17-letter words containing s, o, f, t

of its own accord — If something happens of its own accord, it seems to happen by itself, without anyone making it happen.
of the old school — If you approve of someone because they have good qualities that used to be more common in the past, you can describe them as one of the old school.
off one's own bat — If someone does something off their own bat, they do it without anyone else suggesting it.
off one's trolley — trolley car.
off-site facility — An off-site facility is a facility which is not at the main industrial or commercial site.
on the half shell — served raw, with seasonings, on a half shell
one for the books — a handwritten or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers.
one of these days — at some future time
one size fits all — (of clothing) designed to fit people of a wide range of sizes.
one-size-fits-all — (of clothing) designed to fit people of a wide range of sizes.
orange free state — a province in central Republic of South Africa: a Boer republic 1854–1900; a British colony (Orange River Colony, ) 1900–10. 49,647 sq. mi. (128,586 sq. km). Capital: Bloemfontein.
other fish to fry — any of various cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates, having gills, commonly fins, and typically an elongated body covered with scales.
out of all reason — unreasonable
out of commission — the act of committing or entrusting a person, group, etc., with supervisory power or authority.
out of harm's way — If someone or something is out of harm's way, they are in a safe place away from danger or from the possibility of being damaged.
out of one's head — the upper part of the body in humans, joined to the trunk by the neck, containing the brain, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
out of one's mind — (in a human or other conscious being) the element, part, substance, or process that reasons, thinks, feels, wills, perceives, judges, etc.: the processes of the human mind.
out of this world — the earth or globe, considered as a planet.
out on one's feet — dazed or stunned, but still standing
overhead camshaft — a camshaft in an automotive engine that is located in the cylinder head over the engine block rather than in the block. Abbreviation: OHC.
pacific northwest — the region of North America lying north of the Columbia River and west of the Rockies
parts of kesteven — an area in E England constituting a former administrative division of Lincolnshire
pate de foie gras — See under foie gras.
phase of the moon — Used humorously as a random parameter on which something is said to depend. Sometimes implies unreliability of whatever is dependent, or that reliability seems to be dependent on conditions nobody has been able to determine. "This feature depends on having the channel open in mumble mode, having the foo switch set, and on the phase of the moon." See also heisenbug. True story: Once upon a time there was a bug that really did depend on the phase of the moon. There was a little subroutine that had traditionally been used in various programs at MIT to calculate an approximation to the moon's true phase. GLS incorporated this routine into a Lisp program that, when it wrote out a file, would print a timestamp line almost 80 characters long. Very occasionally the first line of the message would be too long and would overflow onto the next line, and when the file was later read back in the program would barf. The length of the first line depended on both the precise date and time and the length of the phase specification when the timestamp was printed, and so the bug literally depended on the phase of the moon! The first paper edition of the Jargon File (Steele-1983) included an example of one of the timestamp lines that exhibited this bug, but the typesetter "corrected" it. This has since been described as the phase-of-the-moon-bug bug.
phlebotomus fever — sandfly fever.
pink-footed goose — a Eurasian goose, Anser brachyrhynchus, having a reddish-brown head, pink legs, and a pink band on its black beak
play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
point of presence — (PoP) A site where there exists a collection of telecommunications equipment, usually modems, digital leased lines and multi-protocol routers. An Internet access provider may operate several PoPs distributed throughout their area of operation to increase the chance that their subscribers will be able to reach one with a local telephone call. The alternative is for them to use virtual PoPs (virtual points of presence) via some third party.
point of purchase — designating or in use at a retail outlet where an item can be purchased; point-of-sale: point-of-purchase displays to entice the buyer.
point-of-purchase — designating or in use at a retail outlet where an item can be purchased; point-of-sale: point-of-purchase displays to entice the buyer.
positive definite — (of a quadratic form) positive for all real values of the variables, where the values are not all zero.
positive feedback — Electronics. the process of returning part of the output of a circuit, system, or device to the input, either to oppose the input (negative feedback) or to aid the input (positive feedback) acoustic feedback.
potassium sulfate — a crystalline, water-soluble solid, K 2 SO 4 , used chiefly in the manufacture of fertilizers, alums, and mineral water, and as a reagent in analytical chemistry.
pre-manifestation — an act of manifesting.
pre-modifications — an act or instance of modifying.
prefect apostolic — the administrator, usually below the rank of bishop, in charge of a prefecture apostolic.
preferential shop — a shop in which union members are preferred, usually by agreement of an employer with a union.
procurator fiscal — In the Scottish legal system, the procurator fiscal is a public official who puts people on trial.
pseudo-scientific — any of various methods, theories, or systems, as astrology, psychokinesis, or clairvoyance, considered as having no scientific basis.
put one's feet up — relax
refuse collection — the collection of rubbish and waste, usually in a rubbish or refuse truck, before final disposal
refuse destructor — someone responsible for or something that destructs or destroys rubbish and waste
register of wills — (in some states of the U.S.) the official charged with the probate of wills or with the keeping of the records of the probate court.
registered office — official business address
resurrection fern — a drought-resistant, evergreen, epiphytic fern, Polypodium polypodioides, of subtropical to tropical America, appearing to be a ball of coiled, dead leaves in the dry season but reviving with moisture.
retention of risk — Retention of risk is the net amount of any risk which an insurance company does not reinsure but keeps for its own account.
rotation of crops — a system of rotating in a fixed order the kinds of crops, as grain or grass, grown in the same field, to maintain soil fertility
rough puff pastry — a rich flaky pastry made with butter and used for pie-crusts, flans, etc
rush-hour traffic — the large number of vehicles that move along roads, travelling to or from work at the beginning and end of the working day
safety inspection — an inspection of a place carried out to ensure that it is safe and not dangerous

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