competed for by Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera.
- juvenile offender — a child or young person who has been found guilty of some offence, act of vandalism, or antisocial behaviour before a juvenile court
- lady of the house — the female head of a household (usually preceded by the).
- line of induction — (formerly) a line of force in a magnetic field.
- line of longitude — an imaginary line on a globe, map, etc, indicating longitude
- make the dust fly — earth or other matter in fine, dry particles.
- manufactured home — a prefabricated house, assembled in modular sections.
- mare fecunditatis — (Sea of Fertility) a dark plain in the fourth quadrant and extending into the first quadrant of the face of the moon: about 160,000 sq. mi. (415,000 sq. km).
- memoised function — memo function
- memoized function — memo function
- money-market fund — a mutual fund that invests in the money market.
- newfoundland time — a form of civil time observed on the island of Newfoundland, one and one-half hours later than Eastern time and a half hour later than Atlantic time.
- northern studfish — See under studfish.
- not the full quid — mentally subnormal
- noun pre-modifier — a noun that occurs before and modifies another noun, as toy in toy store or tour in tour group.
- odds-on favourite — a person, team, horse, etc that is regarded as the most likely to win a competition
- odour of sanctity — sanctimoniousness