20-letter words containing f, e, s, o
- cost-of-living index — a numerical scale by means of which cost-of-living levels can be compared with a base number
- council of ministers — the EU's most important decision-making body
- court of last resort — (in the US) a supreme court
- court of st. james's — the British royal court: so called from St. James's Palace, London, the former scene of royal receptions.
- cream of tomato soup — a creamy soup made from tomatoes
- crisis of confidence — a serious loss of confidence
- cut of someone's jib — someone's manner, behaviour, style, etc
- darkfield microscope — kind of microscope
- de facto segregation — racial, ethnic, or other segregation resulting from societal differences between groups, as socioeconomic or political disparity, without institutionalized legislation intended to segregate.
- defense data network — (DDN) A global communications network serving the US Department of Defense. Composed of MILNET, other portions of the Internet, and classified networks which are not part of the Internet. The DDN is used to connect military installations and is managed by the Defense Information Systems Agency.
- definite description — a description that is modified by the definite article or a possessive, such as the woman in white or Rosemary's baby
- difference threshold — the minimum difference between two stimuli that is just detectable by a person
- differential housing — the casing that houses the differential of a motor vehicle
- diogenes (of sinope) — 412?-323? b.c.; Gr. philosopher: noted for founding the Cynical school of philosophy
- discounted cash flow — a technique for appraising an investment that takes into account the different values of future returns according to when they will be received
- due process (of law) — the course of legal proceedings established by the legal system of a nation or state to protect individual rights
- eat out of sb's hand — If you have someone eating out of your hand, they are completely under your control.
- edward the confessor — Saint, 1002?–66, English king 1042–66: founder of Westminster Abbey.
- entry qualifications — the qualifications people wishing to enter an organization, university, etc, have to have
- erythema infectiosum — a mild infectious disease of childhood, caused by a virus, characterized by fever and a red rash spreading from the cheeks to the limbs and trunk
- european social fund — one of the four Structural Funds of the European Union which aims to support employment and the economic and social well-being of EU member countries
- faculty of advocates — the college or society of advocates in Scotland
- false solomon's-seal — any of several plants belonging to the genus Smilacina, of the lily family, having long, arching clusters of greenish-white flowers.
- fast-breeder reactor — a breeder reactor in which there is no moderator and fission is caused by high-energy neutrons.
- feast of tabernacles — Sukkoth.
- feather in one's cap — one of the horny structures forming the principal covering of birds, consisting typically of a hard, tubular portion attached to the body and tapering into a thinner, stemlike portion bearing a series of slender, barbed processes that interlock to form a flat structure on each side.
- federal constitution — Constitution of the United States.
- federal reserve note — a form of paper money issued by a Federal Reserve Bank.
- field ion microscope — a device in which the atomic structure of the surface of a conductor is made visible by introducing helium gas into the device and applying a high voltage to ionize and accelerate the gas toward a fluorescent screen.
- field-ion microscope — a device in which the atomic structure of the surface of a conductor is made visible by introducing helium gas into the device and applying a high voltage to ionize and accelerate the gas toward a fluorescent screen.
- fight for one's life — Someone who is fighting for their life is making a great effort to stay alive, either when they are being physically attacked or when they are very ill.
- file descriptor leak — (programming) (Or "fd leak" /F D leek/) A kind of programming bug analogous to a core leak, in which a program fails to close file descriptors ("fd"s) after file operations are completed, and thus eventually runs out of them. See leak.
- fill someone's shoes — an external covering for the human foot, usually of leather and consisting of a more or less stiff or heavy sole and a lighter upper part ending a short distance above, at, or below the ankle.
- first earl of cromer — 1st Earl of, Evelyn Baring.
- first point of aries — the vernal equinox.
- first world problems — If you say that someone has First World problems, you mean that their problems are not really very important.
- first-person shooter — a type of video game in which the player assumes the field of vision of the protagonist, so that the game camera includes the character's weapon, but the rest of the character model is not seen. Abbreviation: FPS.
- five-a-side football — a version of soccer with five players in each team
- five-elements school — Yin-Yang School.
- flame-fusion process — Verneuil process.
- fold-and-thrust belt — a linear or arcuate region of the earth's surface that has been subjected to severe folding and thrust faulting
- fontainebleau school — a group of artists, many of them Italian and Flemish, who worked on the decorations of the palace of Fontainebleau in the 16th century.
- for all one is worth — good or important enough to justify (what is specified): advice worth taking; a place worth visiting.
- for better for worse — whatever the subsequent events or changes may be
- for sb's delectation — If you do something for someone's delectation, you do it to give them enjoyment or pleasure.
- for the rest of them — for The Rest Of Us
- for the sake of sthg — If you do something for the sake of something, you do it for that purpose or in order to achieve that result. You can also say that you do it for something's sake.
- forbidden transition — an electronic transition in an atom, molecule, etc, that is not permitted by electric dipole selection rules
- force someone's hand — to force someone to act
- force-field analysis — a decision-making technique, often presented graphically, that identifies all the positive and negative forces impinging on a problem