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18-letter words containing i, n, f, r, a, c

  • creeping featurism — (jargon)   /kree'ping fee'chr-izm/ (Or "feature creep") A systematic tendency to load more chrome and features onto systems at the expense of whatever elegance they may have possessed when originally designed. "The main problem with BSD Unix has always been creeping featurism." More generally, creeping featurism is the tendency for anything to become more complicated because people keep saying "Gee, it would be even better if it had this feature too". The result is usually a patchwork because it grew one ad-hoc step at a time, rather than being planned. Planning is a lot of work, but it's easy to add just one extra little feature to help someone, and then another, and another, .... When creeping featurism gets out of hand, it's like a cancer. Usually this term is used to describe computer programs, but it could also be said of the federal government, the IRS 1040 form, and new cars. A similar phenomenon sometimes afflicts conscious redesigns; see second-system effect. See also creeping elegance.
  • criminal profiling — the analysis of a person's psychological and behavioural characteristics, so as to assess whether they are likely to have committed a crime under investigation
  • crude oil fraction — A crude oil fraction is a component of crude oil, which has its own particular molecular composition, weight, and boiling point.
  • cultural diffusion — act of diffusing; state of being diffused.
  • declaration of war — a formal statement made by one country to another that a state of war now exists between them
  • diaminofluorescein — (organic compound) A fluorescein into which two amino groups have been substituted.
  • disenfranchisement — to disfranchise.
  • eleanor of castile — 1246–90, Spanish wife of Edward I of England. Eleanor Crosses were erected at each place at which her body rested between Nottingham, where she died, and London, where she is buried
  • electronic warfare — the military use of electronics to prevent or reduce an enemy's effective use and to protect friendly use of electromagnetic radiation equipment
  • enforcement action — action by a body or organization, esp a financial one, to make sure that its rules are being followed
  • fabric conditioner — a product used when washing clothes to make them feel softer
  • feeping creaturism — /fee'ping kree"ch*r-izm/ A deliberate spoonerism for creeping featurism, meant to imply that the system or program in question has become a misshapen creature of hacks. This term isn"t really well defined, but it sounds so neat that most hackers have said or heard it. It is probably reinforced by an image of terminals prowling about in the dark making their customary noises.
  • ferdinand schiller — Ferdinand Canning Scott [kan-ing] /ˈkæn ɪŋ/ (Show IPA), 1864–1937, English philosopher in the U.S.
  • fermat's principle — Optics. the law that the path taken by a ray of light in going from one point to another point will be the path that requires the least time.
  • fettuccine alfredo — fettuccine in cream sauce with grated Parmesan cheese.
  • fibrocartilaginous — a type of cartilage having a large number of fibers.
  • fifth monarchy men — (during the Commonwealth in the 17th century) a militant sect of Puritans who identified the fifth monarchy with the millennial reign of Christ and who believed they should help to inaugurate that reign by force.
  • financial services — A company or organization that provides financial services is able to help you do things such as make investments or buy a pension or mortgage.
  • fischer von erlach — Johann Bernhard [yaw-hahn bern-hahrt] /ˈyɔ hɑn ˈbɛrn hɑrt/ (Show IPA), 1656–1723, Austrian architect.
  • fixed-term tenancy — a tenancy arrangement for a particular and fixed period
  • formal equivalence — the relation that holds between two open sentences when their universal closures are materially equivalent
  • francisco coronado — Francisco Vásquez de [frahn-thees-kaw bahs-keth th e,, frahn-sees-kaw bahs-kes] /frɑnˈθis kɔ ˈbɑs kɛθ ðɛ,, frɑnˈsis kɔ ˈbɑs kɛs/ (Show IPA), 1510–54? Spanish explorer in North America.
  • free-range chicken — a chicken kept in natural nonintensive conditions
  • french west africa — a former French federation in W Africa, including Dahomey (now Benin), French Guinea, French Sudan (now Mali), Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Upper Volta (now Burkina Fasso).
  • ftp software, inc. — (company)   Developers of the original PC/TCP Packet Driver specification. Address: 26 Princess St. Wakefield, MA 01880-3004. Telephone: +1 (617) 246 0900.
  • fuming nitric acid — a colorless, yellowish, or brownish fuming corrosive liquid, usually prepared from nitric acid by the addition of excess nitrogen dioxide: used in organic synthesis for nitration, and as an oxidizer in liquid propellants for rockets.
  • functional program — (language)   A program employing the functional programming approach or written in a functional language.
  • funeral procession — ceremonial cortège at a burial
  • furnishing fabrics — fabrics used to make and cover furniture
  • general confession — a prayer confessing sins
  • 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.
  • grand council fire — a formal gathering of camp fire members requiring a minimum attendance of three troops.
  • gulf of california — an arm of the Pacific Ocean, between Sonora and Lower California
  • handkerchief table — corner table.
  • historical fiction — the genre of literature, film, etc., comprising narratives that take place in the past and are characterized chiefly by an imaginative reconstruction of historical events and personages.
  • ideas of reference — a schizophrenic symptom in which the patient thinks that things completely disconnected from him are influencing him or conveying messages to him
  • in the first place — firstly
  • indefinite article — an article, as English a, an, that denotes class membership of the noun it modifies without particularizing it.
  • inferior vena cava — See under vena cava.
  • information centre — help desk, office
  • information office — an office where you can go to get information
  • inspector of taxes — an official of HMRC whose work is to assess individuals' income tax liability
  • integrating factor — a factor that upon multiplying a differential equation with the right-hand side equal to zero makes the equation integrable, usually by making the resulting expression an exact differential of some function.
  • interface analysis — (testing)   A software test which checks the interfaces between program elements for consistency and adherence to predefined rules or axioms.
  • isabella of france — 1292–1358, wife (1308–27) of Edward II of England, whom, aided by her lover, Roger de Mortimer, she deposed; mother of Edward III
  • lawrence of arabia — D(avid) H(erbert) 1885–1930, English novelist.
  • lean manufacturing — efficiency in the production of goods
  • lifesaving service — a private organization or government agency for general marine rescue operations.
  • 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 no difference — to have no effect; not matter
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