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17-letter words containing f, i, r, e

  • common difference — the positive or negative constant added to each term in an arithmetic progression
  • computer confetti — (jargon)   (Or "chad") A common term for punched-card chad, which, however, does not make good confetti, as the pieces are stiff and have sharp corners that could injure the eyes.
  • conscript fathers — august legislators, esp Roman senators
  • continental drift — Continental drift is the slow movement of the Earth's continents towards and away from each other.
  • copious free time — (jargon)   (Apple; originally from the introduction to Tom Lehrer's song "It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier") Used ironically to indicate the speaker's lack of the quantity in question; a mythical schedule slot for accomplishing tasks held to be unlikely or impossible. Sometimes used to indicate that the speaker is interested in accomplishing the task, but believes that the opportunity will not arise. "I'll implement the automatic layout stuff in my copious free time." The phrase is also used for time reserved for bogus or otherwise idiotic tasks, such as implementation of bad chrome, or the stroking of suits. "I'll get back to him on that feature in my copious free time."
  • council of europe — an association of European states, established in 1949 to promote unity between its members, defend human rights, and increase social and economic progress
  • counter-influence — the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others: He used family influence to get the contract.
  • counteroffensives — Plural form of counteroffensive.
  • court of sessions — any of state courts of criminal jurisdiction in California, New York, and a few other states.
  • creature of habit — If you say that someone is a creature of habit, you mean that they usually do the same thing at the same time each day, rather than doing new and different things.
  • credit facilities — a type of loan made by a bank
  • cross of lorraine — a cross with two horizontal bars above and below the midpoint of the vertical bar, the lower longer than the upper
  • culture diffusion — the spreading out of culture, culture traits, or a cultural pattern from a central point.
  • culture-fair test — a test, usually for intelligence, that does not put anyone taking it at a disadvantage, esp regarding material or cultural background
  • cut a good figure — to appear or behave well
  • cut a poor figure — to appear or behave badly
  • darwinian fitness — fitness (def 3).
  • darwinian-fitness — health.
  • david copperfield — a novel (1850) by Charles Dickens.
  • death certificate — A death certificate is an official certificate signed by a doctor which states the cause of a person's death.
  • dedifferentiating — Present participle of dedifferentiate.
  • dedifferentiation — the reversion of the cells of differentiated tissue to a less specialized form
  • defamiliarisation — (arts) The representation of objects anew, in a way that we do not recognize, or that changes our reading of them.
  • defamiliarization — Art, Literature. a theory and technique, originating in the early 20th century, in which an artistic or literary work presents familiar objects or situations in an unfamiliar way, prolonging the perceptive process and allowing for a fresh perspective.
  • definite integral — the evaluation of the indefinite integral between two limits, representing the area between the given function and the x-axis between these two values of x
  • denial of service — a deliberate interruption in access to a computer system or network, esp by using multiple computers to generate an unmanageable volume of traffic (distributed denial of service)
  • denial-of-service — pertaining to or being an incident in which a computer or computer network is disabled, disrupting access or service: a website hit by a denial-of-service attack; unintentional denial-of-service problems.
  • deprofessionalise — to remove from professional control, influence, manipulation, etc.
  • deprofessionalize — to remove from professional control, influence, manipulation, etc.
  • difference engine — (computer, history)   Charles Babbage's design for the first automatic mechanical calculator. The Difference Engine was a special purpose device intended for the production of mathematical tables. Babbage started work on the Difference Engine in 1823 with funding from the British Government. Only one-seventh of the complete engine, about 2000 parts, was built in 1832 by Babbage's engineer, Joseph Clement. This was demonstrated successfully by Babbage and still works perfectly. The engine was never completed and most of the 12,000 parts manufactured were later melted for scrap. It was left to Georg and Edvard Schuetz to construct the first working devices to the same design which were successful in limited applications. The Difference Engine No. 2 was finally completed in 1991 at the Science Museum, London, UK and is on display there. The engine used gears to compute cumulative sums in a series of registers: r[i] := r[i] + r[i+1]. However, the addition had the side effect of zeroing r[i+1]. Babbage overcame this by simultaneously copying r[i+1] to a temporary register during the addition and then copying it back to r[i+1] at the end of each cycle (each turn of a handle).
  • differentiability — The ability to be differentiated.
  • differential gear — differential (def 7).
  • differential line — (hardware)   A kind of electrical connection using two wires, one of which carries the normal signal (V) and the other carries an inverted version the signal (-V). A differential amplifier at the receiver subtracts the inverted signal from the normal signal to yield a signal proportional to V. This subtraction is intended to cancel out any noise induced in the wires, on the assmption that the same level of noise will have been induced in both wires. Twisted pair wiring is often used to try to ensure that this is the case. The two wires might be connected at the receiver to separate analogue to digital converters and the subtraction performed digitally. The RS-422 serial line standard specifies differential drivers and receivers, whereas the earlier RS-232 standard does not. Opposite: single ended.
  • differential rate — a special lower rate, as one charged by one of two or more competing businesses.
  • differential tone — a musical sound sometimes heard when two loud notes are sounded together, lower in pitch than either
  • dimethylformamide — a colourless liquid widely used as a solvent and sometimes as a catalyst. Formula: (CH3)2NCHO
  • director of music — a person in charge of musical training and performance at an institution such as a college, especially the head bandmaster of a military band
  • disrespectfulness — The state or quality of being disrespectful; disrespect; disregard.
  • distributed force — A distributed force is a force that acts on a large part of a surface, not just on one place.
  • double quatrefoil — a charge having the form of a foil with eight leaves, used especially as the cadency mark of a ninth son.
  • double refraction — the separation of a ray of light into two unequally refracted, plane-polarized rays of orthogonal polarizations, occurring in crystals in which the velocity of light rays is not the same in all directions.
  • drained of colour — colourless
  • dress-down friday — In some companies employees are allowed to wear clothes that are less smart than usual on a Friday. This day is known as a dress-down Friday.
  • drink like a fish — any of various cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates, having gills, commonly fins, and typically an elongated body covered with scales.
  • droplet infection — infection spread by airborne droplets of secretions from the nose, throat, or lungs.
  • east pacific rise — a long north-south elevation of the sea floor in the E Pacific Ocean extending southward from SW Mexico to the Antarctic Ocean.
  • east renfrewshire — a council area of W central Scotland, comprising part of the historical county of Renfrewshire; part of Strathclyde region from 1975 to 1996: chiefly agricultural and residential. Administrative centre: Giffnock. Pop: 89 680 (2003 est). Area: 173 sq km (67 sq miles)
  • edward fitzgerald — Edward, 1809–83, English poet: translator of drama and poetry, especially of Omar Khayyám.
  • effective current — the magnitude of an alternating current having the same heating effect as that of a given magnitude of direct current.
  • efficiency expert — a person who studies the methods, procedures, and job characteristics of a business or factory with the object of devising ways to increase the efficiency of equipment and personnel.
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