17-letter words containing f, a, r, s
- fuss and feathers — an excessively elaborate or pretentious display; ostentation.
- gamblers' fallacy — the fallacy that in a series of chance events the probability of one event occurring increases with the number of times another event has occurred in succession
- get a rise out of — to get up from a lying, sitting, or kneeling posture; assume an upright position: She rose and walked over to greet me. With great effort he rose to his knees.
- get off the grass — an exclamation of disbelief
- get to first base — Baseball. the first in counterclockwise order of the bases from home plate. the position of the player covering the area of the infield near first base.
- go-faster stripes — (jargon) chrome. Mainstream in some parts of UK.
- grain of paradise — Usually, grains of paradise. one of the pungent, peppery seeds of an African plant, Aframomum melegueta, of the ginger family, used to strengthen cordials and in veterinary medicine.
- grandstand finish — a close or exciting ending to a sports match or competition
- greaseproof paper — Greaseproof paper is a special kind of paper which does not allow fat or oil to pass through it. It is mainly used in cooking or to wrap food.
- great vowel shift — a series of changes in the quality of the long vowels between Middle and Modern English as a result of which all were raised, while the high vowels (ē) and (o̅o̅), already at the upper limit, underwent breaking to become the diphthongs (ī) and (ou).
- 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
- hall of residence — Halls of residence are buildings with rooms or flats, usually built by universities or colleges, in which students live during the term.
- have a short fuse — a tube, cord, or the like, filled or saturated with combustible matter, for igniting an explosive.
- have feelings for — to be emotionally or sexually attracted to
- have it in for sb — If someone has it in for you, they dislike you and try to cause problems for you.
- have no words for — to be incapable of describing
- have sth to offer — If you have something to offer, you have a quality or ability that makes you important, attractive, or useful.
- heart of darkness — a short novel (1902) by Joseph Conrad.
- how's-your-father — sexual intercourse
- hydrogasification — a high-temperature, high-pressure process for producing liquid or gaseous fuels from fine particles of coal and hydrogen gas
- image intensifier — any of various devices for amplifying the intensity of an optical image, sometimes used in conjunction with an image converter
- impersonification — (archaic) the act of impersonating; impersonation.
- in forma pauperis — as a poor person; i.e. without paying court costs
- infantry division — a military division composed of infantry
- infralapsarianism — the doctrine, held by Augustinians and by many Calvinists, that God planned the Creation, permitted the Fall, elected a chosen number, planned their redemption, and suffered the remainder to be eternally punished (opposed to supralapsarianism).
- intensive farming — battery rearing of animals
- interconfessional — common to or occurring between churches having different confessions.
- interfenestration — a space between two windows.
- interprofessional — following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain: a professional builder.
- intraspecifically — Between individuals of the same species.
- isherwood framing — a system for framing steel vessels in which light, closely spaced, longitudinal frames are connected by heavy, widely spaced transverse frames with deep webs.
- it's your funeral — If someone says to you 'It's your funeral', they think your decision or your actions will have bad consequences for you, but they are unwilling to interfere.
- john of lancaster — Duke of Bedford, 1389–1435, Bedford, John of Lancaster, Duke of.
- john of salisbury — c1115–80, English prelate and scholar.
- judgment of paris — the decision by Paris to award Aphrodite the golden apple of discord competed for by Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera.
- kolar gold fields — a city in S India, in SE Karnataka: a major gold-mining centre since 1881. Pop: 176 000 (2005 est)
- lance of courtesy — a lance having a blunt head to prevent serious injury by a jouster to an opponent.
- language transfer — transfer (def 20).
- laplace transform — a map of a function, as a signal, defined especially for positive real values, as time greater than zero, into another domain where the function is represented as a sum of exponentials.
- last-in first-out — stack
- letters of marque — a former government document authorizing an individual to make reprisals on the subjects of an enemy nation, specif. to arm a ship and capture enemy merchant ships and cargo
- line of scrimmage — an imaginary line parallel to the goal lines that passes from one sideline to the other through the point of the football closest to the goal line of each team.
- loose-leaf binder — a hard cover with metal rings inside which is used to hold loose pieces of paper
- lyon king of arms — the chief herald of Scotland
- make the worst of — to be pessimistic about
- man's best friend — a dog, especially as a pet.
- 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).
- mark of the beast — the mark put on the forehead of those who worship the beast, the symbol of opposition to God.
- master of science — a master's degree given usually in a specific branch of the natural sciences, mathematics, or technology.