18-letter words containing a, f, o, r
- information centre — help desk, office
- information island — (jargon) A body of information (i.e. electronic files) that needs to be shared but has no network connection.
- information office — an office where you can go to get information
- information system — a computer system or set of components for collecting, creating, storing, processing, and distributing information, typically including hardware and software, system users, and the data itself: the use of information systems to solve business problems.
- information theory — the mathematical theory concerned with the content, transmission, storage, and retrieval of information, usually in the form of messages or data, and especially by means of computers.
- informatory double — a double intended to inform one's partner that one has a strong hand and to urge a bid regardless of the strength of his or her hand.
- infrared astronomy — the study of infrared radiation emitted by celestial objects.
- inspector of taxes — an official of HMRC whose work is to assess individuals' income tax liability
- integrating factor — a factor that upon multiplying a differential equation with the right-hand side equal to zero makes the equation integrable, usually by making the resulting expression an exact differential of some function.
- isabella of france — 1292–1358, wife (1308–27) of Edward II of England, whom, aided by her lover, Roger de Mortimer, she deposed; mother of Edward III
- jack of all trades — a person who is adept at many different kinds of work.
- jack-of-all-trades — a person who is adept at many different kinds of work.
- knight of the road — a tramp
- lambeth conference — a convention of the bishops of the Anglican communion, held about every 10 years at Lambeth Palace to confer but not to define doctrine or to legislate on ecclesiastical matters.
- last in, first out — The expression last in, first out is used to say that the last person who started work in an organization should be the first person to leave it, if fewer people are needed.
- last-in, first-out — an inventory plan based on the assumption that materials constituting manufacturing costs should be carried on the books at the market price of the last lot received. Abbreviation: LIFO. Compare first-in, first-out.
- laugh out of court — to express mirth, pleasure, derision, or nervousness with an audible, vocal expulsion of air from the lungs that can range from a loud burst of sound to a series of quiet chuckles and is usually accompanied by characteristic facial and bodily movements.
- law of gravitation — a law stating that any two masses attract each other with a force equal to a constant (constant of gravitation) multiplied by the product of the two masses and divided by the square of the distance between them.
- law of segregation — the principle, originated by Gregor Mendel, stating that during the production of gametes the two copies of each hereditary factor segregate so that offspring acquire one factor from each parent.
- lawrence of arabia — D(avid) H(erbert) 1885–1930, English novelist.
- lay at the door of — to blame (a person) for
- learned profession — any of the three vocations of theology, law, and medicine, commonly held to require highly advanced learning. Compare profession (def 1).
- like a house afire — a building in which people live; residence for human beings.
- lone-parent family — a family in which there is only one parent
- loosestrife family — the plant family Lythraceae, characterized by herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees having usually opposite or whorled, simple leaves, clusters of flowers, and fruit in the form of a capsule, and including the crape myrtle, loosestrifes of the genus Lythrum, and the henna shrub.
- make a beeline for — head directly towards
- make a practice of — be in the habit of
- make allowance for — the act of allowing.
- make no difference — to have no effect; not matter
- make short work of — exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.
- manufactured goods — products made by machine
- margaret of valois — ("Queen Margot") 1533–1615, 1st wife of Henry IV of France: queen of Navarre; patron of science and literature (daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici).
- marriage of figaro — Italian Le nozze di Figaro. an opera (1786) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
- marsilius of padua — c1280–1343? Italian scholar and political theorist.
- may flower compact — an agreement to establish a government, entered into by the Pilgrims in the cabin of the Mayflower on November 11, 1620.
- means of transport — vehicle or system of travel
- medical profession — the body of people who work as doctors of medicine
- merchant of venice — a comedy (1596?) by Shakespeare.
- metamorphic facies — Geology. a group of metamorphic rock units characterized by particular mineralogic associations.
- mezzo-soprano clef — a C clef locating middle C on the line next to the lowest line of the staff.
- microsoft exchange — (messaging) Microsoft's messaging and enterprise collaboration server. Exchange's primary role is as an electronic mail message store but it can also store calendars, task lists, contact details, and other data.
- middle-of-the-road — favoring, following, or characterized by an intermediate position between two extremes, especially in politics; moderate.
- minister of health — a person appointed to head the government department of health
- misplaced modifier — Grammar. a word, phrase, or clause that seems to refer to or modify an unintended word because of its placement in a sentence, as when young in When young, circuses appeal to all of us.
- morning-after pill — a contraceptive pill containing only an estrogen and used by women within a few hours after sexual intercourse.
- myeloproliferative — (medicine) of or pertaining to the presence of an abnormal proliferation of myelopoietic cells (from bone marrow).
- new forest disease — an infectious eye disease causing acute eye pain in cattle
- nike of samothrace — a Greek marble statue (c200 b.c.) of Nike found at Samothrace and now in the Louvre, Paris.
- no-fault insurance — Also called no-fault insurance. a form of automobile insurance designed to enable the policyholder in case of an accident to collect a certain basic compensation promptly for economic loss from his or her own insurance company without determination of liability.
- non-inertial frame — a frame of reference that moves with the object, so that the moving object appears to violate Newton's laws of motion since it accelerates despite having no horizontal forces on it.