20-letter words containing u, n, f, r

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.
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.
like a house on fire — If two people get on like a house on fire, they quickly become close friends, for example because they have many interests in common.
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
logarithmic function — a function defined by y = log bx, especially when the base, b, is equal to e, the base of natural logarithms.
longitudinal framing — a system for framing steel vessels in which light, closely spaced, longitudinal frames are connected by heavy, widely spaced transverse frames with deep webs.
manufacturer's agent — an agent representing one or more manufacturers in selling related but noncompeting goods, usually on a commission basis and in a particular territory.
mary, queen of scots — family name Stuart. 1542–87, queen of Scotland (1542–67); daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. She was married to Francis II of France (1558–60), her cousin Lord Darnley (1565–67), and the Earl of Bothwell (1567–71), who was commonly regarded as Darnley's murderer. She was forced to abdicate in favour of her son (later James VI of Scotland) and fled to England. Imprisoned by Elizabeth I until 1587, she was beheaded for plotting against the English crown
mitral insufficiency — abnormal closure of the mitral valve resulting in regurgitation of blood into the atrium and leading to reduced heart function or heart failure.
most general unifier — (logic) If U is the most general unifier of a set of expressions then any other unifier, V, can be expressed as V = UW, where W is another substitution. See also unification.
naturalistic fallacy — the supposed fallacy of inferring evaluative conclusions from purely factual premises
new zealand fur seal — an Australasian seal, Arctocephalus forsteri
not put a foot wrong — If you never put a foot wrong, you never make any mistakes.
occupation franchise — the right of a tenant to vote in national and local elections
on course/off course — If a ship or aircraft is on course, it is travelling along the correct route. If it is off course, it is no longer travelling along the correct route.
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
period of revolution — a rather large interval of time that is meaningful in the life of a person, in history, etc., because of its particular characteristics: a period of illness; a period of great profitability for a company; a period of social unrest in Germany.
permonosulfuric acid — persulfuric acid (def 1).
person of no account — (University of California at Santa Cruz) Used when referring to a person with no network address, frequently to forestall confusion. Most often as part of an introduction: "This is Bill, a person of no account, but he used to be [email protected]". Compare return from the dead.
polymorphic function — a function in a computer program that can deal with a number of different types of data
probability function — the function the values of which are probabilities of the distinct outcomes of a discrete random variable
proof of the pudding — the true value or quality of something, as seen when it is experienced, tried, or put to use: The proof of the pudding for a business is what customers say about it.
quantum field theory — any theory in which fields are treated by the methods of quantum mechanics; each field can then be regarded as consisting of particles of a particular kind, which may be created and annihilated.
queen of the prairie — a tall plant, Filipendula rubra, of the rose family, having branching clusters of pink flowers, growing in meadows and prairies.
recuperative furnace — a furnace having its incoming air heated by exhaust gases, the passage of air and gases through the furnace being always in the same direction.
recursive definition — a definition consisting of a set of rules such that by repeated application of the rules the meaning of the definiendum is uniquely determined in terms of ideas that are already familiar.
refuse disposal unit — a unit or part of a sink that disposes of waste food, etc, by grinding
regenerative furnace — a furnace in which the incoming air is heated by regenerators.
request for comments — (standard) (RFC) One of a series, begun in 1969, of numbered Internet informational documents and standards widely followed by commercial software and freeware in the Internet and Unix communities. Few RFCs are standards but all Internet standards are recorded in RFCs. Perhaps the single most influential RFC has been RFC 822, the Internet electronic mail format standard. The RFCs are unusual in that they are floated by technical experts acting on their own initiative and reviewed by the Internet at large, rather than formally promulgated through an institution such as ANSI. For this reason, they remain known as RFCs even once adopted as standards. The RFC tradition of pragmatic, experience-driven, after-the-fact standard writing done by individuals or small working groups has important advantages over the more formal, committee-driven process typical of ANSI or ISO. Emblematic of some of these advantages is the existence of a flourishing tradition of "joke" RFCs; usually at least one a year is published, usually on April 1st. Well-known joke RFCs have included 527 ("ARPAWOCKY", R. Merryman, UCSD; 22 June 1973), 748 ("Telnet Randomly-Lose Option", Mark R. Crispin; 1 April 1978), and 1149 ("A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers", D. Waitzman, BBN STC; 1 April 1990). The first was a Lewis Carroll pastiche; the second a parody of the TCP/IP documentation style, and the third a deadpan skewering of standards-document legalese, describing protocols for transmitting Internet data packets by carrier pigeon. The RFCs are most remarkable for how well they work - they manage to have neither the ambiguities that are usually rife in informal specifications, nor the committee-perpetrated misfeatures that often haunt formal standards, and they define a network that has grown to truly worldwide proportions. See also For Your Information, STD.
return from the dead — (jargon) To regain access to the net after a long absence. Compare person of no account.
return of the native — a novel (1878) by Thomas Hardy.
ring of the nibelung — Richard Wagner's tetralogy of music dramas: Das Rheingold (completed 1869), Die Walküre (completed 1870), Siegfried (completed 1876), and Götterdämmerung (completed 1876): the cycle was first performed at Bayreuth, 1876.
ring wall foundation — A ring wall foundation is a base made of concrete, used to put large tanks on.
run off at the mouth — Anatomy, Zoology. the opening through which an animal or human takes in food. the cavity containing the structures used in mastication. the structures enclosing or being within this cavity, considered as a whole.
sing for your supper — If someone has to sing for their supper, they have to do a job before they are allowed to do something they want to do.
square of opposition — a diagrammatic representation of the opposition of categorical propositions.
squirrel's-foot fern — ball fern.
strong nuclear force — an interaction between elementary particles responsible for the forces between nucleons in the nucleus. It operates at distances less than about 10–15 metres, and is about a hundred times more powerful than the electromagnetic interaction
surface-active agent — any substance that when dissolved in water or an aqueous solution reduces its surface tension or the interfacial tension between it and another liquid.
tax-deferred annuity — an annuity that enables one to purchase an insurance product that will earn interest, with the tax obligation deferred until withdrawals begin, usually at retirement. Abbreviation: TDA.
the course of nature — the ordinary course of events
the founding fathers — any of the men who were members of the U.S. Constituional Convention of 1787
the gnomes of zurich — Swiss bankers and financiers
thomas of erceldoune — Thomas of, Thomas of Erceldoune.
thought transference — transference of thought by extrasensory means from the mind of one individual to another; telepathy.
to bear the brunt of — To bear the brunt or take the brunt of something unpleasant means to suffer the main part or force of it.
to burst into flames — If something bursts into flames or bursts into flame, it suddenly starts burning strongly.
to fall on your feet — If you say that someone always falls or lands on their feet, you mean that they are always successful or lucky, although they do not seem to achieve this by their own efforts.

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