<B>feterita, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a tall, African variety of grain sorghum, related to durra, grown for fodder in the southwestern United States. </DL>
<A NAME="fetial">
<B>fetial, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or having to do with the fetiales. <DD><B> 2. </B>concerned with declarations of war and treaties of peace. <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=heraldic.</B> <DD><I>noun </I> one of the fetiales. </DL>
<A NAME="fetiales">
<B>fetiales, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> a body of priests in ancient Rome who acted as heralds and as representatives of the people in disputes with foreign nations and in the declaration of war and the conclusion of peace. </DL>
<B>fetiparous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> giving birth to incompletely developed young, as marsupial mammals. </DL>
<A NAME="fetish">
<B>fetish, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any material object supposed to have magic power. <BR> <I>Ex. The tribe worshiped a fetish that was a hideous snake carved out of stone.</I> (SYN) talisman, amulet. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) anything regarded with unreasoning reverence or blind devotion. <BR> <I>Ex. Some people make a fetish of stylish clothes.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>an object or a part of the body that arouses abnormal erotic feeling. Also, <B>fetich.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fetishism">
<B>fetishism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>belief in fetishes; worship of fetishes. <DD><B> 2. </B>an abnormal attachment of erotic feeling to an object (such as an article of clothing) or part of the body. </DL>
<A NAME="fetishist">
<B>fetishist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who worships or believes in fetishes. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who has erotic feelings for nonsexual objects, such as an article of clothing. </DL>
<A NAME="fetishistic">
<B>fetishistic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of fetishism; having to do with or characterized by fetishism. adv. <B>fetishistically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fetishize">
<B>fetishize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to worship as a fetish; make a fetish of. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) [His] description ... of existentialism as a "permanent carnival of fetishized inwardness" touched a raw nerve (Listener).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fetlock">
<B>fetlock, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the tuft of hair above a horse's hoof on the back part of the leg. <DD><B> 2. </B>the part of a horse's leg where this tuft grows. <DD><B> 3. </B>the joint at this spot. </DL>
<A NAME="fetlocked">
<B>fetlocked, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having a fetlock. <DD><B> 2. </B>hobbled or fastened by the fetlock; hampered; shackled. </DL>
<A NAME="fetlow">
<B>fetlow, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a whitlow or felon in cattle. </DL>
<A NAME="fetologist">
<B>fetologist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who studies fetology. </DL>
<A NAME="fetology">
<B>fetology, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the branch of medicine dealing with the growth, development, and diseases of fetuses. </DL>
<A NAME="fetoplacental">
<B>feto-placental, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of the fetus and placenta. <BR> <I>Ex. the feto-placental unit.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fetor">
<B>fetor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a strong, offensive smell. <BR> <I>Ex. This flesh of the female seal ... has not the fetor of her mate's (Elisha K. Kane).</I> (SYN) stench, stink. </DL>
<A NAME="fetoscope">
<B>fetoscope, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an instrument that permits direct visual observation of a fetus inside the womb. <BR> <I>Ex. Looking through a fetoscope, Yale's Dr. John Hobbins guides a hairlike needle into a blood vessel on a pregnant woman's placenta (New York Times Magazine).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fetta">
<B>fetta, </B>noun. <B>=feta.</B></DL>
<A NAME="fetter">
<B>fetter, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a chain or shackle for the feet to prevent escape. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to bind with fetters; chain the feet of; shackle. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to bind; restrain. <BR> <I>Ex. Fetter your temper ... to set wild The fettered hope (Witter Bynner).</I> (SYN) confine, hamper, impede. <BR><I>expr. <B>fetters,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>shackles. </I> <I>Ex. Fetters prevented the prisoner's escape. Antony presented [him] ... to Cleopatra in golden fetters (Henry N. Humphreys).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) anything that shackles or binds; restraint. <BR> <I>Ex. Here the free spirit of mankind, at length, Throws its last fetters off (William Cullen Bryant).</I> noun <B>fetterer.</B> adj. <B>fetterless.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fetterbush">
