21-letter words containing f, l, i, e

nellis air force base — the largest air base in the U.S. Air Force's Tactical Air Command, located near Las Vegas, Nev., and developed from what began in 1941 as a U.S. Army Air Corps field.
network filing system — (spelling) Misnomer for Network File System.
nightmare file system — Pejorative hackerism for Sun's Network File System (NFS). In any nontrivial network of Suns where there is a lot of NFS cross-mounting, when one Sun goes down, the others often freeze up. Some machine tries to access the down one, and (getting no response) repeats indefinitely. This causes it to appear dead to some messages (what is actually happening is that it is locked up in what should have been a brief excursion to a higher spl level). Then another machine tries to reach either the down machine or the pseudo-down machine, and itself becomes pseudo-down. The first machine to discover the down one is now trying both to access the down one and to respond to the pseudo-down one, so it is even harder to reach. This situation snowballs very quickly, and soon the entire network of machines is frozen - worst of all, the user can't even abort the file access that started the problem! Many of NFS's problems are excused by partisans as being an inevitable result of its statelessness, which is held to be a great feature (critics, of course, call it a great misfeature). ITS partisans are apt to cite this as proof of Unix's alleged bogosity; ITS had a working NFS-like shared file system with none of these problems in the early 1970s. See also broadcast storm.
of one's own volition — If you do something of your own volition, you do it because you have decided for yourself that you will do it and not because someone else has told you to do it.
of your own free will — out of choice
operational amplifier — a high-gain, high-input impedance amplifier, usually an integrated circuit, that can perform mathematical operations when suitably wired.
pacific daylight time — the version of Pacific Standard Time that is in use when daylight saving time is being observed
partial reinforcement — the process of randomly rewarding an organism for making a response on only some of the occasions it makes it
pellitory-of-the-wall — an urticaceous plant, P. diffusa, of the S and W European genus Parietaria, which grows in crevices and has long narrow leaves and small pink flowers
performance appraisal — the assessment, at regular intervals, of an employee's performance at work
peroxydisulfuric acid — persulfuric acid (def 2).
piero della francesca — Piero della [pee-air-oh del-uh;; Italian pye-raw del-lah] /piˈɛər oʊ ˈdɛl ə;; Italian ˈpyɛ rɔ ˈdɛl lɑ/ (Show IPA), (Piero dei Franceschi) c1420–92, Italian painter.
place of articulation — the location at which two speech organs approach or come together in producing a speech sound, as in the contact of the tongue and the teeth to form a dental sound. Also called point of articulation. Compare articulator (def 2).
play with a full deck — Nautical. a floorlike surface wholly or partially occupying one level of a hull, superstructure, or deckhouse, generally cambered, and often serving as a member for strengthening the structure of a vessel. the space between such a surface and the next such surface above: Our stateroom was on B deck.
prefect of discipline — a senior master in a Jesuit school or college
professional services — (job) A department of a supplier providing consultancy and programming manpower for the supplier's products.
psychological warfare — the use of propaganda, threats, and other psychological techniques to mislead, intimidate, demoralize, or otherwise influence the thinking or behavior of an opponent.
purple-fringed orchid — either of two orchids, Habenaria fimbriata or H. psycodes, of eastern North America, having a cluster of fragrant purple flowers with a fringed lip.
purple-fringed orchis — either of two North American orchids (Habenaria psycodes and H. fimbriata) with purple-fringed flowers
reconnaissance flight — a flight made by an aircraft in order to obtain military information about a particular place
referential integrity — (database) A collection of properties which should be possessed by data in a relational database. For example, in a database of family members, if we enter A as a spouse of B, we should also enter B as a spouse of A. Similarly, if we remove one end of the relationship we should also remove the other.
safe in the knowledge — If you do something safe in the knowledge that something else is the case, you do the first thing confidently because you are sure of the second thing.
sales finance company — a finance company that purchases, at a discount, installment contracts from dealers or that finances retail sales.
school of the soldier — an institution where instruction is given, especially to persons under college age: The children are at school.
self-characterization — portrayal; description: the actor's characterization of a politician.
semantic differential — a technique for measuring the connotative meaning of concepts by having an individual rate each concept on a series of graduated scales, each scale defined by a pair of polar adjectives, as good–bad or strong–weak.
set the world on fire — the earth or globe, considered as a planet.
silicon tetrafluoride — a colorless, fuming gas, SiF 4 , used chiefly in the manufacture of fluosilicic acid.
single parent benefit — a form of government funded financial assistance paid to single parents
sovereign wealth fund — an investment fund created using the financial assets of a national government
split-finger fastball — a type of fastball that sinks abruptly as it nears home plate, thrown with the grip used for a forkball
split-screen facility — a facility allowing different scenes to be shown on screen at the same time
spotted alfalfa aphid — a pale yellowish aphid, Therioaphis maculata, of the southern U.S., especially west of the Mississippi River, that is marked with black spots and has fine spines on its back: a pest mainly of alfalfa and some other legumes, as clover.
statistical inference — the theory, methods, and practice of forming judgments about the parameters of a population, usually on the basis of random sampling
stem-and-leaf diagram — a histogram in which the data points falling within each class interval are listed in order
supplementary benefit — (formerly) an extra amount of money that is paid to someone by the government, in addition to their normal income. Replaced by income support in 1988
surface of revolution — a surface formed by revolving a plane curve about a given line.
take one's (own) life — to commit suicide
territoire de belfort — a department of E France, now in Franche-Comté region: the only part of Alsace remaining to France after 1871. Capital: Belfort. Pop: 139 383 (2003 est). Area: 608 sq km (237 sq miles)
tetrabromofluorescein — eosin (def 1).
the barber of seville — Italian Il barbiere di Siviglia. a comic opera (1816) by Gioacchino Rossini based on a comedy (1775) by Beaumarchais.
the battle of britain — from August to October 1940, the prolonged bombing of S England by the German Luftwaffe and the successful resistance by the RAF Fighter Command, which put an end to the German plan of invading Britain
the flickertail state — a name for the state of North Dakota
the middle of nowhere — remote place
the oldest profession — prostitution
the rock of gibraltar — a limestone promontory at the tip of S Spain
thermoelectric effect — the production of an electromotive force in a thermocouple.
to fall into the trap — If someone falls into the trap of doing something, they think or behave in a way which is not wise or sensible.
to feel obliged to do — to feel obligated to do
to fly in the face of — If an action or belief flies in the face of accepted ideas or rules, it seems to completely oppose or contradict them.

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