16-letter words containing f, e, r, o
- father-surrogate — a male who replaces an absent father and becomes an object of attachment.
- federation wheat — an early-maturing drought-resistant variety of wheat developed by William Farrar in 1902
- feedback control — (electronics) A control system which monitors its effect on the system it is controlling and modifies its output accordingly. For example, a thermostat has two inputs: the desired temperature and the current temperature (the latter is the feedback). The output of the thermostat changes so as to try to equalise the two inputs. Computer disk drives use feedback control to position the read/write heads accurately on a recording track. Complex systems such as the human body contain many feedback systems that interact with each other; the homeostasis mechanisms that control body temperature and acidity are good examples.
- feel constrained — If you feel constrained to do something, you feel that you must do it, even though you would prefer not to.
- feel-good factor — When journalists refer to the feel-good factor, they mean that people are feeling hopeful and optimistic about the future.
- fellow passenger — a person travelling on the same vehicle, plane, ship etc as you
- fellow traveller — a companion on a journey
- feme-sole trader — a married woman who is entitled to carry on business on her own account and responsibility, independently of her husband.
- fend for oneself — to manage by oneself; get along without help
- ferdinand marcos — Ferdinand E(dralin) [ed-ruh-lin] /ˈɛd rə lɪn/ (Show IPA), 1917–1989, Philippine political leader: president 1965–86.
- fermat's theorem — the theorem that an integer raised to a prime power leaves the same remainder as the integer itself when divided by the prime.
- ferrocyanic acid — a white, crystalline, unstable, water-soluble solid, H 4 Fe(CN) 6 , obtained by the interaction of a ferrocyanide and an acid.
- ferroelectricity — (physics) The electric polarization of a substance (spontaneous presence of a dipole moment) that is analagous to ferromagnetism.
- ferrous sulphate — an iron salt with a saline taste, usually obtained as greenish crystals of the heptahydrate, which are converted to the white monohydrate above 100°C: used in inks, tanning, water purification, and in the treatment of anaemia. Formula: FeSO4
- ferruginous duck — a common European duck, Aythyra nyroca, having reddish-brown plumage with white wing bars
- fertility factor — a sex-determining chromosome or gene.
- fertility symbol — an object, esp a phallic symbol, used in fertility-cult ceremonies to symbolize regeneration
- feulgen reaction — a reaction in which an aldehyde combines with a modified Schiff's reagent to produce a purplish compound: used especially to test for the presence of DNA
- fibonacci number — a number in the Fibonacci sequence, each of which is the sum of the previous two
- fibonacci series — a sequence of integers in which each integer (Fibonacci number) after the second is the sum of the two preceding integers; specif., the series 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, . . .
- fictitious force — any force that is postulated to account for apparent deviations from Newton's laws of motion appearing in an accelerated reference system.
- fielder's choice — a fielder's attempt to put out a base runner rather than the batter when a play at first base would put out the batter.
- fifth-generation — denoting developments in computer design to produce machines with artificial intelligence
- figure of speech — any expressive use of language, as a metaphor, simile, personification, or antithesis, in which words are used in other than their literal sense, or in other than their ordinary locutions, in order to suggest a picture or image or for other special effect. Compare trope (def 1).
- figure-conscious — concerned to keep an attractively slim body shape
- file compression — (algorithm) The compression of data in a file, usually to reduce storage requirements.
- filter promotion — (algorithm) In a generate and test algorithm, combining part of the filter with the generator in order to reduce the number of potential solutions generated. A trivial example: filter (< 100) [1..1000] ==> [1..99] where [1..n] generates the list of integers from 1 to n. Here the filter has been combined completely with the generator. This is an example of fusion.
- finance director — financial manager
- finished product — the product that emerges at the end of a manufacturing process
- finless porpoise — a porpoise Neophocaena phocaenoides of the Indian and pacific Oceans that completely lacks a dorsal fin
- fire regulations — rules intended to make sure that people and property stay safe in the event of a fire
- fire-tube boiler — any boiler for generating steam by passing hot gases and other combustible products through tubes (fire tubes) immersed in water to a chimney or uptake.
- firework display — a public event at which fireworks are set alight
- first generation — 1. (architecture) first generation computer. 2. (language) first generation language.
- first-aid worker — someone who is trained to give immediate medical help in an emergency
- first-generation — being the first generation of a family to be born in a particular country.
- fisherman's knot — a knot for joining two ropes of equal thickness consisting of an overhand knot or double overhand knot by each rope round the other, so that the two knots jam when pulled tight
- fissure eruption — the emergence of lava from a fissure in the ground rather than from a volcanic cone or vent
- flabbergastation — (colloquial) Bewildered shock or surprise; the state or condition of being flabbergasted.
- flamborough head — a chalk promontory in NE England, on the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire
- flame cultivator — an implement that kills weeds by scorching them with a directed flow of flaming gas.
- flash eliminator — a device fitted to the muzzle of a firearm to reduce the flash made by the ignited propellant gases
- flashbulb memory — the clear recollections that a person may have of the circumstances associated with a dramatic event
- flat-bed plotter — a mechanized drafting device, usually computer driven, incorporating a moving pen whose horizontal and vertical range in two dimensions is limited only by the size of the bed of the device.
- flatheaded borer — the larva of a metallic wood-boring beetle, having an expanded and flattened anterior end.
- flettner control — servocontrol (def 3).
- florencio varela — a city in E Argentina, near Buenos Aires.
- floridean starch — the storage polysaccharide of red algae.
- flower arranging — Flower arranging is the art or hobby of arranging cut flowers in a way which makes them look attractive.
- flowering quince — any shrub belonging to the genus Chaenomeles, of the rose family, native to eastern Asia, having showy, waxy flowers and a quincelike fruit, grown widely as an ornamental.