ExpertGlossary terms starting with F

2,087 terms

FO Force Operations (PATRIOT).
FO Link Fiber Optic Link.
FOA Future Offensive Aircraft (UK RAF term).
Foam (Insulation) A high R-value insulation product usually made from urethane that can be injected into wall cavities, or sprayed onto roofs or floors, where it expands…
Foam Board A plastic foam insulation product, pressed or extruded into board-like forms, used as sheathing and insulation for interior basement or crawl space walls…
Foam Core Panels A type of structural, insulated product with foam insulation contained between two facings of drywall, or structural wood composition boards such as…
FOB Forward Operations Base.
FOBS Fractional-Orbital Bombardment System.
FOBT A test to check for blood in the stool. Small samples of stool are placed on special cards and sent to a doctor or laboratory for testing.
FOC Full Operational Capability.
focal In terms of cancer, limited to a specific area.
Focal Plane The plane, perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens, in which images of points in the object field of the lens are focused.
Focal Plane Array (FPA) An FPA is a matrix of photon sensitive detectors which, when combined with low noise preamplifiers, provides image data for the signal frequencies of…
Foehn A warm, dry wind on the lee side of a mountain range, the warmth and dryness of the air being due to adiabatic compression as the air descends the…
Foehn Pause A temporary cessation of the foehn at the ground due to the formation or intrusion of a cold air layer which lifts the foehn off the ground.
foEs In solar-terrestrial terms, the maximum ordinary mode radiowave frequency capable of reflec- tion from the sporadic E region of the ionosphere.
foetus Pre-natal stage of a viviparous animal, between the embryonic stage and birth. AlteRNA tive spelling: fetus. See: embryo.
foF2 In solar-terrestrial terms, the maximum ordinary mode radiowave frequency capable of reflection from the F2 region of the ionosphere.
FOFA Follow-On Force Attack.
Fog Fine particles of liquid suspended in the air, such as of water in a fog chamber used for acclimatizing recent ex vitro transplants. See: mist propagation.
Fogbow A rainbow that has a white band that appears in fog, and is fringed with red on the outside and blue on the inside.
FOIA Freedom of Information Act -- see Electronic Freedom of Information Act for more
FOL Forward Operating Location.
FOLAN Fiber Optic Local Area Network.
folate A B-complex vitamin being studied as a cancer prevention agent. Also called folic acid. Also called folic acid.
folate antagonist A substance that blocks the activity of folic acid. Folate antagonists are used to treat cancer. Also called antifolate.
Fold To forfeit any chance of winning the current pot in poker. To lay down your hand or throw your hand in instead of calling or raising a bet.
fold-back The structure of a double-stranded DNA molecule formed when a molecule containing an inverted repeat sequence is denatured and then allowed to re-anneal…
folded genome The condensed state of the chromosomal DNA of a bacterium. The DNA is segregated into domains, and each domain is independently negatively supercoiled.
Folded Optics Any optical system containing reflecting components for the purpose of reducing the physical length of the system or for the purpose of changing the path…
folder See Directory.
folder pane The workspace area that shows the folders and views available in the opened application.
folder tree A hierarchical display of folder organization.
FOLFOX An abbreviation for a type of combination chemotherapy that is used to treat colorectal cancer. It includes fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin.
Foliate Decorative leafage, often applied to capitals or moldings.
folic acid (FOH-lik A-sid) A B-complex vitamin being studied as a cancer prevention agent. Also called folic acid. Also called folate.
folinic acid (foh-LIN-ik A-sid) The active ingredient in a drug used to reduce the toxic effects of folic acid antagonists (substances that block the action of folic…
Folio An itemized record of a guest’s charges and credits which is maintained in the front office until departure.
follicle (FOL-i-kul) A sac or pouch-like cavity.
follicle stimulating hormone (Abbreviation: FSH). A hormone, secreted by the anterior pituitary gland in mammals, that stimulates the ripening of the specialized structures in the…
follicular large cell lymphoma (fuh-LIH-kyoo-ler larj sel lim-FOH-muh) A rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system) with large cells that look cleaved (split) or…
follicular lymphoma (fuh-LIH-kyoo-ler lim-FOH-muh) A type of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (cancer of the immune system) that is usually indolent (slow-growing).
follicular mixed cell lymphoma (fuh-LIH-kyoo-ler miks'd sel lim-FOH-muh) An indolent (slow-growing) type of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system) in which there…
follicular thyroid cancer (fuh-LIH-kyoo-ler THY-royd KAN-ser) Cancer that forms in follicular cells in the thyroid. It grows slowly and is highly treatable.
Follistatin An inhibitory factor produced during embryonic development that affects the growth and differentiation of the pancreas.
