17-letter words containing f, r, e, s, t
- fore-and-aft sail — any of various sails, as jib-headed sails, gaff sails, lugsails, lateen sails, spritsails, staysails, and jibs, that do not set on yards and whose normal position, when not trimmed, is in a fore-and-aft direction amidships.
- foreign relations — (used with a singular verb) the field of foreign affairs: an expert in foreign relations.
- foreign secretary — foreign minister.
- forest enterprise — a British government department responsible for maintaining and expanding forests
- foundation course — A foundation course is a course that you do at some colleges and universities in order to prepare yourself for a longer or more advanced course.
- four-letter words — any of a number of short words, usually of four letters, considered offensive or vulgar because of their reference to excrement or sex.
- four-star general — high-ranking military officer
- four-stroke cycle — A four-stroke cycle is the cycle of engine operation which requires four strokes of the piston: for induction, compression, ignition, and exhaust.
- fourier transform — a mapping of a function, as a signal, that is defined in one domain, as space or time, into another domain, as wavelength or frequency, where the function is represented in terms of sines and cosines.
- fractal dimension — (mathematics) A common type of fractal dimension is the Hausdorff-Besicovich Dimension, but there are several different ways of computing fractal dimension. Fractal dimension can be calculated by taking the limit of the quotient of the log change in object size and the log change in measurement scale, as the measurement scale approaches zero. The differences come in what is exactly meant by "object size" and what is meant by "measurement scale" and how to get an average number out of many different parts of a geometrical object. Fractal dimensions quantify the static *geometry* of an object. For example, consider a straight line. Now blow up the line by a factor of two. The line is now twice as long as before. Log 2 / Log 2 = 1, corresponding to dimension 1. Consider a square. Now blow up the square by a factor of two. The square is now 4 times as large as before (i.e. 4 original squares can be placed on the original square). Log 4 / log 2 = 2, corresponding to dimension 2 for the square. Consider a snowflake curve formed by repeatedly replacing ___ with _/\_, where each of the 4 new lines is 1/3 the length of the old line. Blowing up the snowflake curve by a factor of 3 results in a snowflake curve 4 times as large (one of the old snowflake curves can be placed on each of the 4 segments _/\_). Log 4 / log 3 = 1.261... Since the dimension 1.261 is larger than the dimension 1 of the lines making up the curve, the snowflake curve is a fractal. [sci.fractals FAQ].
- frankenstein food — any foodstuff that has been genetically modified
- fraternal society — a club or other association, usually of men, having a limited membership and devoted to professional, religious, charitable, or social activities.
- freight insurance — insurance paid on goods in transport
- freund's adjuvant — a water-in-oil emulsion injected with immunogen (Freund's incomplete adjuvant) or with immunogen and killed mycobacteria (Freund's complete adjuvant) to enhance the immune response to the immunogen.
- from side to side — movement: back and forth
- from the rooftops — If you shout something from the rooftops, you say it or announce it in a very public way.
- frostbite sailing — the sport of sailing in temperate latitudes during the winter despite cold weather.
- functional isomer — any of several structural isomers that have the same molecular formula but with the atoms connected in different ways and therefore falling into different functional groups.
- furbish lousewort — any plant belonging to the genus Pedicularis, of the figwort family, as the wood betony, formerly supposed to cause lice in sheep feeding on it: one species, P. furbishiae (Furbish lousewort) of parts of Maine and New Brunswick, Canada, having finely toothed leaves and a cluster of yellow flowers, is endangered and was thought to be extinct until specimens were discovered in 1946 and again in 1976.
- fuss and feathers — an excessively elaborate or pretentious display; ostentation.
- get a rise out of — to get up from a lying, sitting, or kneeling posture; assume an upright position: She rose and walked over to greet me. With great effort he rose to his knees.
- get off the grass — an exclamation of disbelief
- get to first base — Baseball. the first in counterclockwise order of the bases from home plate. the position of the player covering the area of the infield near first base.
- glory-of-the-snow — any of several plants belonging to the genus Chionodoxa, of the lily family, native to the Old World, having showy, blue, white, or pink flowers that bloom early in the spring.
- go-faster stripes — (jargon) chrome. Mainstream in some parts of UK.
- great vowel shift — a series of changes in the quality of the long vowels between Middle and Modern English as a result of which all were raised, while the high vowels (ē) and (o̅o̅), already at the upper limit, underwent breaking to become the diphthongs (ī) and (ou).
- greenhouse effect — an atmospheric heating phenomenon, caused by short-wave solar radiation being readily transmitted inward through the earth's atmosphere but longer-wavelength heat radiation less readily transmitted outward, owing to its absorption by atmospheric carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, and other gases; thus, the rising level of carbon dioxide is viewed with concern.
- have a short fuse — a tube, cord, or the like, filled or saturated with combustible matter, for igniting an explosive.
- have it in for sb — If someone has it in for you, they dislike you and try to cause problems for you.
- have sth to offer — If you have something to offer, you have a quality or ability that makes you important, attractive, or useful.
- heart of darkness — a short novel (1902) by Joseph Conrad.
- hot off the press — newspaper: freshly printed
- how's-your-father — sexual intercourse
- image intensifier — any of various devices for amplifying the intensity of an optical image, sometimes used in conjunction with an image converter
- immunofluorescent — Of, pertaining to, or using immunofluorescence.
- impersonification — (archaic) the act of impersonating; impersonation.
- in the process of — If you are in the process of doing something, you have started to do it and are still doing it.
- instrument flying — the control and navigation of an aircraft by reference to its gauges, with no or only limited visual reference outside the cockpit.
- intensive farming — battery rearing of animals
- interconfessional — common to or occurring between churches having different confessions.
- interfenestration — a space between two windows.
- interprofessional — following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain: a professional builder.
- intraspecifically — Between individuals of the same species.
- irons in the fire — If someone has a lot of irons in the fire, they are involved in several different activities or have several different plans.
- it's your funeral — If someone says to you 'It's your funeral', they think your decision or your actions will have bad consequences for you, but they are unwilling to interfere.
- jobs for the boys — If you refer to work as jobs for the boys, you mean that the work is unfairly given to someone's friends, supporters, or relations, even though they may not be the best qualified people to do it.
- john of lancaster — Duke of Bedford, 1389–1435, Bedford, John of Lancaster, Duke of.
- john of the cross — Saint (Juan de Yepis y Álvarez) 1542–91, Spanish mystic, writer, and theologian: cofounder with Saint Theresa of the order of Discalced Carmelites.
- judgment of paris — the decision by Paris to award Aphrodite the golden apple of discord competed for by Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera.
- lance of courtesy — a lance having a blunt head to prevent serious injury by a jouster to an opponent.