20-letter words containing p, e, r, f

fixed-price contract — a contract in which the price is preset and invariable, regardless of the actual costs of production.
flame-fusion process — Verneuil process.
flat-plate collector — a type of solar collector consisting of a series of flat glass or plastic plates with black metal surfaces that absorb solar energy.
floodlight projector — a powerful lamp having a reflector curved to produce a floodlight.
fore-and-aft topsail — gaff topsail (def 1).
fore-topgallant mast — the spar or section of a spar forming the topgallant portion of a foremast on a ship.
forty-ninth parallel — an informal name for the Canadian border with the USA, which is in part delineated by the parallel line of latitude at 49°N
free-range parenting — Informal. a style of child rearing in which parents allow their children to move about without constant adult supervision, aimed at instilling independence and self-reliance.
freedom of the press — the right to publish newspapers, magazines, and other printed matter without governmental restriction and subject only to the laws of libel, obscenity, sedition, etc.
freefall parachuting — a variety of parachuting in which the jumper manoeuvres in free fall before opening the parachute
freight pass-through — a special allowance or discounted price given a bookseller or bookstore by a publishing house for paying the freight charge on a shipment of books ordered: so called because the shipping charge is passed on to the consumer by an increase in the suggested retail price for each book. Abbreviation: FPT.
frontenac et palluau — Comte de (Louis de Buade) 1620?–98, French governor of New France 1672–82, 1689–98.
fundamental particle — elementary particle.
group life insurance — a form of life insurance available to members of a group, typically employees of a company, under a master policy.
group of twenty-four — a group of twenty-four rich and industrialized countries of the world, whose heads of government meet regularly to coordinate the position of developing countries on monetary and development issues
heat of vaporization — the heat absorbed per unit mass of a given material at its boiling point that completely converts the material to a gas at the same temperature: equal to the heat of condensation.
houses of parliament — In Britain, the Houses of Parliament are the British parliament, which consists of two parts, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The buildings where the British parliament does its work are also called the Houses of Parliament.
ideal of pure reason — God, seen as an idea of pure reason unifying the personal soul with the cosmos.
imperfect contrition — sincere penitence or remorse.
in any shape or form — If you say, for example, that you will not accept something in any shape or form, or in any way, shape or form, you are emphasizing that you will not accept it in any circumstances.
in the lap of luxury — If you say that someone lives in the lap of luxury, you mean that they live in conditions of great comfort and wealth.
infrared photography — photography using film with an emulsion that is sensitive to infrared light, enabling it to be used in misty weather, in darkened interiors, or at night. It has applications in aerial surveys, the detection of forgeries, etc
instruction prefetch — (architecture) A technique which attempts to minimise the time a processor spends waiting for instructions to be fetched from memory. Instructions following the one currently being executed are loaded into a prefetch queue when the processor's external bus is otherwise idle. If the processor executes a branch instruction or receives an interrupt then the queue must be flushed and reloaded from the new address. Instruction prefetch is often combined with pipelining in an attempt to keep the pipeline busy. By 1995 most processors used prefetching, e.g. Motorola 680x0, Intel 80x86.
interference pattern — a series of alternating dark and bright bands produced as a result of light interference.
investment portfolio — the whole range of financial investments held by an individual investor or a financial organization
japanese river fever — an infectious disease occurring chiefly in Japan and the East Indies, caused by the organism Rickettsia tsutsugamushi, transmitted by mites through biting.
joseph of arimathaea — a member of the Sanhedrin who placed the body of Jesus in the tomb. Matt. 27:57–60; Mark 15:43.
keep a straight face — look serious, avoid smiling
law of superposition — Geology. a basic law of geochronology, stating that in any undisturbed sequence of rocks deposited in layers, the youngest layer is on top and the oldest on bottom, each layer being younger than the one beneath it and older than the one above it.
liberty of the press — freedom of the press.
life-support machine — A life-support machine is the equipment that is used to keep a person alive when they are very ill and cannot breathe without help.
liquidity preference — (in Keynesian economics) the degree of individual preference for cash over less liquid assets.
llywelyn ap gruffudd — died 1282, prince of Wales (1258–82): the only Welsh ruler to be recognized as such by the English
look before you leap — be aware of the risks involved in sth
lost property office — room for mislaid objects
member of parliament — A Member of Parliament is a person who has been elected by the people in a particular area to represent them in a country's parliament. The abbreviation MP is often used.
member of the public — a member of the general population
mother of the chapel — (in British trade unions in the publishing and printing industries) a woman shop steward
mother-of-pearl moth — a pyralid moth, Pleuroptya ruralis, having a pale sheen, that is often seen around nettles, on which its green larvae feed
music of the spheres — a music, imperceptible to human ears, formerly supposed to be produced by the movements of the spheres or heavenly bodies.
occupation franchise — the right of a tenant to vote in national and local elections
overseer of the poor — a minor official of a parish attached to the workhouse or poorhouse
paper qualifications — qualifications gained through official examinations, etc, rather than through experience
pappus of alexandria — 3rd century bc, Greek mathematician, whose eight-volume Synagoge is a valuable source of information about Greek mathematics
parallel of altitude — almucantar.
parallel of latitude — parallel (def 9).
parametric amplifier — a device, as an electron tube or transistor, that amplifies a high-frequency input signal by sinusoidally varying the reactance of the circuit.
partial differential — an expression obtained from a given function of several variables by taking the partial derivative with respect to one of the variables and multiplying by the increment in that variable.
patent foramen ovale — a congenital heart defect resulting from failure of the foramen ovale to close shortly after birth.
paternal grandfather — the father of someone's father

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