<B>fetterbush, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an evergreen shrub of the heath family, with fragrant, white or pink flowers, that grows in the southern United States. <DD><B> 2. </B>a similar and related shrub, bearing nodding, white, bell-shaped flowers. <DD><B> 3. </B>any one of various other shrubs of the heath family found in the eastern United States. </DL>
<A NAME="fetterlock">
<B>fetterlock, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>=fetlock.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>a shackle for a horse's leg or foot. </DL>
<A NAME="fetters">
<B>fetters, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> See under <B>fetter.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fettle">
<B>fettle, </B>noun, verb, <B>-tied,</B> <B>-tling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>condition; state of readiness for action; trim. <BR> <I>Ex. The horse is in fine fettle and should win the race.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Northern British Dialect.) a scouring; a polishing; a thorough cleaning. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>(Dialect.) to make ready; put in order; arrange. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Northern British Dialect.) to scour; polish; clean. <BR> <I>Ex. to fettle a room, to fettle the pans, to fettle the gas cooker.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Dialect.) to beat; thrash. <DD><B> 4. </B>to line or cover (the hearth of a puddling furnace or open-hearth furnace) with sand, ore, etc. </DL>
<A NAME="fettling">
<B>fettling, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the sand or ore used to line the hearth of a puddling furnace. </DL>
<A NAME="fettuccine">
<B>fettuccine</B> or <B>fettucine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>Italian noodles, made in strips or ribbons; flat, thin noodles. <DD><B> 2. </B>a dish of such noodles, prepared with butter, cheese, and sometimes cream. </DL>
<A NAME="fettuccini">
<B>fettuccini</B> or <B>fettucini, </B>noun. <B>=fettucine.</B></DL>
<A NAME="fetus">
<B>fetus, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an animal embryo during the later stages of its development in the womb or in the egg, especially a human embryo about three months old. Also, <B>foetus.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fetwa">
<B>fetwa, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a decision, usually in writing, given by a Mufti or other Moslem authority on religious law. </DL>
<A NAME="feu">
<B>feu, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an estate in land capable of passing by inheritance; fee. <DD><B> 2a. </B>a feudal tenure in which the holder makes a return in money or other commodity, in place of military service. <DD><B> b. </B>a grant of land held under these conditions. <DD><B> c. </B>(in modern use) a perpetual lease for a fixed rent. <DD><B> 3. </B>land held in any of these ways. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to grant (land) in feu. </DL>
<A NAME="feud">
<B>feud</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a long and deadly quarrel between two families or tribes. Feuds are often passed on from father to son. <BR> <I>Ex. ... seeds of lasting feuds and animosities (Bishop Gilbert Burnet).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>bitter hatred between two persons or groups. <DD><B> 3. </B>a quarrel. <BR> <I>Ex. frequently torn by intramural feuds (Newsweek).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to carry on a feud. <BR> <I>Ex. Their families have been feuding for three generations.</I> noun <B>feuder.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="feud">
<B>feud</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a grant of land held on condition of giving military and other services to the lord owning it in return for protection and the use of the land; feudal estate; fief; fee. <BR> <I>Ex. The Conqueror conferred the estates ... on his principal followers as strict feuds (William A. Guise).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="feudal">
<B>feudal</B> (1), adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with a feud or feuding. </DL>
<A NAME="feudal">
<B>feudal</B> (2), adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with feudalism. <BR> <I>Ex. feudal law. The remaining feudal monarchies in the Middle East, such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with feuds or fiefs. <BR> <I>Ex. feudal lands.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>having to do with the holding of land in fee. <BR> <I>Ex. a claim under feudal tenure.</I> adv. <B>feudally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="feudalism">
<B>feudalism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the social, economic, and political system of Europe in the Middle Ages; feudal system. Under this system, vassals gave military and other services to their lord in return for his protection and the use of the land. <DD><B> 2. </B>any social, economic, or political system or doctrine, thought of as resembling the feudal system in subordinating people to the dictates of a leader or system. </DL>
<A NAME="feudalist">
<B>feudalist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a supporter of the feudal system. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who is learned in feudal law; feudist. </DL>
<A NAME="feudalistic">
<B>feudalistic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with feudalism. <DD><B> 2. </B>tending toward feudalism; favoring feudalism. </DL>
