19-letter words containing o, f, r, a
- index of refraction — a number indicating the speed of light in a given medium as either the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to that in the given medium (absolute index of refraction) or the ratio of the speed of light in a specified medium to that in the given medium (relative index of refraction) Symbol: n.
- inflationary spiral — Geometry. a plane curve generated by a point moving around a fixed point while constantly receding from or approaching it.
- informal settlement — a squatter camp
- information algebra — Theoretical formalism for DP, never resulted in a language. Language Structure Group of CODASYL, ca. 1962. Sammet 1969, 709.
- information content — the amount of information in something
- information highway — information superhighway
- information officer — someone whose job is to give information to people
- information science — the study of the nature, collection, and management of information and of its uses, especially involving computer storage and retrievals.
- information service — a service which provides information
- information warfare — the use of electronic communications and the internet to disrupt a country's telecommunications, power supply, transport system, etc
- inglenook fireplace — a large fireplace with a space on either side
- interactive fiction — an adventure or mystery story, usually presented as a video game or book, in which the player or reader is given choices as to how the storyline is to develop or the mystery is to be solved.
- interesterification — transesterification.
- interfacial tension — the surface tension at the interface of two liquids.
- interferometrically — By means of interferometry.
- invasion of privacy — an encroachment upon the right to be let alone or to be free from publicity.
- islet of langerhans — any of several masses of endocrine cells in the pancreas that secrete insulin, somatostatin, and glucagon.
- jacques montgolfier — Jacques Étienne [zhahk ey-tyen] /ʒɑk eɪˈtyɛn/ (Show IPA), 1745–99, and his brother Joseph Michel [zhaw-zef mee-shel] /ʒɔˈzɛf miˈʃɛl/ (Show IPA) 1740–1810, French aeronauts: inventors of the first practical balloon 1783.
- joseph of arimathea — a wealthy disciple who provided a tomb for Jesus' body: Matt. 27:57-60
- judicial conference — a conference of judges held to discuss improvements in methods or judicial procedure through court rules or otherwise.
- keep an eye out for — the organ of sight, in vertebrates typically one of a pair of spherical bodies contained in an orbit of the skull and in humans appearing externally as a dense, white, curved membrane, or sclera, surrounding a circular, colored portion, or iris, that is covered by a clear, curved membrane, or cornea, and in the center of which is an opening, or pupil, through which light passes to the retina.
- kingdom of lorraine — an early medieval kingdom on the Meuse, Moselle, and Rhine rivers: later a duchy
- lagrangian function — kinetic potential.
- land of opportunity — Arkansas (used as a nickname).
- lay one's finger on — to indicate, identify, or locate accurately
- left-luggage locker — a coin-operated locker in which luggage can be left
- library of congress — one of the major library collections in the world, located in Washington, D.C., and functioning in some ways as the national library of the U.S. although not officially designated as such: established by Congress in 1800 for service to its members, but now also serving government agencies, other libraries, and the public.
- lift the curtain on — to begin
- line of demarcation — a separation between things deemed to be distinct
- load-bearing printf — (programming, humour) The kind of bug present in a program which works correctly when producing debug output but fails when the debugging is turned off. The expression combines load-bearing wall and printf as used in debugging by printf.
- logical shift right — logical shift
- love at first sight — instant romantic attraction to sb
- lymphoproliferation — (medicine) the excessive production of lymphocytes.
- lymphoproliferative — Characterized by lymphoproliferation.
- lyon office of arms — Heralds' Office.
- magnetomotive force — a scalar quantity that is a measure of the sources of magnetic flux in a magnetic circuit. Abbreviation: mmf.
- make a pig's ear of — to ruin disastrously
- make oneself scarce — insufficient to satisfy the need or demand; not abundant: Meat and butter were scarce during the war.
- malice aforethought — a predetermination to commit an unlawful act without just cause or provocation (applied chiefly to cases of first-degree murder).
- maratha confederacy — a loose league of states in central and western India, c1750–1818.
- margaret of navarre — 1492–1549, queen of Navarre 1544–49: patron of literature, author of stories, and poet.
- mary wollstonecraft — Mary (Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin) 1759–97, English author and feminist (mother of Mary Shelley).
- master of foxhounds — the person responsible for the conduct of a fox hunt and to whom all members of the hunt and its staff are responsible. Abbreviation: M.F.H.
- master of the horse — (in England) the third official of the royal household
- master of the rolls — (in England and Wales) the judge who presides over the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) and who was formerly Keeper of the Records at the Public Record Office
- mayor of the palace — one of a line of hereditary administrative lieutenants to the Merovingian kings who eventually took over royal function and title in the Frankish kingdoms; a palatine.
- means of production — resources: equipment, workers
- measure for measure — a comedy (1604) by Shakespeare.
- midafternoon prayer — the fifth of the seven canonical hours; none
- mine of information — source of great knowledge