16-letter words containing f, a, b
- football special — a train service provided specially to transport football supporters to and from a match
- for all sb cares — You can use for all I care to emphasize that it does not matter at all to you what someone does.
- 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.
- forced vibration — Forced vibration is a type of vibration in which a force is repeatedly applied to a mechanical system.
- fortin barometer — an adjustable cistern barometer, the most common of those employing mercury.
- four-deal bridge — a version of bridge in which four hands only are played, the players then cutting for new partners
- four-masted brig — jackass bark (def 2).
- fraises des bois — wild strawberries
- 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.
- frontal lobotomy — Surgery. a psychosurgical procedure in which the frontal lobes are separated from the rest of the brain by cutting the connecting nerve fibers.
- frontier orbital — the highest-energy occupied orbital or lowest-energy unoccupied orbital in a molecule. Such orbitals have a large influence on chemical properties
- fundamental bass — a bass consisting of the roots of the chords employed.
- gas blowoff line — A gas blowoff line is a safety device to control sudden increases in pressure.
- grant of probate — a certificate stating that a will is valid
- gulf of martaban — an inlet of the Bay of Bengal in Myanmar
- gulf of san blas — an inlet of the Caribbean on the N coast of Panama
- half-blind joint — a corner dovetail joint visible on one face only.
- hold a brief for — to argue for; champion
- imperfectability — The quality of not being perfectable; of being forever imperfect.
- indefatigability — incapable of being tired out; not yielding to fatigue; untiring.
- insufferableness — The state of being insufferable.
- intake of breath — When someone takes an intake of breath, they breathe in quickly and noisily, usually because they are shocked at something.
- irrefragableness — The quality or degree of being irrefragable.
- job satisfaction — Job satisfaction is the pleasure that you get from doing your job.
- kingdom-of-nubia — a region in S Egypt and the Sudan, N of Khartoum, extending from the Nile to the Red Sea.
- knights of labor — a secret workingmen's organization formed in 1869 to defend the interests of labor.
- leaf-cutting bee — any of the bees of the family Megachilidae that cut circular pieces from leaves or flowers to line their nests.
- leave of absence — permission to be absent from duty, employment, service, etc.; leave.
- madame butterfly — an opera (1904) by Giacomo Puccini.
- make a break for — run towards
- make the best of — do what you can
- medal of bravery — a Canadian award for courage
- modacrylic fiber — any of various synthetic copolymer textile fibers, as Dynel, containing less than 85 percent but more than 35 percent of acrylonitrile.
- mossbauer effect — the phenomenon in which an atom in a crystal undergoes no recoil when emitting a gamma ray, giving all the emitted energy to the gamma ray, resulting in a sharply defined wavelength.
- non-quantifiable — to determine, indicate, or express the quantity of.
- non-transferable — to convey or remove from one place, person, etc., to another: He transferred the package from one hand to the other.
- north battleford — a city in W central Saskatchewan, in central Canada.
- of human bondage — a novel (1915) by W. Somerset Maugham.
- off off broadway — experimental or avant-garde drama produced in New York City, in small theaters, halls, churches, etc.
- off-off-broadway — experimental or avant-garde drama produced in New York City, in small theaters, halls, churches, etc.
- on the back foot — at a disadvantage; outmanoeuvred or outclassed by an opponent
- outboard profile — an exterior side elevation of a vessel, showing all deck structures, rigging, fittings, etc.
- pass-band filter — band-pass filter
- performance bond — contract bond.
- permafrost table — the variable surface constituting the upper limit of permafrost. Compare frostline (def 2).
- philip of swabia — 1180?–1208, king of Germany and uncrowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 1198–1208 (son of Frederick I).
- platform-balance — a scale with a platform for holding the items to be weighed.
- pribilof islands — a group of islands in the Bering Sea, off SW Alaska, belonging to the US: the breeding ground of the northern fur seal. Area: about 168 sq km (65 sq miles)
- ramen profitable — If a startup business is ramen profitable, it is barely profitable, just enough to allow the founder to live on the cheapest diet.