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13-letter words containing n, f

  • beta function — a function of two variables, usually expressed as an improper integral and equal to the quotient of the product of the values of the gamma function at each variable divided by the value of the gamma function at the sum of the variables.
  • beyond belief — You use beyond belief to emphasize that something is true to a very great degree or that it happened to a very great degree.
  • bikini briefs — a pair of men's or women's underpants that barely cover the groin area
  • bilinear form — a function or functional of two variables that is linear with respect to each variable when the other variable is held fixed.
  • bill of entry — a list of goods received at a customs house for export or import
  • binary prefix — (unit)   (Or "IEC prefix") A prefix used with a unit of data to mean multiplication by a power of 1024. Binary prefixes are most often used with "byte" (e.g. "kilobyte") but also with bit (e.g. "megabit"). For example, the term kilobyte has historically been used to mean 1024 bytes, and megabyte to mean 1,048,576 bytes. The multipliers 1024 and 1,048,576 are powers of 1024, which is itself a power of two (1024 = 2^10). It is this factor of two that gives the name "binary prefix". This is in contrast to a decimal prefix denoting a power of 1000, which is itself a power of ten (1000 = 10^3). Decimal prefixes are used in science and engineering and are specified in widely adopted SI standards. Note that the actual prefix - kilo or mega - is the same, it is the interpretation that differs. The difference between the two interpretations increases with each multiplication, so while 1000 and 1024 differ by only 2.4%, 1000^6 and 1024^6 differ by 15%. The 1024-based interpretation of prefixes is often still used informally and especially when discussing the storage capacity of random-access memory. This has lead to storage device manufacturers being accused of false marketing for using the decimal interpretation where customers might assume the larger, historical, binary interpretation. In an attempt to clarify the distinction, in 1998 the IEC specified that kilobyte, megabyte, etc. should only be used for powers of 1000 (following SI). They specified new prefixes for powers of 1024 containing "bi" for "binary": kibibyte, mebibyte, etc.; an idea originally propsed by IUPAC. IEC also specified new abbreviations Ki, Mi, etc. for the new prefixes. Many other standards bodies such as NIST, IEEE and BIPM support this proposal but as of 2013 its use is rare in non-technical circles. Specific units of IEC 60027-2 A.2 and ISO/IEC 80000
  • birefringence — the splitting of a light ray, generally by a crystal, into two components that travel at different velocities and are polarized at right angles to each other
  • blanketflower — a hardy flowering plant, Gaillardia aristata, that grows in the US
  • blast furnace — A blast furnace is a large structure in which iron ore is heated under pressure so that it melts and the pure iron metal separates out and can be collected.
  • blind freddie — an imaginary person representing the highest degree of incompetence (esp in the phrase Blind Freddie could see that!)
  • bloomfieldian — Linguistics. influenced by, resembling, or deriving from the linguistic theory and the methods of linguistic analysis advocated by Leonard Bloomfield, characterized especially by emphasis on the classification of overt formal features.
  • boarding fees — fees paid for boarding at a school
  • bonfire night — Bonfire Night is the popular name for Guy Fawkes Night.
  • boniface viii — original name Benedict Caetano. ?1234–1303, pope (1294–1303)
  • bottomfishing — to fish with a weighted line for fish that feed close to the bottom.
  • bounced flash — a flash bounced off a reflective surface, as a ceiling or wall, to illuminate a subject indirectly.
  • branch office — the local branch of a bank, shop, or other business
  • brass foundry — a foundry that makes things from brass
  • brassfounding — the practice of making things from brass
  • break feeding — the feeding of animals on paddocks where feeding space is controlled by the frequent movement of an electric fence
  • brief against — If someone, especially a politician, briefs against another person, he or she tries to harm the other person's reputation by saying something unfavourable about them.
  • bring forward — If you bring forward a meeting or event, you arrange for it to take place at an earlier date or time than had been planned.
  • bring to life — to bring back to consciousness
  • bufadienolide — any of a family of steroid lactones, occurring in toad venom and squill, that possess cardiac-stimulating and antitumor activity.
  • buffalo wings — spicy fried segments of chicken wings, usually served with celery sticks and a sauce of blue cheese
  • buffing wheel — a wheel covered with a soft material, such as lamb's wool or leather, used for shining and polishing
  • bundle of his — atrioventricular bundle.
  • buoyant force — the law that a body immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force (buoyant force) equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body.
  • butcher knife — a large, very sharp knife for cutting or trimming meat.
  • butterfingers — a person who drops things inadvertently or fails to catch things
  • butterfly net — a lightweight, fine net on the end of a pole used for catching butterflies
  • butterfly nut — wing nut.
  • by definition — If you say that something has a particular quality by definition, you mean that it has this quality simply because of what it is.
  • cafe chantant — an intimate cabaret offering sophisticated musical entertainment.
  • café coronary — a fatal choking condition brought on when food, dentures, etc. lodge in a person's throat while he or she is eating: it is often misinterpreted as a heart attack
  • cafe curtains — short, straight curtains, esp. for covering the lower part of a window, hung from a rod by means of sliding rings
  • cage fighting — Cage fighting is a type of organized violent fighting that takes place in an enclosed space.
  • calcification — the process of calcifying or becoming calcified
  • calf's tongue — a molding having pendent, tonguelike members in relief against a flat or molded surface.
  • calorifacient — (of foods) producing heat.
  • camp-drafting — a competitive test, esp at an agricultural show, of horsemen's skill in drafting cattle
  • campaign fund — money for a campaign, as of a political candidate, usually acquired through contributions by supporters.
  • campaniliform — Alternative form of campaniform.
  • candlesnuffer — an implement, or person, that extinguishes candle flames
  • cannon fodder — If someone in authority regards people they are in charge of as cannon fodder, they do not care if these people are harmed or lost in the course of their work.
  • cantus firmus — an existing melody used as the basis for a new polyphonic composition
  • caprification — a method of pollinating the edible fig by hanging branches of caprifig flowers in edible fig trees. Parasitic wasps in the caprifig flowers transfer pollen to the edible fig flowers
  • carbon offset — a compensatory measure made by an individual or company for carbon emissions, usually through sponsoring activities or projects which increase carbon dioxide absorption, such as tree planting
  • carboniferous — yielding coal or carbon
  • cardinal fish — a small brightly coloured fish found in shallow tropical seas, of the family Apogonidae, the male of which often broods eggs in its mouth
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