17-letter words containing i, a, f
- artificial kidney — a mechanical apparatus for performing haemodialysis
- artificial person — a human being, whether an adult or child: The table seats four persons.
- as far as it goes — If you say that something is good as far as it goes or true so far as it goes, you mean that it is good or true only to a limited extent.
- as the crow flies — If you say that a place is a particular distance away as the crow flies, you mean that it is that distance away measured in a straight line.
- assemblies of god — the largest American Pentecostal denomination, formed in 1914 by the merger of various Pentecostal churches and marked by faith healing and speaking in tongues.
- assistant referee — An assistant referee is the same as a linesman.
- associate of arts — a degree granted especially by junior colleges after completion of two years of study. Abbreviation: A.A.
- association fiber — any of several nerve fibers connecting different areas of the cerebral cortex in the same hemisphere.
- at the service of — To be at the service of a person or organization means to be available to help or be used by that person or organization.
- attorneys-in-fact — a person authorized by power of attorney to act on the authorizer's behalf outside a court of law.
- axis of abscissas — x-axis (def 1).
- axis of ordinates — y-axis (def 1).
- axis-of-abscissas — x-axis (def 1).
- axis-of-ordinates — y-axis (def 1).
- babinski's reflex — a reflex extension of the great toe with flexion of the other toes, evoked by stroking the sole of the foot: normal in infants but otherwise denoting central nervous system damage.
- barbed wire fence — a fence constructed from strong wire that has sharply pointed barbs at close intervals along its length
- barber of seville — Italian Il barbiere di Siviglia. a comic opera (1816) by Gioacchino Rossini based on a comedy (1775) by Beaumarchais.
- barmecide (feast) — a pretended feast with no food
- barrow-in-furness — an industrial town in NW England, in S Cumbria. Pop: 47 194 (2001)
- bathroom fittings — plumbing fixtures or accessories suitable for use in a bathroom
- battle of britain — (in World War II) the series of aerial combats that took place between British and German aircraft during the autumn of 1940 and that included the severe bombardment of British cities.
- be a box of birds — to be very well indeed
- beefsteak begonia — an ornamental plant, Begonia erythrophylla, having light-pink flowers and nearly round, thick, fleshy leaves that are red on the underside.
- bellflower family — the plant family Campanulaceae, characterized by chiefly herbaceous plants having simple, alternate leaves and solitary or clustered flowers with a bell-shaped, five-lobed, often blue or purple corolla, and including the harebell, Canterbury bells, and balloon flower.
- benjamin franklin — Aretha [uh-ree-thuh] /əˈri θə/ (Show IPA), born 1942, U.S. singer.
- best first search — (algorithm) A graph search algorithm which optimises breadth first search by ordering all current paths according to some heuristic. The heuristic attempts to predict how close the end of a path is to a solution. Paths which are judged to be closer to a solution are extended first. See also beam search, hill climbing.
- bill of adventure — a certificate made out by a merchant to show that goods handled by him and his agents are the property of another party at whose risk the dealing is done
- bill of attainder — (formerly) a legislative act finding a person guilty without trial of treason or felony and declaring him attainted
- biological father — the man whose semen fertilized the ovum from which a child was born
- biotransformation — the metabolizing of some substance, esp. a drug, in the body
- birth certificate — Your birth certificate is an official document which gives details of your birth, such as the date and place of your birth, and the names of your parents.
- birth of a nation — an American film (1915), directed by D. W. Griffith.
- blood transfusion — A blood transfusion is a process in which blood is injected into the body of a person who is badly injured or ill.
- blue false indigo — a North American plant, Baptisia australis, of the legume family, having wedge-shaped leaflets and blue, clustered flowers.
- board of estimate — a special organ of a municipal government, as of New York City, composed of the mayor, the president of the city council, and the controller, and charged with approving the city's budget and fiscal matters.
- body modification — any method of permanently adorning the body, including tattooing and piercing
- bradford spinning — a wool-spinning method in which the fibers are oiled prior to combing and subsequently spun into worsted yarn.
- breach of promise — (formerly) failure to carry out one's promise to marry
- breathe life into — revive, rejuvenate
- budgetary deficit — the amount by which government expenditure exceeds income from taxation, customs duties, etc, in any one fiscal year
- butacaine sulfate — a colorless, crystalline substance, (C18H30N2O2)2·H2SO4, used as a local anesthetic, esp. on mucous membranes
- butterfly diagram — a graphical butterfly-shaped representation of the sunspot density on the solar disc in the 11-year sunspot cycle
- buyers' inflation — inflation in which rising demand results in a rise in prices.
- café-au-lait spot — a brown patch on the skin that can occur normally in small numbers or in neurofibromatosis, when they are more numerous
- cafeteria benefit — a fringe benefit chosen by an employee from a range of benefits offered under a cafeteria plan.
- california condor — either of two large, New World vultures of the family Cathartidae, Gymnogyps californianus (California condor) or Vultur gryphus (Andean condor) the largest flying birds in the Western Hemisphere: the California condor is almost extinct; the Andean condor is greatly reduced in number and rare in many areas.
- california laurel — a Pacific coast shrub or tree (Umbellularia californica) of the laurel family, having aromatic evergreen leaves and hard wood; Oregon myrtle: a source of bay leaves
- california nutmeg — a tall, pungently aromatic California evergreen tree, Torreya californica, of the yew family, having a fissured, gray-brown bark and small, purple-streaked, green fruit.
- california privet — a privet, Ligustrum ovalifolium, of the olive family, native to Japan, having glossy, oval leaves and long clusters of white flowers, widely used for hedges in the U.S.
- camp-fire-members — a U.S. organization for girls and boys that emphasizes the building of character and good citizenship through work, health, and love; originally founded for girls (Camp Fire girls) in 1910, it is now open to both boys and girls (Camp Fire members)