17-letter words containing f, a, t, m, o
- for the most part — a portion or division of a whole that is separate or distinct; piece, fragment, fraction, or section; constituent: the rear part of the house; to glue the two parts together.
- formative element — a morpheme that serves as an affix, not as a base, or root, in word formation.
- foucault pendulum — a pendulum that demonstrates the rotation of the earth by exhibiting an apparent change in its plane of oscillation.
- four-part harmony — harmony in which each chord has four tones, creating, in sum, four melodic lines.
- fourier transform — a mapping of a function, as a signal, that is defined in one domain, as space or time, into another domain, as wavelength or frequency, where the function is represented in terms of sines and cosines.
- fractal dimension — (mathematics) A common type of fractal dimension is the Hausdorff-Besicovich Dimension, but there are several different ways of computing fractal dimension. Fractal dimension can be calculated by taking the limit of the quotient of the log change in object size and the log change in measurement scale, as the measurement scale approaches zero. The differences come in what is exactly meant by "object size" and what is meant by "measurement scale" and how to get an average number out of many different parts of a geometrical object. Fractal dimensions quantify the static *geometry* of an object. For example, consider a straight line. Now blow up the line by a factor of two. The line is now twice as long as before. Log 2 / Log 2 = 1, corresponding to dimension 1. Consider a square. Now blow up the square by a factor of two. The square is now 4 times as large as before (i.e. 4 original squares can be placed on the original square). Log 4 / log 2 = 2, corresponding to dimension 2 for the square. Consider a snowflake curve formed by repeatedly replacing ___ with _/\_, where each of the 4 new lines is 1/3 the length of the old line. Blowing up the snowflake curve by a factor of 3 results in a snowflake curve 4 times as large (one of the old snowflake curves can be placed on each of the 4 segments _/\_). Log 4 / log 3 = 1.261... Since the dimension 1.261 is larger than the dimension 1 of the lines making up the curve, the snowflake curve is a fractal. [sci.fractals FAQ].
- from hand to hand — the terminal, prehensile part of the upper limb in humans and other primates, consisting of the wrist, metacarpal area, fingers, and thumb.
- from head to foot — all over one's body
- front-end payment — a payment required or incurred in advance of a project in order to get it under way
- functional isomer — any of several structural isomers that have the same molecular formula but with the atoms connected in different ways and therefore falling into different functional groups.
- hardware platform — a group of compatible computers that can run the same software.
- heat of formation — the heat evolved or absorbed when one mole of a compound is formed from its constituent atoms
- impersonification — (archaic) the act of impersonating; impersonation.
- improper fraction — a fraction having the numerator greater than the denominator.
- in the market for — an open place or a covered building where buyers and sellers convene for the sale of goods; a marketplace: a farmers' market.
- inertial platform — self-contained navigational devices used in inertial guidance, along with their mounting.
- isthmus of panama — an isthmus linking North and South America, between the Pacific and the Caribbean. Length: 676 km (420 miles). Width (at its narrowest point): 50 km (31 miles)
- judgment of paris — the decision by Paris to award Aphrodite the golden apple of discord competed for by Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera.
- 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.
- law of trichotomy — the property that for natural numbers a and b , either a is less than b , a equals b , or a is greater than b .
- 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
- magnetizing force — that part of the magnetic induction that is determined at any point in space by the current density and displacement current at that point independently of the magnetic or other physical properties of the surrounding medium. Symbol: H.
- make hay (out) of — to turn (something) to one's advantage
- make light of sth — If you make light of something, you treat it as though it is not serious or important, when in fact it is.
- make mincemeat of — a mixture composed of minced apples, suet, and sometimes meat, together with raisins, currants, candied citron, etc., for filling a pie.
- make reference to — mention, allude to
- make sense of sth — When you make sense of something, you succeed in understanding it.
- make something of — to find a use for
- make the worst of — to be pessimistic about
- man enough to/for — If you say that a man is man enough to do something, you mean that he has the necessary courage or ability to do it.
- manifest function — any function of an institution or other social phenomenon that is planned and intentional.
- manufactured home — a prefabricated house, assembled in modular sections.
- margaret of anjou — 1430–82, queen of Henry VI of England.
- 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.
- matter of opinion — a point open to question; a debatable statement
- mayflower compact — an agreement to establish a government, entered into by the Pilgrims in the cabin of the Mayflower on November 11, 1620.
- merchant of death — a company, nation, or person that sells military arms on the international market, usually to the highest bidder and without scruple or regard for political ramifications.
- metallofullerenes — Plural form of metallofullerene.
- method of payment — cash, credit card, cheque, etc.
- mexican stand-off — A Mexican stand-off is a situation in which neither of the people or groups in a conflict or dispute can win and neither wants to give in first.
- minion of the law — a policeman.
- minister of state — (in the British Parliament) a minister, usually below cabinet rank, appointed to assist a senior minister with heavy responsibilities
- misidentification — to identify incorrectly.
- mode of transport — means of travel
- moment of inertia — the sum of the products of the mass and the square of the perpendicular distance to the axis of rotation of each particle in a body rotating about an axis.
- monarch butterfly — a large, deep-orange butterfly, Danaus plexippus, having black and white markings, the larvae of which feed on the leaves of milkweed.
- money-market fund — a mutual fund that invests in the money market.
- month after month — every month
- mother of vinegar — mother2 .