18-letter words containing f, r, e, t, m
- for the life of me — If you say that you cannot for the life of you understand or remember something, you are emphasizing that you cannot understand or remember it, even if you try hard.
- for the time being — the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another.
- forced development — the processing of underexposed photographic film to increase the image density
- foreign investment — investment from foreign countries
- forensic chemistry — the application of facts concerning chemistry to questions of civil and criminal law.
- forget-me-not blue — a shade of blue similar to the shade of the flowers of a forget-me-not
- forward compatible — forward compatibility
- foundation garment — an undergarment, as a girdle or corset, worn by women to support or give shape to the contours of the body.
- fourth commandment — “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy”: fourth of the Ten Commandments.
- fragmentation bomb — a bomb designed to break into many small, high-velocity fragments when detonated.
- frequency spectrum — The frequency spectrum of an electrical signal is the distribution of the amplitudes and phases of each frequency component against frequency.
- from stem to stern — If something happens from stem to stern on a boat, it involves the whole of the boat.
- from the ground up — the solid surface of the earth; firm or dry land: to fall to the ground.
- from the housetops — publicly and widely
- fulminating powder — powder that explodes by percussion.
- german east africa — a former German territory in E Africa, the area now comprised of continental Tanzania and the independent republics of Rwanda and Burundi.
- government deficit — A government deficit is a situation in which a government spends more money than it has.
- grease the palm of — to influence by giving money to; bribe
- grist for the mill — If you say that something is grist for the mill, you mean that it is useful for a particular purpose or helps support someone's point of view.
- gulf stream system — a major ocean-current system consisting of the Gulf Stream and the Florida and North Atlantic currents.
- home of the hirsel — Baron, title of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, formerly 14th Earl of Home. 1903–95, British Conservative statesman: he renounced his earldom to become prime minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1963–64); foreign secretary (1970–74)
- hydroflumethiazide — A diuretic drug.
- in complete flower — a flower without one or more of the normal parts, as carpels, sepals, petals, pistils, or stamens.
- in the affirmative — positively, by saying yes
- in the mood for/to — If you say that you are in the mood for something, you mean that you want to do it or have it. If you say that you are in no mood to do something, you mean that you do not want to do it or have it.
- information bureau — an office where you can go to get information
- information centre — help desk, office
- information office — an office where you can go to get information
- information system — a computer system or set of components for collecting, creating, storing, processing, and distributing information, typically including hardware and software, system users, and the data itself: the use of information systems to solve business problems.
- information theory — the mathematical theory concerned with the content, transmission, storage, and retrieval of information, usually in the form of messages or data, and especially by means of computers.
- informatory double — a double intended to inform one's partner that one has a strong hand and to urge a bid regardless of the strength of his or her hand.
- infrared astronomy — the study of infrared radiation emitted by celestial objects.
- intermittent fever — a malarial fever in which feverish periods lasting a few hours alternate with periods in which the temperature is normal.
- lambeth conference — a convention of the bishops of the Anglican communion, held about every 10 years at Lambeth Palace to confer but not to define doctrine or to legislate on ecclesiastical matters.
- lean manufacturing — efficiency in the production of goods
- lone-parent family — a family in which there is only one parent
- loosestrife family — the plant family Lythraceae, characterized by herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees having usually opposite or whorled, simple leaves, clusters of flowers, and fruit in the form of a capsule, and including the crape myrtle, loosestrifes of the genus Lythrum, and the henna shrub.
- magnetic amplifier — an amplifier that applies the input signal to a primary winding and feeds an alternating current to a secondary winding where this current is modulated by the variations in the primary winding.
- make a practice of — be in the habit of
- make short work of — exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.
- manufactured goods — products made by machine
- manufacturing base — the manufacturing industries of an area or a country considered as a unit and a constituent part of the economy
- margaret of valois — ("Queen Margot") 1533–1615, 1st wife of Henry IV of France: queen of Navarre; patron of science and literature (daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici).
- may flower compact — an agreement to establish a government, entered into by the Pilgrims in the cabin of the Mayflower on November 11, 1620.
- means of transport — vehicle or system of travel
- mendel's first law — the principle, originated by Gregor Mendel, stating that during the production of gametes the two copies of each hereditary factor segregate so that offspring acquire one factor from each parent.
- merchant of venice — a comedy (1596?) by Shakespeare.
- metamorphic facies — Geology. a group of metamorphic rock units characterized by particular mineralogic associations.
- methyl transferase — any of a class of enzymes that catalyze the transfer of methyl groups from one molecule to another.
- mexican fire-plant — a showy plant, Euphorbia heterophylla, of the spurge family, growing in the central U.S. to central South America, having red or mottled red and white bracts.