13-letter words containing r, l, e, s
- 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
- foresightedly — In a foresighted manner.
- foresightless — lacking foresight
- forgetfulness — apt to forget; that forgets: a forgetful person.
- 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
- fort donelson — Fort Donelson.
- fortnightlies — Plural form of fortnightly.
- fossil energy — heat energy released by burning fossil fuel
- fossiliferous — bearing or containing fossils, as rocks or strata.
- foursome reel — a lively Scottish dance for two couples who combine in square and circular formations
- 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)
- frelinghuysen — Frederick Theodore, 1817–85, U.S. statesman.
- french polish — French polish is a type of varnish which is painted onto wood so that the wood has a hard shiny surface.
- french-polish — to finish or treat (a piece of furniture) with French polish.
- 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.
- frightfulness — The quality of being frightful.
- 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.
- frivolousness — characterized by lack of seriousness or sense: frivolous conduct.
- frosted glass — etched glass with a translucent surface
- fruitlessness — The quality of being fruitless.
- full-strength — If a team or army is at full strength, all the members that it needs or usually has are present.
- furshlugginer — crazy; foolish
- galerie house — (in French Louisiana) a house with its main story above the ground floor and with verandas (galeries) for both stories in tiers on at least one side.
- gallimaufries — Plural form of gallimaufry.
- gallows frame — headframe.
- galois theory — the branch of mathematics that deals with the application of the theory of finite groups to the solution of algebraic equations.
- galvanometers — Plural form of galvanometer.
- games library — a type of library for video games where games (usually downloaded via the internet) can be paid for per use rather than be bought at full price
- garcia robles — Alfonso [al-fon-soh,, -zoh;; Spanish ahl-fawn-saw] /ælˈfɒn soʊ,, -zoʊ;; Spanish ɑlˈfɔn sɔ/ (Show IPA), 1911–91, Mexican diplomat: Nobel Prize 1982.
- garden balsam — a fleshy annual garden impatiens (Impatiens balsamina) with roselike white, lavender, yellow, pink, or red blossoms borne along the main stem in leaf axils
- garrison life — the life of troops who maintain and guard a military base or fortified place
- garrulousness — Garrulity.
- gastric ulcer — a peptic ulcer located in the stomach's inner wall, caused in part by the corrosive action of the gastric juice on the mucous membrane.
- geissler tube — a sealed glass tube with platinum connections at the ends, containing rarefied gas made luminous by an electrical discharge.
- gelandesprung — a jump, usually over an obstacle, in which one plants both poles in the snow in advance of the skis, bends close to the ground, and propels oneself chiefly by the use of the poles.
- gelsenkirchen — a city in W Germany, in the Ruhr valley.
- geminiflorous — having flowers arranged in pairs.
- gemmuliferous — producing or reproducing by gemmules.
- general costs — the general expenses of running a business
- 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.
- general store — a store, usually in a rural area, that sells a wide variety of merchandise, as clothing, food, or hardware, but is not divided into departments.
- general synod — the governing body, under Parliament, of the Church of England, made up of the bishops and elected clerical and lay representatives
- generalisable — Non-Oxford British standard spelling of generalizable.
- generalissimo — the supreme commander of the armed forces.
- genital warts — a sexually transmitted disease caused by the human papilloma virus; the warts grow in the genital area
- gentle-person — a person of good family and position; gentleman or lady.