15-letter words containing f, i, r, e
- branchial cleft — Zoology. one of a series of slitlike openings in the walls of the pharynx between the branchial arches of fishes and aquatic amphibians through which water passes from the pharynx to the exterior.
- breach of faith — a violation of good faith, confidence, or trust; betrayal: To abandon your friends now would be a breach of faith.
- bridge of sighs — a covered 16th-century bridge in Venice, between the Doges' Palace and the prisons, through which prisoners were formerly led to trial or execution
- britneyfication — the effect on clothes and fashions of following the revealing styles favoured by the US pop singer Britney Spears (born 1981)
- brownfield site — a disused site envisaged for redevelopment
- buffalo soldier — (formerly, especially among American Indians) a black soldier.
- buffer solution — a solution to which a salt of a weak acid or base has been added
- bug fix release — (programming) A release which introduces no new features, but which merely aims to fix bugs in previous releases. All too commonly new bugs are introduced at the same time.
- bureau of mines — a division of the Department of the Interior, created in 1910, that studies the nation's mineral resources and inspects mines.
- butter-fingered — a person who frequently drops things; clumsy person.
- butterfly chair — a lightweight chair consisting of a piece of canvas, leather, etc. slung from a framework of metal bars
- cafeteria-style — set up to allow a variety of choices.
- calf diphtheria — a disease of the throat in young calves caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum, resulting in breathing difficulty and a painful cough
- california rose — a cultivated variety of a bindweed, Calystegia hederacea, having showy, double, rose-colored flowers.
- calorific value — the quantity of heat produced by the complete combustion of a given mass of a fuel, usually expressed in joules per kilogram
- canadian forces — the official name for the military forces of Canada
- canadian french — the French language as spoken in Canada, esp in Quebec
- cape finisterre — a headland in NW Spain: the westernmost point of the Spanish mainland
- caprifoliaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Caprifoliaceae, a family of N temperate shrubs, small trees, and climbers including honeysuckle, elder, and guelder-rose
- cardinal flower — a campanulaceous plant, Lobelia cardinalis of E North America, that has brilliant scarlet, pink, or white flowers
- careers officer — a person trained in giving vocational advice, esp to school leavers
- catch (on) fire — to begin burning; ignite
- cauliflower ear — permanent swelling and distortion of the external ear as the result of ruptures of the blood vessels: usually caused by blows received in boxing
- cauliflowerette — a single floret from the head of a cauliflower.
- caustic surface — a surface that envelopes the light rays reflected or refracted by a curved surface
- cavalry officer — an officer in a cavalry regiment
- central african — of or relating to the Central African Republic, its inhabitants, or their language.
- centrifugal box — a revolving chamber, used in the spinning of manufactured filaments, in which the plastic fibers, subjected to centrifugal force, are slightly twisted and emerge in the form of yarn wound into the shape of a hollow cylinder.
- certified check — A certified check is a check that is guaranteed by a bank, because the bank has set aside sufficient money in the account.
- channel surfing — to change from one channel on a television set to another with great or unusual frequency, especially by using a remote control.
- channel-surfing — Channel-surfing is the same as channel-hopping.
- charles tiffany — Charles Lewis, 1812–1902, U.S. jeweler.
- charm offensive — If you say that someone has launched a charm offensive, you disapprove of the fact that they are being very friendly to their opponents or people who are causing problems for them.
- chesterfieldian — of or like Lord Chesterfield; suave; elegant; polished
- cheval de frise — a portable obstacle, usually a sawhorse, covered with projecting spikes or barbed wire, for military use in closing a passage, breaking in a defensive wall, etc.
- cheval-de-frise — a portable barrier of spikes, sword blades, etc, used to obstruct the passage of cavalry
- chief inspector — an officer of high rank in British police forces
- chief secretary — (in Britain) the second most senior Treasury post, after the Chancellor of the Exchequer
- children of god — a highly disciplined, fundamentalist Christian sect, active especially in the early 1970s, whose mostly young converts live in communes.
- cholecalciferol — a compound occurring naturally in fish-liver oils, used to treat rickets. Formula: C27H44O
- circular buffer — (programming) An area of memory used to store a continuous stream of data by starting again at the beginning of the buffer after reaching the end. A circular buffer is usually written by one process and read by another. Separate read and write pointers are maintained. These are not allowed to pass each other otherwise either unread data would be overwritten or invalid data would be read. A circuit may implement a hardware circular buffer.
- circumferential — of, at, or near the circumference; surrounding; lying along the outskirts.
- circumforaneous — moving around or abroad; roaming from place to place
- citrus whitefly — See under whitefly.
- clare of assisi — Saint. 1194–1253, Italian nun; founder of the Franciscan Order of Poor Clares. Feast day: Aug 11
- coffee whitener — a milk substitute to put in coffee
- collective farm — (chiefly in Communist countries) a farm or group of farms managed and owned, through the state, by the community
- combined forces — the forces of two or more countries, fighting together
- come up for air — rise to water's surface
- company officer — a captain or lieutenant serving in a company.