15-letter words containing f, l, e, r
- 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.
- fluorophosphate — a salt or ester of a fluorophosphoric acid.
- fluoroquinolone — Any of a class of therapeutic antibiotics that are active against a range of bacteria associated with human and animal diseases. Their use in livestock has sparked concerns about the spread of bacteria resistant to them in humans.
- flying buttress — a segmental arch transmitting an outward and downward thrust to a solid buttress that through its inertia transforms the thrust into a vertical one.
- flying fortress — a heavy bomber, the B-17, with four radial piston engines, widely used over Europe and the Mediterranean by the U.S. Air Force in World War II.
- flying squirrel — any of various nocturnal tree squirrels, as Glaucomys volans, of the eastern U.S., having folds of skin connecting the fore and hind legs, permitting long, gliding leaps.
- fool's paradise — a state of enjoyment based on false beliefs or hopes; a state of illusory happiness.
- football player — sportsperson: plays football
- for the love of — a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
- fore-topgallant — being a sail, yard, or rigging belonging to a fore-topgallant mast.
- forecastle deck — a partial weather deck on top of a forecastle superstructure; topgallant forecastle.
- forecastle head — the extreme fore part of a forecastle superstructure.
- forehand volley — a type of forehand shot played in tennis
- formal argument — (programming) (Or "parameter") A name in a function or subroutine definition that is replaced by, or bound to, the corresponding actual argument when the function or subroutine is called. In many languages formal arguments behave like local variables which get initialised on entry. See: argument.
- formal language — correct or polite words and phrases
- formation rules — the set of rules that specify the syntax of a formal system; the algorithm that generates the well-formed formulae
- fort lauderdale — a city in SE Florida: seashore resort.
- forward echelon — (in a military operation) the troops and officers in a combat zone or in a position to engage the enemy.
- fourth republic — the republic established in France in 1945 and replaced by the Fifth Republic in 1958.
- 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
- 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.
- fraternal order — men's organization
- 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 throw lane — the rectangular area, 19 feet (5.7 meters) long and usually 12 or 16 feet (3.6 m or 4.8 meters) wide, extending from the end line behind each backboard to the foul line and along the sides of which players line up during a foul shot.
- free throw line — foul line (def 2).
- 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.
- french mulberry — a shrub, Callicarpa americana, of the verbena family, of the south-central U.S. and the West Indies, having violet-colored fruit and bluish flowers.
- french togoland — a former United Nations Trust Territory in W Africa, administered by France (1946–60), now the independent republic of Togo
- fresnel biprism — biprism.
- fresnel mirrors — two plane mirrors so linked that a beam of light falling on them is reflected in slightly different directions, thus producing interference fringes in the area where this reflected light overlaps
- 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.
- fringe festival — an unofficial, often unconventional, arts festival that is associated with another, larger festival
- frontal cyclone — any extratropical cyclone associated with a front: the most common cyclonic storm.
- frozen shoulder — joint stiffness at top of arm
- full outer join — outer join
- full-cream milk — whole unskimmed milk
- fuller's teasel — a Eurasian teasel plant, Dipsacus fullonum, whose prickly flower heads are used for raising the nap on woollen cloth
- funeral oration — a formal speech delivered at a funeral
- funeral parlour — A funeral parlour is a place where a funeral director works and where dead people are prepared for burial or cremation.
- funeral service — ceremony at a burial or cremation
- fusospirochetal — Relating to fusospirochetes.
- gale-force wind — a wind of force seven to ten on the Beaufort scale or from 45 to 90 kilometres per hour
- general officer — an officer ranking above colonel.
- geranium family — the plant family Geraniaceae, typified by herbaceous plants or small shrubs having lobed leaves, showy flowers, and slender, beak-shaped fruit, and including the crane's-bills, stork's-bills, and cultivated geraniums of the genus Pelargonium.