15-letter words containing e, a, r, f, u
- puerperal fever — a systemic bacterial infection of the endometrium characterized by fever, rapid heartbeat, uterine tenderness, and malodorous discharge, chiefly occurring in women after childbirth, usually as the result of unsterile obstetric procedures.
- purslane family — the plant family Portulacaceae, characterized by chiefly herbaceous plants having simple, often fleshy leaves, sometimes showy flowers, and capsular fruit, and including bitterroot, purslane, red maids, rose moss, and spring beauty.
- quadric surface — a three-dimensional surface whose equation is a quadratic equation.
- quarantine flag — a yellow flag, designating the letter Q in the International Code of Signals: flown by itself to signify that a ship has no disease on board and requests a pratique, or flown with another flag to signify that there is disease on board ship.
- quarterfinalist — a participant in a quarterfinal contest.
- radio frequency — the frequency of the transmitting waves of a given radio message or broadcast.
- ranfurly shield — (in New Zealand) the premier rugby trophy, competed for annually by provincial teams
- rape of lucrece — a narrative poem (1594) by Shakespeare.
- ray of sunshine — beam of sunlight
- rayside-balfour — a town in S Ontario, in S Canada.
- ready-furnished — (of a room, house, office, etc) fitted with furniture before being rented or sold
- reconfiguration — to change the shape or formation of; remodel; restructure.
- refugee capital — money from abroad invested, esp for a short term, in the country offering the highest interest rate
- refuse disposal — the act of disposing of rubbish and waste
- requalification — a quality, accomplishment, etc., that fits a person for some function, office, or the like.
- rheumatic fever — a serious disease, associated with streptococcal infections, usually affecting children, characterized by fever, swelling and pain in the joints, sore throat, and cardiac involvement.
- riemann surface — a geometric representation of a function of a complex variable in which a multiple-valued function is depicted as a single-valued function on several planes, the planes being connected at some of the points at which the function takes on more than one value.
- rightabout-face — a turning directly about so as to face in the opposite direction
- rime suffisante — full rhyme.
- ruby grapefruit — a grapefruit with red flesh
- ruffle feathers — to cause upset or offence
- rutherford atom — the atom postulated as analogous to the solar system, with electrons revolving around a small, central, positive nucleus that constitutes practically the entire mass of the atom
- sale of produce — the selling of something that is produced, esp agricultural products
- samuel fb morse — Jedidiah [jed-i-dahy-uh] /ˌdʒɛd ɪˈdaɪ ə/ (Show IPA), 1761–1826, U.S. geographer and Congregational clergyman (father of Samuel F. B. Morse).
- self-authorized — given or endowed with authority: an authorized agent.
- self-caricature — a picture, description, etc., ludicrously exaggerating the peculiarities or defects of persons or things: His caricature of the mayor in this morning's paper is the best he's ever drawn.
- self-persuasion — the act of persuading or seeking to persuade.
- self-regulating — adjusting, ruling, or governing itself without outside interference; operating or functioning without externally imposed controls or regulations: a self-regulating economy; the self-regulating market.
- self-regulation — control by oneself or itself, as in an economy, business organization, etc., especially such control as exercised independently of governmental supervision, laws, or the like.
- self-regulative — used for or capable of controlling or adjusting oneself or itself: a self-regulative device.
- self-regulatory — Self-regulatory systems, organizations, or activities are controlled by the people involved in them, rather than by outside organizations or rules.
- semi-figurative — of the nature of or involving a figure of speech, especially a metaphor; metaphorical and not literal: The word “head” has several figurative senses, as in “She's the head of the company.”. Synonyms: metaphorical, not literal, symbolic.
- semimanufacture — a product which forms an intermediate stage in the manufacture of another, often more complex product
- simple fracture — a fracture in which the bone does not pierce the skin.
- snafu principle — /sna'foo prin'si-pl/ [WWII Army acronym for "Situation Normal: All Fucked Up"] "True communication is possible only between equals, because inferiors are more consistently rewarded for telling their superiors pleasant lies than for telling the truth." - a central tenet of Discordianism, often invoked by hackers to explain why authoritarian hierarchies screw up so reliably and systematically. The effect of the SNAFU principle is a progressive disconnection of decision-makers from reality. This lightly adapted version of a fable dating back to the early 1960s illustrates the phenomenon perfectly: In the beginning was the plan, and then the specification; And the plan was without form, and the specification was void. And darkness was on the faces of the implementors thereof; And they spake unto their leader, saying: "It is a crock of shit, and smells as of a sewer." And the leader took pity on them, and spoke to the project leader: "It is a crock of excrement, and none may abide the odor thereof." And the project leader spake unto his section head, saying: "It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong, such that none may abide it." The section head then hurried to his department manager, and informed him thus: "It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide its strength." The department manager carried these words to his general manager, and spoke unto him saying: "It containeth that which aideth the growth of plants, and it is very strong." And so it was that the general manager rejoiced and delivered the good news unto the Vice President. "It promoteth growth, and it is very powerful." The Vice President rushed to the President's side, and joyously exclaimed: "This powerful new software product will promote the growth of the company!" And the President looked upon the product, and saw that it was very good. After the subsequent disaster, the suits protect themselves by saying "I was misinformed!", and the implementors are demoted or fired.
- special feature — an article differing from the normal format and focusing on a particular topic
- star of courage — a Canadian award for bravery
- stress fracture — a hairline crack in a bone, especially of a foot or leg, caused by repeated or prolonged stress and often occurring in runners, dancers, and soldiers (march fracture)
- subprofessional — being below professional standards: subprofessional health care.
- summary offence — an offence that is triable in a magistrates' court
- sunflower state — Kansas (used as a nickname).
- superficialness — being at, on, or near the surface: a superficial wound.
- surface density — quantity, as of electric charge, per unit surface area.
- surface grammar — grammar understood at the level of normal communication, rather than at the underlying level of 'deep' semantic and syntactic analysis
- surface tension — the elasticlike force existing in the surface of a body, especially a liquid, tending to minimize the area of the surface, caused by asymmetries in the intermolecular forces between surface molecules.
- surface-ripened — (of cheese) ripened on the surface by molds or other microorganisms.
- sylvian fissure — lateral fissure.
- tentaculiferous — having tentacles
- tetrafunctional — pertaining to molecules or groups that can bond at four sites.
- tetrahydrofuran — a clear liquid, C 4 H 8 O, soluble in water and organic solvents, used as a solvent for resins, in polymerizations and as a chemical intermediate.