17-letter words containing f, l, a, t, i, o
- law of reflection — the principle that when a ray of light, radar pulse, or the like, is reflected from a smooth surface the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence, and the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
- law of refraction — the principle that for a ray, radar pulse, or the like, that is incident on the interface of two media, the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is equal to the ratio of the velocity of the ray in the first medium to the velocity in the second medium and the incident ray, refracted ray, and normal to the surface at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
- law of trichotomy — the property that for natural numbers a and b , either a is less than b , a equals b , or a is greater than b .
- league of nations — an international organization to promote world peace and cooperation that was created by the Treaty of Versailles (1919): dissolved April 1946.
- least fixed point — (mathematics) A function f may have many fixed points (x such that f x = x). For example, any value is a fixed point of the identity function, (\ x . x). If f is recursive, we can represent it as f = fix F where F is some higher-order function and fix F = F (fix F). The standard denotational semantics of f is then given by the least fixed point of F. This is the least upper bound of the infinite sequence (the ascending Kleene chain) obtained by repeatedly applying F to the totally undefined value, bottom. I.e. fix F = LUB {bottom, F bottom, F (F bottom), ...}. The least fixed point is guaranteed to exist for a continuous function over a cpo.
- lie in wait (for) — to wait so as to catch after planning an ambush or trap (for)
- life and/or death — If you say that something is a matter of life and death, you are emphasizing that it is extremely important, often because someone may die or suffer great harm if people do not act immediately.
- life of the party — most lively, outgoing person
- litigation friend — a person acting on behalf of an infant or other person under legal disability
- low-hanging fruit — the fruit that grows low on a tree and is therefore easy to reach
- make light of sth — If you make light of something, you treat it as though it is not serious or important, when in fact it is.
- minion of the law — a policeman.
- newfoundland time — a form of civil time observed on the island of Newfoundland, one and one-half hours later than Eastern time and a half hour later than Atlantic time.
- non-proliferation — Non-proliferation is the limiting of the production and spread of something such as nuclear or chemical weapons.
- noninertial frame — a frame of reference that moves with the object, so that the moving object appears to violate Newton's laws of motion since it accelerates despite having no horizontal forces on it.
- not lift a finger — any of the terminal members of the hand, especially one other than the thumb.
- off-site facility — An off-site facility is a facility which is not at the main industrial or commercial site.
- off-year election — (in the US) an election held in a year when a presidential election does not take place
- one size fits all — (of clothing) designed to fit people of a wide range of sizes.
- one-parent family — A one-parent family is a family that consists of one parent and his or her children living together.
- one-size-fits-all — (of clothing) designed to fit people of a wide range of sizes.
- petrol filler cap — a small cover that goes over the hole in a vehicle into which you put petrol
- play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- polarizing filter — a camera lens filter used to control the plane of polarization of light entering the lens.
- political refugee — a person who has fled from a homeland because of political persecution.
- portfolio manager — a person employed by others to make investments for them
- potassium sulfate — a crystalline, water-soluble solid, K 2 SO 4 , used chiefly in the manufacture of fertilizers, alums, and mineral water, and as a reagent in analytical chemistry.
- pre-qualification — a quality, accomplishment, etc., that fits a person for some function, office, or the like.
- prefect apostolic — the administrator, usually below the rank of bishop, in charge of a prefecture apostolic.
- preferential shop — a shop in which union members are preferred, usually by agreement of an employer with a union.
- procurator fiscal — In the Scottish legal system, the procurator fiscal is a public official who puts people on trial.
- proportional font — a font type in which the width of letters and symbols varies depending on the letter or symbol
- quadratic formula — the formula for determining theroots of a quadratic equation from its coefficients: .
- rational function — a function that can be written as the quotient of two polynomials with integral coefficients.
- reduction formula — a formula, such as sin (90° ± A) = cos A, expressing the values of a trigonometric function of any angle greater than 90° in terms of a function of an acute angle
- reflection nebula — a cloud of interstellar gas and dust that reflects the light of neighboring stars.
- return of capital — A return of capital is a situation in which you receive back money that was previously invested.
- rock of gibraltar — a British crown colony comprising a fortress and seaport located on a narrow promontory near the S tip of Spain. 1.875 sq. mi. (5 sq. km).
- saint elmo's fire — corona discharge.
- scarlet firethorn — a Eurasian evergreen, thorny shrub, Pyracantha coccinea, of the rose family, having white, hairy flower clusters and bright red berries.
- self-annihilation — self-destruction; suicide.
- self-appreciation — gratitude; thankful recognition: They showed their appreciation by giving him a gold watch.
- self-commendation — the act of commending; recommendation; praise: commendation for a job well done.
- self-condemnation — the act of condemning.
- self-confirmation — the act of confirming.
- self-consecration — the act of setting oneself to a task or vocation without ordination by others or by a religious body.
- self-conservation — the act of conserving; prevention of injury, decay, waste, or loss; preservation: conservation of wildlife; conservation of human rights.
- self-dissociation — an act or instance of dissociating.
- self-emancipation — the act of emancipating.
- self-flagellation — the act or process of flagellating.