23-letter words containing i, r, e, f

greek-letter fraternity — a fraternity whose name consists usually of two or three Greek letters, as Sigma Delta Phi (ΣΔΦ).
have bats in the belfry — to be mad or eccentric; have strange ideas
hermit of st. augustine — a member of an order of mendicant friars, founded in 1256.
horsehair-blight fungus — a fungal parasite, Marasmius equicrinis, that causes a disease of certain tropical plants, especially tea.
hypergeometric function — a function that is a solution to a hypergeometric equation.
identification bracelet — a bracelet, usually of metal links, having an identification plate for the name of the wearer.
if worst comes to worst — bad or ill in the highest, greatest, or most extreme degree: the worst person.
in a manner of speaking — a way of doing, being done, or happening; mode of action, occurrence, etc.: I don't like the manner in which he complained.
in a world of one's own — If you say that someone is in a world of their own, you mean that they seem not to notice other people or the things going on around them.
in the arms of morpheus — sleeping
in the nature of things — If you say that something is in the nature of things, you mean that you would expect it to happen in the circumstances mentioned.
in the neighbourhood of — In the neighbourhood of a number means approximately that number.
in your heart of hearts — If you believe or know something in your heart of hearts, that is what you really believe or think, even though it may sometimes seem that you do not.
in your stockinged feet — wearing stockings or socks but no shoes
infinite monkey theorem — (humour) "If you put an infinite number of monkeys at typewriters, eventually one will bash out the script for Hamlet." (One may also hypothesise a small number of monkeys and a very long period of time.) This theorem asserts nothing about the intelligence of the one random monkey that eventually comes up with the script (and note that the mob will also type out all the possible *incorrect* versions of Hamlet). It may be referred to semi-seriously when justifying a brute force method; the implication is that, with enough resources thrown at it, any technical challenge becomes a one-banana problem. This theorem was first popularised by the astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington. It became part of the idiom through the classic short story "Inflexible Logic" by Russell Maloney, and many younger hackers know it through a reference in Douglas Adams's "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". See also: RFC 2795.
inherently safer design — Inherently safer design is when a lot of consideration is given to safety when designing a process.
initial public offering — An initial public offering is the first offering of stock when a company goes public.
integrated fire control — an electronic system that locates and tracks a target, computes the data, and employs a weapon to destroy it.
interchange file format — (file format) (IFF, full name "EA IFF 1985") A generic file format published by Electronic Arts as an open standard. IFF is chunk-based and hierarchical so files can include other files. It is easily extensible and an all round Good Idea. An IFF file starts with one of the following "group IDs": 'FORM', 'LIST' or 'CAT '. This is followed by an unsigned 32-bit number of bytes in the remainder of the file. Then comes an ID that indicates which type of IFF file this is. The main image type is ILBM, audio is either AIFF or 8SVX, animations are ANIM etc. An IFF file will probably have a filename extension related to this file type stored in the file. The rest of the file is divided into chunks each of which also has a four-byte header and byte count.
interfascicular cambium — cambium that develops between the vascular bundles.
interference microscope — a microscope that utilizes light interference phenomena to create two superimposed images of an object, making possible the observation of transparent objects without using the staining technique.
internal rate of return — an interest rate giving a net present value of zero when applied to the expected cash flow of a project. Its value, compared to the cost of the capital involved, is used to determine the project's viability
interval of convergence — an interval associated with a given power series such that the series converges for all values of the variable inside the interval and diverges for all values outside it.
kinetic theory of gases — a theory that the particles in a gas move freely and rapidly along straight lines but often collide, resulting in variations in their velocity and direction. Pressure is interpreted as arising from the impacts of these particles with the walls of a container.
l'apres-midi d'un faune — L'Après-midi d'un Faune.
lackland air force base — U.S. Air Force installation in SW central Texas, SW of San Antonio.
laughlin air force base — U.S. Air Force installation in SW Texas, SE of Del Rio.
law enforcement officer — an official employee who prevents and detects crime and who maintains and upholds the police, such as a police officer, sheriff, customs officer etc
light and shade surface — (in architectural shades and shadows) a surface in a plane tangent to the parallel rays from the theoretical light source, treated as a shade surface.
liquefied petroleum gas — a mixture of various petroleum gases, esp propane and butane, stored as a liquid under pressure and used as an engine fuel
magnetic field strength — that part of the magnetic induction that is determined at any point in space by the current density and displacement current at that point independently of the magnetic or other physical properties of the surrounding medium. Symbol: H.
main distribution frame — (networking) (MDF) The network closet containing the main hub.
make sb's life a misery — If someone makes your life a misery, they behave in an unpleasant way towards you over a period of time and make you very unhappy.
marriage of convenience — marriage entered into for a personal or family advantage, as for social, political, or economic reasons, usually without love and sometimes without the expectation of sexual relations.
masters of the universe — extremely powerful and wealthy members of the financial professions
maximal free expression — (MFE) A free expression is sub-expression of a lambda abstraction not containing the bound variable. A maximal free expression is a free expression not contained within any other free expression. See full laziness.
meaningful relationship — a romantic relationship based upon mutual respect and supportiveness and marked by a sense of commitment and fulfillment.
mediterranean fruit fly — a small, black and white, irregularly banded two-winged fly, Ceratitis capitata, of many warm regions, that damages citrus and other succulent fruit crops by implanting eggs that hatch into maggots within the fruit.
mexican free-tailed bat — any of several small, insect-eating bats of the genus Tadarida, of Mexico and the southwestern U.S., inhabiting limestone caves: residual DDT has reduced most populations.
mop (up) the floor with — to defeat decisively
mpeg-4 aac main profile — (compression, standard, algorithm) A successor of MP3 allowing transparent coding at data rates of 70-75% of that of MP3. It is very different from MP3, only used MDCT, no subband coding. It is much more complex that MP3 and MPEG-2 AAC Low Profile.
near-infrared radiation — the shorter wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared region of the spectrum, extending from about 0.75 to 2.5 micrometers, usually radiation reflected from plant materials.
nigger of the narcissus — a novel (1897) by Joseph Conrad.
noncommissioned officer — an enlisted person, as a sergeant or corporal, holding any of various ranks below commissioned or warrant officers.
not a hair out of place — If you say that someone has not a hair out of place, you are emphasizing that they are extremely smart and neatly dressed.
object-oriented fortran — (language) (OOF) An object-oriented extension of Fortran, in which data items can be grouped into objects, which can be instantiated and executed in parallel. It was available for Sun, Iris, iPSC, and nCUBE, but is no longer supported. E-mail: Donna Reese <[email protected]>.
of many years' standing — You can use the expression of many years' standing to say that something has had a particular function or someone has had a particular role for many years. For example, if a place is your home of ten years' standing, it has been your home for ten years.
one thing after another — If you talk about one thing after another, you are referring to a series of repeated or continuous events.
order of military merit — an order awarded to members of the Canadian Forces for conspicuous merit; established in 1972
order of the visitation — a religious order of nuns founded in 1610 by St Francis of Sales and dedicated to contemplation and the cultivation of humility, gentleness, and sisterly love

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