20-letter words containing f, e, d, i
- sell a bill of goods — a quantity or consignment of salable items, as an order, shipment, etc.
- serious fraud office — a UK government office responsible for investigating and prosecuting serious fraud cases
- sodium fluoroacetate — a white, amorphous, water-soluble, poisonous powder, C 2 H 2 FO 2 Na, used as a rodenticide.
- sodium metabisulfite — Sodium metabisulfite is a crystalline compound used as an antioxidant.
- specific conductance — conductivity (def 2).
- specific-conductance — conductivity (def 2).
- spiral of archimedes — a curve that is the locus of a point that moves outward with uniform speed along a vector, beginning at the origin, while the vector rotates about the origin with uniform angular velocity. Equation (in polar coordinates): r = aθ.
- split the difference — the state or relation of being different; dissimilarity: There is a great difference between the two.
- spread like wildfire — If something, especially news or a rumour, spreads like wildfire, it spreads extremely quickly.
- sufficient condition — a statement whose truth is sufficient to guarantee the truth of a given statement
- symmetric difference — the union of the relative complements of two sets.
- tax-deferred annuity — an annuity that enables one to purchase an insurance product that will earn interest, with the tax obligation deferred until withdrawals begin, usually at retirement. Abbreviation: TDA.
- the founding fathers — any of the men who were members of the U.S. Constituional Convention of 1787
- third-party software — software created by programmers or publishers independent of the manufacturer of the hardware for which it is intended.
- twilight of the gods — Götterdämmerung.
- uncertificated share — a share of a mutual fund credited to the account of a shareholder without the physical issuance of a certificate evidencing ownership.
- unified field theory — electroweak theory.
- unified screw thread — a screw thread system introduced for defence equipment (1939–44), in which the thread form and pitch were a compromise between British Standard Whitworth and American Standard Sellers: adopted by the International Standards Organization
- university of durham — (body, education) A busy research and teaching community in the historic cathedral city of Durham, UK (population 61000). Its work covers key branches of science and technology and traditional areas of scholarship. Durham graduates are in great demand among employers and the University helps to attract investment into the region. It provides training, short courses, and expertise for industry. Through its cultural events, conferences, tourist business and as a major employer, the University contributes in a wide social and economic sense to the community. Founded in 1832, the University developed in Durham and Newcastle until 1963 when the independent University of Newcastle upon Tyne came into being. Durham is a collegiate body, with 14 Colleges or Societies which are a social and domestic focus for students. In 1992, the Universities of Durham and Teesside launched University College, Stockton-on-Tees, which has 190 students in the first year.
- uranium hexafluoride — a colorless, water-insoluble, crystalline, volatile solid, UF 6 , used in its gaseous state in separating uranium 235 from uranium.
- vertical lift bridge — lift bridge.
- wardrobe malfunction — an embarrassing situation caused by the clothes a person is wearing
- white-flowered gourd — the hard-shelled fruit of any of various plants, especially those of Lagenaria siceraria (white-flowered gourd or bottle gourd) whose dried shell is used for bowls and other utensils, and Cucurbita pepo (yellow-flowered gourd) used ornamentally. Compare gourd family.
- white-fringed beetle — any of several weevils of the genus Graphognathus, native to South America and now of southeastern and mid-Atlantic U.S., whose larvae feed on roots and cause serious damage to a wide variety of plants.
- winter of discontent — the winter of 1978–1979, during which numerous strikes, esp by local authority workers, took place against a background of a government pay freeze