15-letter words containing f, l, a, r, i
- ferranti f100-l — (processor) A processor, with 16-bit addressing, registers and data paths and a 1-bit serial ALU. The F100-L could only access 32K of memory (one address bit was used for indirection). It was designed by a British company for the British Military. The unique feature of the F100-L was that it had a complete control bus available for a coprocessor. Any instruction the F100-L couldn't decode was sent directly to the coprocessor for processing. Applications for coprocessors at the time were limited, but the design is still used in modern processors, such as the National Semiconductor 32000 series. The disk operating system was written by Alec Cawley.
- ferroelasticity — (physics) A phenomenon, analogous to ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity, in which spontaneous strain arises within a material.
- fibrocartilages — Plural form of fibrocartilage.
- field artillery — artillery mobile enough to accompany troops in the field.
- filemaker, inc. — (company) The company that distributes the FileMaker database. FileMaker, Inc. was previously known as Claris and was renamed after a restructuring in January 1998.
- fillister plane — an adjustable plane for cutting rabbets, grooves, etc
- finger alphabet — a series of shapes made by the fingers that indicate letters of an alphabet and can be used in fingerspelling for the deaf
- first gentleman — (often initial capital letters) the husband of the U.S. president or a current governor or mayor.
- first world war — World War I.
- five-star hotel — a top-quality hotel offering exceptional luxury
- flame hardening — the surface hardening of ferrous metals by heating the metal with an oxyacetylene flame followed by rapid cooling
- flame-arc light — an arc light that uses flame carbons to colour the arc
- flamingo-flower — a central American plant, Anthurium scherzeranum, of the arum family, having a red, coiled spadix and a bright red, shiny, heart-shaped spathe, grown as an ornamental.
- flapping router — (networking) A router that transmits routing updates alternately advertising a destination network first via one route, then via a different route. Flapping routers are identified on more advanced protocol analysers such as the Network General (TM) Sniffer.
- flavourdynamics — as in quantum flavour dynamics, a mathematical model used to describe the interaction of flavoured particles (weak force) through the exchange of intermediate vector bosons
- fleet insurance — Fleet insurance is a type of insurance contract that applies to a number of vehicles.
- flemish brabant — a province of central Belgium, formed in 1995 from the N part of Brabant province: densely populated and intensively farmed, with large industrial centres. Pop: 1 031 904 (2004 est). Area: 2106 sq km (813 sq miles)
- flight sergeant — a noncommissioned officer in the Royal Air Force junior in rank to a master aircrew
- flimflam artist — trickster; swindler
- flinders island — an island off the coast of NE Tasmania: the largest of the Furneaux Islands. Pop: 850 (2004 est). Area: 2077 sq km (802 sq miles)
- flirtatiousness — The quality of being flirtatious.
- floating charge — an unsecured charge on the assets of an enterprise that allows such assets to be used commercially until the enterprise ceases to operate or the creditor intervenes to demand collateral
- floating screed — Building Trades. screed (def 3).
- flood insurance — insurance covering loss or damage to property arising from a flood, flood tide, or the like.
- floral tributes — bunches or arrangements of flowers left as a memorial at the site of a fatal incident
- florida current — the part of the Gulf Stream which extends from the Florida Strait to Cape Hatteras.
- flowering maple — any of various shrubs belonging to the genus Abutilon, of the mallow family, having large, bright-colored flowers.
- flowering plant — a plant that produces flowers, fruit, and seeds; angiosperm.
- fluoridationist — One who supports the addition of fluoride to the public water supply.
- fluorine dating — a method of determining the relative age of fossil bones found in the same excavation by comparing their fluorine content.
- fluorochemicals — Plural form of fluorochemical.
- flying characin — hatchetfish (def 2).
- fool's paradise — a state of enjoyment based on false beliefs or hopes; a state of illusory happiness.
- formation fluid — Formation fluid is fluid in the pores (=tiny holes) of a rock.
- formation rules — the set of rules that specify the syntax of a formal system; the algorithm that generates the well-formed formulae
- formularization — The act of formularizing; a formularized or formulated statement or exhibition.
- forward-looking — planning for or anticipating possible future events, conditions, etc.; progressive.
- fourth official — In football, the fourth official is an official who assists the referee and assistant referees from the side of the pitch.
- fovea centralis — a small pit or depression at the back of the retina forming the point of sharpest vision.
- fractional note — a banknote in a denomination smaller than the standard unit of currency
- fractionalizing — Present participle of fractionalize.
- franklin pierce — Franklin, 1804–69, 14th president of the U.S. 1853–57.
- franklin square — a town on W Long Island, in SE New York.
- franklin's gull — a black-headed North American gull, Larus pipixcan, feeding chiefly on insects.
- fraternal twins — one of a pair of twins, not necessarily resembling each other, or of the same sex, that develop from two separately fertilized ova.
- free soil party — a former U.S. political party (1848–56) that opposed the extension of slavery in the Territories not yet admitted to statehood.
- free-tailed bat — any of various small, swift, insect-eating bats of the family Molossidae, common in warm climates, having thick, leathery ears and a tail that projects well beyond the tail membrane.
- french marigold — a composite plant, Tagetes patula, of Mexico, having yellow flowers with red markings.
- friar's lantern — ignis fatuus (def 1).
- friedmann model — any model of the universe deduced from a homogeneous, isotropic solution of Einstein's field equations without a cosmological constant. Such models form the mathematical basis for many modern cosmologies and provide for expansion or contraction of the universe.