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13-letter words containing f, e, r, l, s

  • focal seizure — an epileptic manifestation arising from a localized anomaly in the brain, as a small tumor or scar, and usually involving a single motor or sensory mechanism but occasionally spreading to other areas and causing convulsions and loss of consciousness.
  • folding press — a fall in wrestling won by folding one's opponent's legs up to his head and pressing his shoulders to the floor
  • foldoc source — The source text of FOLDOC is a single plain text file. FOLDOC is also available on paper from your local printer but, at 700,000+ words, that would be about 2000 pages.
  • fool's errand — a completely absurd, pointless, or useless errand.
  • foolhardiness — recklessly or thoughtlessly bold; foolishly rash or venturesome.
  • for values of — (jargon)   A common rhetorical maneuver at MIT is to use any of the canonical random numbers as placeholders for variables. "The max function takes 42 arguments, for arbitrary values of 42". "There are 69 ways to leave your lover, for 69 = 50". This is especially likely when the speaker has uttered a random number and realises that it was not recognised as such, but even "non-random" numbers are occasionally used in this fashion. A related joke is that pi equals 3 - for small values of pi and large values of 3. This usage probably derives from the programming language MAD (Michigan Algorithm Decoder), an ALGOL-like language that was the most common choice among mainstream (non-hacker) users at MIT in the mid-1960s. It had a control structure FOR VALUES OF X = 3, 7, 99 DO ... that would repeat the indicated instructions for each value in the list (unlike the usual FOR that generates an arithmetic sequence of values). MAD is long extinct, but similar for-constructs still flourish (e.g. in Unix's shell languages).
  • force a smile — to make oneself smile
  • foresightedly — In a foresighted manner.
  • foresightless — lacking foresight
  • forgetfulness — apt to forget; that forgets: a forgetful person.
  • formal system — an uninterpreted symbolic system whose syntax is precisely defined, and on which a relation of deducibility is defined in purely syntactic terms; a logistic system
  • fort donelson — Fort Donelson.
  • fortnightlies — Plural form of fortnightly.
  • fossil energy — heat energy released by burning fossil fuel
  • fossiliferous — bearing or containing fossils, as rocks or strata.
  • foursome reel — a lively Scottish dance for two couples who combine in square and circular formations
  • fowler's toad — an eastern U.S. toad, Bufo woodhousii fowleri, having an almost patternless white belly.
  • fractionalise — Alt form fractionalize.
  • fraser island — an island off the south-east coast of Queensland and the largest sand island in the world; contains rainforests, heathlands, and freshwater lakes; a national park (since 1976) and a World Heritage site (since 1992). Area: 1840 sq km (710 sq miles). Pop: 194 (2011)
  • frelinghuysen — Frederick Theodore, 1817–85, U.S. statesman.
  • french polish — French polish is a type of varnish which is painted onto wood so that the wood has a hard shiny surface.
  • french-polish — to finish or treat (a piece of furniture) with French polish.
  • freudian slip — (in Freudian psychology) an inadvertent mistake in speech or writing that is thought to reveal a person's unconscious motives, wishes, or attitudes.
  • frightfulness — The quality of being frightful.
  • frise aileron — an aircraft wing control surface designed with its leading edge extending forward of its axis of rotation so that when the aileron's trailing edge is raised the leading edge extends below the bottom surface of the wing.
  • frivolousness — characterized by lack of seriousness or sense: frivolous conduct.
  • frosted glass — etched glass with a translucent surface
  • fruitlessness — The quality of being fruitless.
  • full-strength — If a team or army is at full strength, all the members that it needs or usually has are present.
  • furshlugginer — crazy; foolish
  • gallimaufries — Plural form of gallimaufry.
  • gallows frame — headframe.
  • garrison life — the life of troops who maintain and guard a military base or fortified place
  • geminiflorous — having flowers arranged in pairs.
  • gemmuliferous — producing or reproducing by gemmules.
  • general staff — a group of officers who are without command and whose duty is to assist high commanders in planning and carrying out orders in peace and war.
  • globuliferous — containing or producing globules.
  • gödel's proof — a proof that in a formal axiomatic system such as logic or mathematics it is impossible to prove consistency without using methods from outside the system, demonstrated by Kurt Gödel (1906–78)
  • goldie's fern — a wood fern, Dryopteris goldiana, of northeastern North America, having large, golden-green, leathery fronds with blades that tilt backward.
  • granuliferous — full of granules, or producing granules
  • half measures — inadequate measures or actions
  • half-deserted — (of a place) not having many inhabitants, visitors, etc
  • half-silvered — (of a mirror) having an incomplete reflective coating, so that half the incident light is reflected and half transmitted: used in optical instruments and two-way mirrors
  • hard feelings — Hard feelings are feelings of anger or bitterness towards someone who you have had an argument with or who has upset you. If you say 'no hard feelings', you are making an agreement with someone not to be angry or bitter about something.
  • heartfeltness — The state or quality of being heartfelt.
  • hydrosulfides — Plural form of hydrosulfide.
  • inflorescence — a flowering or blossoming.
  • informalities — Plural form of informality.
  • informercials — Plural form of informercial.
  • isle of capri — Capri.
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