13-letter words containing l, a, f, r, e, s
- field sparrow — a common North American finch, Spizella pusilla, found in brushy pasturelands.
- figured glass — plate or sheet glass having a pattern rolled onto one side of the surface.
- file transfer — (networking) Copying a file from one computer to another over a computer network. See also File Transfer Protocol, Kermit, Network File System, rcp, uucp, XMODEM, ZMODEM.
- filmographies — Plural form of filmography.
- first refusal — If someone has first refusal on something that is being sold or offered, they have the right to decide whether or not to buy it or take it before it is offered to anyone else.
- flabbergasted — to overcome with surprise and bewilderment; astound.
- flabbergaster — to overcome with surprise and bewilderment; astound.
- flabergasting — Present participle of flabergast.
- flamethrowers — Plural form of flamethrower.
- flash picture — a photograph made using flash photography.
- flatbed press — a printing machine on which the type forme is carried on a flat bed under a revolving paper-bearing cylinder
- flavoproteins — Plural form of flavoprotein.
- flowering ash — a variety of ash tree that produces conspicuous flowers
- flutterboards — Plural form of flutterboard.
- fly fisherman — one who fishes by fly-casting
- flying saucer — any of various disk-shaped objects allegedly seen flying at high speeds and altitudes, often with extreme changes in speed and direction, and thought by some to be manned by intelligent beings from outer space.
- focal seizure — an epileptic manifestation arising from a localized anomaly in the brain, as a small tumor or scar, and usually involving a single motor or sensory mechanism but occasionally spreading to other areas and causing convulsions and loss of consciousness.
- fool's errand — a completely absurd, pointless, or useless errand.
- foolhardiness — recklessly or thoughtlessly bold; foolishly rash or venturesome.
- for values of — (jargon) A common rhetorical maneuver at MIT is to use any of the canonical random numbers as placeholders for variables. "The max function takes 42 arguments, for arbitrary values of 42". "There are 69 ways to leave your lover, for 69 = 50". This is especially likely when the speaker has uttered a random number and realises that it was not recognised as such, but even "non-random" numbers are occasionally used in this fashion. A related joke is that pi equals 3 - for small values of pi and large values of 3. This usage probably derives from the programming language MAD (Michigan Algorithm Decoder), an ALGOL-like language that was the most common choice among mainstream (non-hacker) users at MIT in the mid-1960s. It had a control structure FOR VALUES OF X = 3, 7, 99 DO ... that would repeat the indicated instructions for each value in the list (unlike the usual FOR that generates an arithmetic sequence of values). MAD is long extinct, but similar for-constructs still flourish (e.g. in Unix's shell languages).
- force a smile — to make oneself smile
- formal system — an uninterpreted symbolic system whose syntax is precisely defined, and on which a relation of deducibility is defined in purely syntactic terms; a logistic system
- fowler's toad — an eastern U.S. toad, Bufo woodhousii fowleri, having an almost patternless white belly.
- fractionalise — Alt form fractionalize.
- fraser island — an island off the south-east coast of Queensland and the largest sand island in the world; contains rainforests, heathlands, and freshwater lakes; a national park (since 1976) and a World Heritage site (since 1992). Area: 1840 sq km (710 sq miles). Pop: 194 (2011)
- freudian slip — (in Freudian psychology) an inadvertent mistake in speech or writing that is thought to reveal a person's unconscious motives, wishes, or attitudes.
- frise aileron — an aircraft wing control surface designed with its leading edge extending forward of its axis of rotation so that when the aileron's trailing edge is raised the leading edge extends below the bottom surface of the wing.
- frosted glass — etched glass with a translucent surface
- gallimaufries — Plural form of gallimaufry.
- gallows frame — headframe.
- garrison life — the life of troops who maintain and guard a military base or fortified place
- general staff — a group of officers who are without command and whose duty is to assist high commanders in planning and carrying out orders in peace and war.
- granuliferous — full of granules, or producing granules
- half measures — inadequate measures or actions
- half-deserted — (of a place) not having many inhabitants, visitors, etc
- half-silvered — (of a mirror) having an incomplete reflective coating, so that half the incident light is reflected and half transmitted: used in optical instruments and two-way mirrors
- hard feelings — Hard feelings are feelings of anger or bitterness towards someone who you have had an argument with or who has upset you. If you say 'no hard feelings', you are making an agreement with someone not to be angry or bitter about something.
- heartfeltness — The state or quality of being heartfelt.
- informalities — Plural form of informality.
- informercials — Plural form of informercial.
- isle of capri — Capri.
- laissez-faire — of, relating to, or conforming to the principles or practices of laissez faire.
- leapfrog test — a diagnostic technique using arithmetic or logical operations in a routine to manage the capacity of storage media, transfer data, and check the results.
- loose forward — one of a number of forwards who play at the back or sides of the scrum and who are not bound wholly into it
- lose track of — to fail to follow the passage, course, or progress of
- mammaliferous — containing the remains of mammals
- marsh trefoil — buck bean.
- masterfulness — The quality of being masterful.
- materfamilias — the mother of a family.
- metalliferous — containing or yielding metal.