16-letter words containing f, e, t, i
- 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
- fictitious force — any force that is postulated to account for apparent deviations from Newton's laws of motion appearing in an accelerated reference system.
- fifth-generation — denoting developments in computer design to produce machines with artificial intelligence
- file composition — A typesetting language.
- fill one's boots — to take or do as much of something as one wants
- filter cigarette — a cigarette with a filter tip
- 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.
- filterable virus — a virus particle small enough to pass through a filter of diatomaceous earth or porcelain, which will not pass bacteria: chiefly historical or an informal indicator of size, as synthetic membrane filters now permit passage of the smallest virus.
- finance director — financial manager
- finance minister — a member of a government in charge of the financial affairs of a state etc
- fingertip search — When the police carry out a fingertip search of a place, they examine it for evidence in a very detailed way.
- finished product — the product that emerges at the end of a manufacturing process
- finite automaton — Finite State Machine
- 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.
- first derivative — the derivative of a function: Velocity is the first derivative of distance with respect to time.
- first generation — 1. (architecture) first generation computer. 2. (language) first generation language.
- first lieutenant — an officer ranking next above second lieutenant and next below a captain.
- 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.
- first-time buyer — someone who is buying his or her first house
- 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
- fit like a glove — fit perfectly
- flabbergastation — (colloquial) Bewildered shock or surprise; the state or condition of being flabbergasted.
- flabbergastingly — Surprisingly, astonishingly or amazingly.
- 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
- flash in the pan — a brief, sudden burst of bright light: a flash of lightning.
- flathead catfish — a yellow and brown catfish, Pylodictus olivaris, common in the central U.S., having a flattened head and a projecting lower jaw.
- flibbertigibbets — Plural form of flibbertigibbet.
- flibbertigibbety — Like a flibbertigibbet; flighty; scatterbrained.
- flight attendant — an airline employee who serves meals, attends to passengers' comfort, etc., during a flight.
- floridean starch — the storage polysaccharide of red algae.
- flutter tonguing — a method of sounding a wind instrument, esp the flute, with a rolling movement of the tongue
- food intolerance — an intolerance of a specific type of food, causing an adverse reaction
- foot in the door — If you say that something helps someone to get their foot in the door or their toe in the door, you mean that it gives them an opportunity to start doing something new, usually in an area that is difficult to succeed in.
- football special — a train service provided specially to transport football supporters to and from a match
- footsteps editor — the technician who adds sound effects, such as doors closing, rain falling, etc, during the postproduction sound-dubbing process
- for a/one minute — If you say that you do not believe for a minute or for one minute that something is true, you are emphasizing that you do not believe that it is true.
- for the duration — If you say that something will happen for the duration, you mean that it will happen for as long as a particular situation continues.
- for the meantime — For the meantime means for a period of time from now until something else happens.
- forbid the banns — to raise an objection to a marriage announced in this way
- forced vibration — Forced vibration is a type of vibration in which a force is repeatedly applied to a mechanical system.
- fore and aft rig — a sail set in a line from one end the other of a vessel rather than in a square
- fore-and-aft rig — a rig in which the principal sails are fore-and-aft.
- foreign minister — (in countries other than the U.S.) a cabinet minister who conducts and supervises foreign and diplomatic relations with other states. Also called, especially British, foreign secretary. Compare secretary of state (def 1).
- foreign national — citizen of another country
- forked lightning — Forked lightning is lightning that divides into two or more parts near the ground.
- formation packer — A formation packer is a substance that is used as a seal between the casing and the borehole so that part of the hole can be tested.