Follow-On Operational Test and Evaluation (FOT&E) That test and evaluation that is necessary during and after the production period to refine the estimates made during operational test and evaluation, to…
follow-up Monitoring a person's health over time after treatment. This includes keeping track of the health of people who participate in a clinical study or…
Following to Join A type of derivative visa status when the family member gets a visa after the principal applicant.
followup Synonym thread.
FOM Figure of Merit.
FON Fiber Optic Network.
fond a French archival term meaning "source", and in archival work it refers to the entire body of records produced by one functional corporate activity; often…
fondaparinux (fon-duh-PAYR-ih-nux) A drug used to prevent blood clots from forming inside blood vessels in the leg.
fondaparinux sodium (fon-duh-PAYR-ih-nux SOH-dee-um) A drug used to prevent blood clots from forming inside blood vessels in the leg.
FONSI - finding of no significant impact.
font A logical set of related patterns representing text characters or point symbols. Courier, Helvetica and Times are three types of font.
Font and Background Spoofs Various techniques used to place invisible text in a web page, to improve positioning without affecting the appearance of the page.
Food and Drug Administration An agency in the U.S. federal government whose mission is to protect public health by making sure that food, cosmetics, and nutritional supplements are…
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Federal agency within HHS responsible for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of drugs, biologics, vaccines, and medical devices used (among others) in…
Food chain The chain of organisms in a community that produce food and consume it.
food exchanges A way to help people stay on special food plans by letting them replace items from one food group with items from another group.
food processing enzyme Enzyme used to control food texture, flavour, appearance, or nutritional value.
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act See Food and Drug Administration.
Foot Twelve inches. One of a number of projections on a cylindrical drum of a tamping roller.
Foot Candle A unit of illuminance; equal to one lumen per square foot.
Foot Pound The amount of work done in raising one pound one foot.
Foot Ulceration A wound with superficial loss of tissue from trauma and may become ulcerated if infection occurs.
Footing A sill under a foundation. Ground, in relation to its load bearing and friction qualities.
Footprint The land or water area covered by a project. This includes direct physical coverage (i.e.
FOR Field of Regard.
for loop One of Java's three control structures used for looping. The other two are the while loop and do loop.
For Sale By Owner (FSBO) Indicative of a real estate transaction in which the seller is not represented by a real estate broker.
Forage Small baitfish, crayfish and other creatures that bass or other predator fish eat.
Forage fish Generally, small fish that produce prolifically and are consumed by predators.
Foraging habitat See Spotted owl habitat.
Forb A weed or a broad-leafed plant.
Forbearance A temporary period of time during which a regular monthly mortgage payment is reduced or suspended.
forbidden character Synonym illegal character.
Forbs Herbaceous (nonwoody), broad-leaved flowering plants; non-graminoid (grasses, sedges, and rushes) herbaceous plants. See also Graminoid herbaceous
Force The push or pull that alters the motion of a moving body or moves a stationary body; the unit of force is the dyne or poundal; force is equal to mass time…
Force Closure The point in time when a supported commander determines that sufficient personnel and equipment are in the assigned area of operations to carry out…
Force Development Test and Evaluation Tests employing representative users to examine definition of materiel requirements or support/assess development of doctrine, training, organization, and…
Force Development Test and Experimentation Tests employing representative users to examine definition of materiel requirements or support/assess development of doctrine, training, organization, and…
Force Direction The operational management of the forces.
Force Integration Staff Officer Army individual assigned to ODCSOPS to serve as HQDA user representative for a specific system.
Force Management The assessment of the effectiveness of the defense forces throughout an engagement and adjustment of tactics and the system configuration as necessary to…
Force Reliability The percentage of the missile force that will successfully detonate within 3.5 CEPs of the target.
Forced Air System or Furnace A type of heating system in which heated air is blown by a fan through air channels or ducts to rooms.
Forced Channeling Channeling of upper winds along a valley's axis when upper winds are diverted by the underlying topography. Compare pressure-driven channeling.
forced cloning The insertion of foreign DNA into a cloning vector in a predetermined orientation.
Forced outage Unscheduled shut down of a generating unit or other facility for emergency or other unforeseen reasons.
forced rerouting A procedure of transferring signaling traffic from one signaling route to another, when the signaling route in use fails or is required to be cleared of…
Forced Ventilation A type of building ventilation system that uses fans or blowers to provide fresh air to rooms when the forces of air pressure and gravity are not enough…
forcing factors that drive or "force" a system to change. Forcings that affect our climate system include changes in solar radiation and in greenhouse gas…
Forcing Mechanism A process that alters the energy balance of the climate system, i.e. changes the relative balance between incoming solar radiation and outgoing infrared…
Ford A place where a road crosses a stream under water.
FORDTIS Foreign Disclosure Technical Information System.
Fore milk (for milk) the high protein milk produced at the beginning of the feeding.
Forebay The water behind (upstream) of the dam.
Forebay (headrace) Impoundment immediately upstream from a dam or hydroelectric plant intake structure.