21-letter words containing f, a, i, r

forward compatibility — (jargon) The ability to accept input from later versions of itself. Forward compatibility is harder to achieve than backward compatibility, since, in the backward case, the input format is know whereas a forward compatible system needs to cope gracefully with unknown future features. An example of future compatibility is the stipulation that a web browser should ignore HTML tags it does not recognise. See also extensible.
fractional extraction — Fractional extraction is a process of extracting a liquid from a liquid, in which two solutes are separated, with one leaving in the extract and one in the raffinate.
fragmentation grenade — a grenade with a heavy metal casing that shatters, on exploding, into fragments that travel at high speed and with great force.
framing specification — A specification of the "protocol bits" that surround the "data bits" on a communications channel to allow the data to be "framed" into chunks, like start and stop bits in EIA-232. It allows a receiver to synchronize at points along the data stream.
franco-belgian system — French system.
frankfort on the main — a city in W central Germany, on the Main River.
fraudulent conversion — conversion committed with the intent to defraud
frederick william iii — 1770–1840, king of Prussia 1797–1840.
free alongside vessel — (of a shipment of goods) delivered to the dock without charge to the buyer, but excluding the cost of loading onto the vessel
free-floating anxiety — chronic anxiety occurring for no identifiable cause
french and indian war — the war in America in which France and its Indian allies opposed England 1754–60: ended by Treaty of Paris in 1763.
french fried potatoes — a more formal name for chips
friuli-venezia giulia — a region in NE Italy: formerly part of Venezia Giulia, most of which was ceded to Yugoslavia (now Croatia and Slovenia) in 1947. 2947 sq. mi. (7630 sq. km).
full faith and credit — the obligation under Article IV of the U.S. Constitution for each state to recognize the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.
fuming sulphuric acid — a mixture of pyrosulphuric acid, H2S2O7, and other condensed acids, made by dissolving sulphur trioxide in concentrated sulphuric acid
functional illiterate — a person with some basic education who still falls short of a minimum standard of literacy or whose reading and writing skills are inadequate to everyday needs.
functional imperative — a requirement for the survival of any social system, as communication, control of conflict, or socialization.
general of the armies — a special rank held by John J. Pershing, equivalent to general of the army.
glen of imaal terrier — a strongly-built medium-sized variety of terrier with a medium-length coat and short forelegs
go (in) to bat for sb — If you go to bat for someone or go in to bat for them, you give them your support.
grammatical inference — Deducing a grammar from given examples. Also known as "inductive inference" and recently as "computational learning".
ground-effect machine — ACV (def 2).
highest common factor — greatest common divisor. Abbreviation: H.C.F.
hildegard (of bingen) — Saint(1098-1179); Ger. nun, composer, & mystic: her day is Sept. 17
identification papers — documents that serve to establish someone's identity
identification parade — a group of persons including one suspected of having committed a crime assembled for the purpose of discovering whether a witness can identify the suspect
in (or out of) phase — in (or not in) a state of exactly parallel movements, oscillations, etc.; in (or not in) synchronization
in (or out of) place — in (or out of) the customary, proper, or assigned place
in a state of undress — If someone is in a state of undress, they do not have all their clothes on.
in favor/out of favor — If someone or something is in favor, people like or support them. If they are out of favor, people no longer like or support them.
in the first instance — You say in the first instance to mention something that is the first step in a series of actions.
infant mortality rate — number of babies dying
infant welfare clinic — a medical facility that specializes in the health and well-being of young babies
infectious ectromelia — ectromelia (def 2).
infertility treatment — treatment aimed at helping a couple conceive
infiltration capacity — the maximum rate at which a soil in a given condition will absorb water.
inflationary universe — a version of the big bang theory in which the universe underwent very rapid growth during the first fraction of a second before it settled down to its current rate of expansion.
information appliance — (hardware) (IA) A consumer device that performs only a few targeted tasks and is controlled by a simple touch-screen interface or push buttons on the device's enclosure.
information gathering — the process of collecting information about something
information retrieval — the systematic storage and recovery of data, as from a file, card catalog, or the memory bank of a computer. Abbreviation: IR.
information scientist — someone who works in information science
insurance certificate — a certificate that shows that a person or organization has insurance
interest-rate futures — financial futures based on projected movements of interest rates
isolation transformer — An isolation transformer is a transformer with physically separate primary and secondary windings, that prevent it from transferring unwanted noise from the input circuit to the output windings.
java native interface — (programming) (JNI) A native programming interface for Java that allows Java code running inside a Java Virtual Machine to interoperate with applications and libraries written in other programming languages such as C, C++ and assembly language.
korsakoff's psychosis — a mental illness involving severe confusion and inability to retain recent memories, usually caused by alcoholism
lady windermere's fan — a comedy (1892) by Oscar Wilde.
lafayette, marquis de — Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier [ma-ree zhaw-zef pawl eev rawk zheel-ber dy maw-tyey] /maˈri ʒɔˈzɛf pɔl iv rɔk ʒilˈbɛr dü mɔˈtyeɪ/ (Show IPA), Marquis de. Also, La Fayette. 1757–1834, French soldier, statesman, and liberal leader, who served in the American Revolutionary Army as aide-de-camp to General Washington, and took a leading part in the French revolutions of 1789 and 1830.
lafcadio's adventures — French Les Caves du Vatican. a novel (1914) by André Gide.
lateral magnification — the ratio of the height of the image to the height of the object in a lens or other optical system.

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