16-letter words containing f, e, r, i
- throat infection — an infection or inflammation of the throat or pharynx
- tierra del fuego — a group of islands at the S tip of South America, separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan: jointly owned by Argentina and Chile; boundary disputed. 27,476 sq. mi. (71,165 sq. km).
- to lift a finger — If you say that a person does not lift a finger or raise a finger to do something, especially to help someone, you are critical of them because they do nothing.
- to play for time — If you play for time, you try to make something happen more slowly, because you do not want it to happen or because you need time to think about what to do if it happens.
- tower of silence — a circular stone platform, typically 30 feet (9.1 meter) in height, on which the Parsees of India leave their dead to be devoured by vultures.
- training officer — a person whose job is to teach people the skills they need for a particular field or profession
- transfer molding — a method of molding thermosetting plastic in which the plastic enters a closed mold from an adjoining chamber in which it has been softened.
- transfer pricing — the setting of a price for the transfer of raw materials, components, products, or services between the trading units of a large organization
- transfer station — a place where residential garbage and commercial wastes are compressed, baled, and loaded on vehicles for moving to disposal sites, as for landfill.
- triacetate fiber — a textile fiber made of cellulose triacetate.
- tropic of cancer — Geography. either of two corresponding parallels of latitude on the terrestrial globe, one (tropic of Cancer) about 23½° N, and the other (tropic of Capricorn) about 23½° S of the equator, being the boundaries of the Torrid Zone. the tropics, the regions lying between and near these parallels of latitude; the Torrid Zone and neighboring regions.
- twin-lens reflex — See under reflex camera. Abbreviation: TLR.
- undifferentiable — capable of being differentiated.
- undifferentiated — to form or mark differently from other such things; distinguish.
- unenforceability — to put or keep in force; compel obedience to: to enforce a rule; Traffic laws will be strictly enforced.
- unfranked income — any income from an investment that does not qualify as franked investment income
- uniformed branch — the branch of a police force in which officers wear a uniform
- user-defined key — a key on the keyboard of a computer that can be used to carry out any of a limited number of predefined actions as selected by the user
- utility software — system software that manages and optimizes the performance of hardware
- velcro fastening — a fastening made of Velcro
- vertical farming — a proposed system of growing crops in urban areas using specially designed skyscrapers
- video-conference — A video-conference is a meeting that takes place using video conferencing.
- visiting fireman — an influential person accorded special treatment while visiting an organization, industry, city, etc.
- visual interface — (tool, text) (vi) /V-I/, /vi:/, *never* /siks/ A screen editor crufted together by Bill Joy for an early BSD release. vi became the de facto standard Unix editor and a nearly undisputed hacker favourite outside of MIT until the rise of Emacs after about 1984. It tends to frustrate new users no end, as it will neither take commands while expecting input text nor vice versa, and the default setup provides no indication of which mode the editor is in (one correspondent accordingly reports that he has often heard the editor's name pronounced /vi:l/). Nevertheless it is still widely used (about half the respondents in a 1991 Usenet poll preferred it), and even some Emacs fans resort to it as a mail editor and for small editing jobs (mainly because it starts up faster than the bulkier versions of Emacs). See holy wars.
- voice of america — the division of the United States Information Agency that broadcasts daily programs of news and entertainment throughout the world. Abbreviation: VOA, V.O.A.
- vulcanized fiber — a leatherlike substance made by compression of layers of paper or cloth that have been treated with acids or zinc chloride, used chiefly for electric insulation.
- war of secession — American Civil War.
- waterleaf family — the plant family Hydrophyllaceae, characterized by usually hairy herbaceous plants having lobed, divided, or compound leaves, five-parted blue or white flowers, and capsular fruit, and including baby-blue-eyes, phacelia, and waterleaf.
- welfare benefits — financial assistance; social security payment
- welfare services — services that provide help with people's living conditions and financial problems
- well-diversified — distinguished by various forms or by a variety of objects: diversified activity.
- west springfield — a city in SW Massachusetts, near Springfield.
- wide of the mark — If something such as a claim or estimate is wide of the mark, it is incorrect or inaccurate.
- winchester rifle — a type of magazine rifle, first made in about 1866.
- windsor, duke of — (since 1917) a member of the present British royal family. Compare Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (def 1).
- wire-transferred — to transmit (money or credit) by wire transfer.
- with a free hand — with generosity; lavishly
- world federalism — federalism on a worldwide level.
- world federalist — a promoter or supporter of world federalism.
- writ of election — a writ by an executive authority requiring the holding of an election, especially one issued by a governor to require a special election for filling a vacancy in the representation from a state.
- writ of subpoena — a legal document commanding the attendance in court, as a witness, of the person on whom it is served, under a penalty
- zone of interior — the part of a theater of war not included in the theater of operations.