20-letter words containing f, e, m

pass the time of day — to exchange casual greetings (with an acquaintance)
patent foramen ovale — a congenital heart defect resulting from failure of the foramen ovale to close shortly after birth.
permonosulfuric acid — persulfuric acid (def 1).
piezomagnetic effect — the production of a magnetic field by applying a mechanical stress to certain crystals
portfolio employment — the practice of working for several employers simultaneously rather than working full-time for a single employer
power of appointment — the authority granted by a donor to a donee to select the person or persons who are to enjoy property rights or income upon the death of the donor or of the donee or after the termination of existing rights or interests.
pride of the morning — light mist or precipitation observed at sea in the morning and regarded as indicating a fine day.
prima facie evidence — evidence sufficient to establish a fact or to raise a presumption of fact unless rebutted.
prima-facie evidence — evidence that is sufficient to establish a fact or to raise a presumption of the truth of a fact unless controverted
quantum field theory — any theory in which fields are treated by the methods of quantum mechanics; each field can then be regarded as consisting of particles of a particular kind, which may be created and annihilated.
radio interferometer — any of several different types of instrumentation designed to observe interference patterns of electromagnetic radiation at radio wavelengths: used in the discovery and measurement of radio sources in the atmosphere.
red mercuric sulfide — a crystalline, water-insoluble, poisonous compound, HgS, occurring as a coarse, black powder (black mercuric sulfide) or as a fine, bright-scarlet powder (red mercuric sulfide) used chiefly as a pigment and as a source of the free metal.
republic of maldives — a republic occupying an archipelago of 1087 coral islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka: came under British protection in 1887; became independent in 1965 and a republic in 1968; member of the Commonwealth (1982–2016). The economy and infrastructure were severely damaged in the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004. Official language: Divehi. Official religion: (Sunni) Muslim. Currency: rufiyaa. Capital: Malé. Pop: 393 988 (2013 est). Area: 298 sq km (115 sq miles)
request for comments — (standard) (RFC) One of a series, begun in 1969, of numbered Internet informational documents and standards widely followed by commercial software and freeware in the Internet and Unix communities. Few RFCs are standards but all Internet standards are recorded in RFCs. Perhaps the single most influential RFC has been RFC 822, the Internet electronic mail format standard. The RFCs are unusual in that they are floated by technical experts acting on their own initiative and reviewed by the Internet at large, rather than formally promulgated through an institution such as ANSI. For this reason, they remain known as RFCs even once adopted as standards. The RFC tradition of pragmatic, experience-driven, after-the-fact standard writing done by individuals or small working groups has important advantages over the more formal, committee-driven process typical of ANSI or ISO. Emblematic of some of these advantages is the existence of a flourishing tradition of "joke" RFCs; usually at least one a year is published, usually on April 1st. Well-known joke RFCs have included 527 ("ARPAWOCKY", R. Merryman, UCSD; 22 June 1973), 748 ("Telnet Randomly-Lose Option", Mark R. Crispin; 1 April 1978), and 1149 ("A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers", D. Waitzman, BBN STC; 1 April 1990). The first was a Lewis Carroll pastiche; the second a parody of the TCP/IP documentation style, and the third a deadpan skewering of standards-document legalese, describing protocols for transmitting Internet data packets by carrier pigeon. The RFCs are most remarkable for how well they work - they manage to have neither the ambiguities that are usually rife in informal specifications, nor the committee-perpetrated misfeatures that often haunt formal standards, and they define a network that has grown to truly worldwide proportions. See also For Your Information, STD.
restriction fragment — a length of DNA cut from the strand by a restriction enzyme.
return from the dead — (jargon) To regain access to the net after a long absence. Compare person of no account.
run off at the mouth — Anatomy, Zoology. the opening through which an animal or human takes in food. the cavity containing the structures used in mastication. the structures enclosing or being within this cavity, considered as a whole.
scientific socialism — Marxist socialism
second law of motion — any of three laws of classical mechanics, either the law that a body remains at rest or in motion with a constant velocity unless an external force acts on the body (first law of motion) the law that the sum of the forces acting on a body is equal to the product of the mass of the body and the acceleration produced by the forces, with motion in the direction of the resultant of the forces (second law of motion) or the law that for every force acting on a body, the body exerts a force having equal magnitude and the opposite direction along the same line of action as the original force (third law of motion or law of action and reaction)
self-belaying system — (in climbing) equipment used to pay out rope as required and thus enable a climber to self-belay
senior aircraftwoman — a rank in the Royal Air Force comparable to that of a private in the army, though not the lowest rank in the Royal Air Force
shear transformation — a map of a coordinate space in which one coordinate is held fixed and the other coordinate or coordinates are shifted.
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.
software methodology — (programming) The study of how to navigate through each phase of the software process model (determining data, control, or uses hierarchies, partitioning functions, and allocating requirements) and how to represent phase products (structure charts, stimulus-response threads, and state transition diagrams).
solitary confinement — the confinement of a prisoner in a cell or other place in which he or she is completely isolated from others.
specific performance — (especially in the sale of land) literal compliance with one's contractual promises pursuant to a judicial mandate.
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.
staff sergeant major — a noncommissioned officer equivalent in rank to a command sergeant major but having no command responsibility.
stefan-boltzmann law — the law stating that the total energy radiated from a blackbody is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature.
symmetric difference — the union of the relative complements of two sets.
that makes two of us — the same applies to me
the day of judgement — a Christian term for the ending of the world
the eye of the storm — If you say that someone or something is at the eye of the storm, you mean they are the main subject of a public disagreement.
the gnomes of zurich — Swiss bankers and financiers
the grove of academe — the academic world
the name of the game — If you say that something is the name of the game, you mean that it is the most important aspect of a situation.
the price of someone — what someone deserves, esp a fitting punishment
the sum total of sth — all of something
the-comedy-of-errors — an early comedy (1594) by Shakespeare.
this time, for sure! — (exclamation) Ritual affirmation frequently uttered during protracted debugging sessions involving numerous small obstacles (e.g. attempts to bring up a UUCP connection). For the proper effect, this must be uttered in a fruity imitation of Bullwinkle J. Moose. Also heard: "Hey, Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" The canonical response is, of course, "But that trick *never* works!" See hacker humour.
thomas of erceldoune — Thomas of, Thomas of Erceldoune.
to burst into flames — If something bursts into flames or bursts into flame, it suddenly starts burning strongly.
to come to full term — to be carried or last until the ninth month of gestation or pregnancy
to flex your muscles — If a group, organization, or country flexes its muscles, it does something to impress or frighten people, in order to show them that it has power and is considering using it.
tomb of the unknowns — See under Unknown Soldier.
toxemia of pregnancy — an abnormal condition of pregnancy characterized by hypertension, fluid retention, edema, and the presence of protein in the urine.
transformation range — the temperature range within which austenite forms when a ferrous metal is heated, or within which it disappears when the metal is cooled.
trumpet call for sth — a signal for something
unemployment benefit — an allowance of money paid, usually weekly, to an unemployed worker by a state or federal agency or by the worker's labor union or former employer during all or part of the period of unemployment.

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