FAB
Used to acknowledge that a message has been received and understood.
Entries starting with F
411 entries.
fabric
The appearance of crystalline grains in a rock.
FAC
Initialism of fast attack craft
facadism
nounConstruction
a method where the facade is designed and/or constructed independently of the remainder of the rest of the building.
face
The width of a pulley, or the length of a cog from end to end.
facesheet
nounConstruction
A sheet of material serving as an outer face, like those surrounding the core of a sandwich panel.
facework
Work done at the face, such as the coalface.
facing
nounMetalworking
A powdered substance, such as charcoal or bituminous coal, applied to the face of a mould, or mixed with the sand that forms it, to give a fine smooth surface to the casting.
factory head
nounMetalworking
The head formed when a rivet is manufactured, as opposed to the shank (or bucktail), the end of which will be upset to form the field head, after it is inserted through the materials to be connected.
factory reset
A process that restores an electronic device to its factory setting by erasing all user data and personalized configurations.
factory second
nounManufacturing
A retail item that, through minor fault of manufacture, is sold to the public for a reduced rate.
factory setting
The default configuration of a device when it is first manufactured and sold.
factotum
A large decorative printing block with a central space into which any letter can be inserted, used to mark the beginning of a chapter of a book in early printing.
fade in
To commence with silence in a song and then slowly increase the volume of the music until the intro of the song is over.
fade out
To decrease in volume, such as at the end of a song, until there is only silence.
fair
adjectiveManufacturing
Without sudden change of direction or curvature; smooth; flowing; said of the figure of a vessel, and of surfaces, water lines, and other lines.
Fair Isle
A traditional knitting technique used to create patterns with multiple colours.
Fairey-Youngman flap
A kind of flap that drops down before sliding aft and then rotating up or down.
fall
The part of the rope of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting (usu. plural).
fall home
verbManufacturing
To curve inward; said of the timbers or upper parts of a ship's side which are much within a perpendicular.
fall out
To fall off due to the quoins holding it in place having become wet and therefore loose.
fall plate
A metal plate resting on the cab floor of a steam locomotive, between engine and tender.
fall time
The amount of time taken for the amplitude of a pulse to decrease from a specified value to another specified value.
fallback
nounConstruction
A reduction in bitumen softening point, sometimes called refluxing or overheating, in a relatively closed container.
fallow
Ground ploughed and harrowed but left unseeded for one year.
fallow crop
The crop taken from a green fallow field.
false
To incorrectly decode noise as if it were a valid signal.
falseheart
Wood that gives an erroneous impression of being heartwood.
fam trip
A free (or low cost) trip for travel agents or consultants, provided by a travel operator or airline as a means of promoting their service.
famil
A free or low cost trip for travel agents or consultants, provided by a travel wholesaler or airline as a means of promoting their service.
family tree
A grafting technique involving the joining of different varieties of plants onto a single tree or plant.
FAN
nounManufacturing
Initialism of free amino nitrogen, amino acids available for yeast metabolism.
fan car
nounRail equipment
A car used to clean tracks of light debris, to prevent trains slipping on the rails, by blowing air to blow away debris.
fancy stitch
A stitch for decorative or detailing purposes only.
fang
A channel cut or pipe set for the purpose of carrying fresh air to working miners.
fanhouse
The building housing a fan that ventilates a mine.
fanin
The degree to which a component has separate inputs entering it.
fanny pad
An unsprung separate pillion seat on a motorcycle.
fanout
The degree to which something fans out, or splits into separate sections.
far field
The region sufficiently distant from a radio antenna for angular field distribution to be independent of distance.
far-field
adjectiveElectrical engineering
Of or pertaining to the far field.
farmee
A legal entity that contracts part of a mining or oil lease from a farmor in exchange for services.
farmer
The lord of the field, or one who farms the lot and cope of the crown.
farmers' satin
A light material of cotton and worsted, used for coat linings.
farmor
An owner of oil or gas leases that exchanges part of them to a farmee for services.
farmyard
The area of a farm, excluding the fields, usually surrounded by or adjacent to farm buildings.
fascet
nounManufacturing
A wire basket on the end of a rod to carry glass bottles, etc., to the annealing furnace.
fascine
Originally a cylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood, and now often a bundle of plastic pipes, bound together, and used for strengthening purposes, such as in revetments for riverbanks, and in mats for dams, jetties, etc.
fast
nounRail equipment
A train that calls at only some stations it passes between its origin and destination, typically just the principal stations.
fast busy signal
An audible signal on a voice phone line that sounds more frequently than a standard busy signal, indicating that no transmission path to the called phone number is available.
fast telegram
A telegram sent during either the day or night at a full rate for immediate delivery, typically with a minimum charge for 10 words or less.
fast track
nounRail equipment
A racetrack with optimum conditions for high speeds
fastigiate
adjectiveAgricultural equipment
Having closely-bunched erect parallel branches
FastWide SCSI
A type of SCSI capable of transferring data up to 20 megabytes/s on a 16-bit bus.
fat
Of a character which enables the compositor to make large wages; said of matter containing blank, cuts, or many leads, etc.
fat lava
A style of gaudy, vibrant, pottery decoration, common in West Germany from the 1950s to the 1970s.
fat quarter
A square piece of fabric measuring 50 centimetres along each side.
fathom
A man's armspan, generally reckoned to be six feet (about 1.8 metres). Later used to measure the depth of water, but now generally replaced by the metre outside American usage.
fathomage
The amount of money paid to a miner based on fathoms of material worked.
faucet aerator
nounPlumbing
A device for faucets or taps which mixes air with water to reduce the flowrate.