<B>f-hole, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one of the two openings in the top of the body of the violin and similar instruments, resembling the italic letter <I>f.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fi">
<B>fi, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) <DD><B> 1. </B>hi-fi. <DD><B> 2. </B>fidelity of sound reproduction. <BR> <I>Ex. wretchedly low in fi.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fiacre">
<B>fiacre, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> four-wheeled carriage for hire; horse-drawn cab. </DL>
<A NAME="fiance">
<B>fiance, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a man engaged to be married. </DL>
<A NAME="fiancee">
<B>fiancee, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a girl or woman engaged to be married. </DL>
<A NAME="fianchetto">
<B>fianchetto, </B>noun, pl. <B>-toes,</B> verb, <B>-toed,</B> <B>-toing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Chess.) <DD><I>noun </I> the advancing or development of a bishop by moving it to the second square along the diagonal. <BR> <I>Ex. Portisch ... develops his opening along modern lines, characterized by the fianchetto of the king's bishop (Al Horowitz).</I> <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to advance or develop (a bishop) in this way. </DL>
<A NAME="fianna">
<B>Fianna, </B>noun, or <B>Fianna Eireann,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a group of Irish warriors famous in Irish legend, especially as the defenders of Ireland in the 300's and 400's; Fenians. </DL>
<A NAME="fiannafail">
<B>Fianna Fail,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an Irish political party, founded in 1926 by Eamon de Valera, that advocated the complete separation of Ireland from Great Britain. </DL>
<A NAME="fiard">
<B>fiard, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an inlet somewhat like a fiord but broader and set among low hills, as in eastern Canada and Newfoundland. </DL>
<A NAME="fiasco">
<B>fiasco</B> (1), noun, pl. <B>-cos</B> or <B>-coes.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a complete or ridiculous failure; humiliating breakdown. <BR> <I>Ex. The play was a fiasco and closed after only three performances.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fiasco">
<B>fiasco</B> (2), noun, pl. <B>-schi.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Italian.) a flask; wine bottle. </DL>
<A NAME="fiat">
<B>fiat, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an authoritative order or command; decree. <BR> <I>Ex. to determine by the fiat of the king alone the course of national policy (William Stubbs).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an authoritative sanction; authorization. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to attach a fiat to; sanction. <DD><B> 2. </B>to declare by a fiat. </DL>
<A NAME="fiatjustitia,ruatcoelum">
<B>fiat justitia, ruat coelum,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) let justice be done, though the heavens fall. </DL>
<A NAME="fiatlux">
<B>fiat lux,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) let there be light. </DL>
<A NAME="fiatmoney">
<B>fiat money,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) paper currency made legal tender by decree of the government, but not based on or convertible into coin. </DL>
<A NAME="fib">
<B>fib</B> (1), noun, verb, <B>fibbed,</B> <B>fibbing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a lie about some small matter. <BR> <I>Ex. Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no fibs (Oliver Goldsmith).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to lie about some small matter. noun <B>fibber.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fib">
<B>fib</B> (2), transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>fibbed,</B> <B>fibbing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) to strike or beat, especially with the fists. </DL>
<A NAME="fiber">
<B>fiber, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>a thread; threadlike part; any one of the very fine, long, threadlike pieces of which many organic and some inorganic materials consist; filament. <BR> <I>Ex. A muscle is made up of many fibers.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a similar structure of artificial origin. <BR> <I>Ex. a fiber of rayon, a fiber of glass.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a substance made up of threads or threadlike parts. <BR> <I>Ex. Hemp fiber can be spun into rope or woven into coarse cloth.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>texture. <BR> <I>Ex. a cloth of coarse fiber.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) character; nature. <BR> <I>Ex. He was a person of strong moral fiber and could resist temptation.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>one of the narrow elongated cells found in the bast of plants. <DD><B> 6. </B>a slender, threadlike root of a plant. <DD><B> 7. </B>one of the most slender twigs of a tree or bush. <BR> <I>Ex. to the last fiber of the loftiest tree (Shelley).</I> <DD><B> 8. </B><B>=vulcanized fiber.</B> <DD><B> 9. </B><B>=dietary fiber.</B> <BR> <I>Ex. Some types of fiber bind bile salts and acids, cholesterol, and other sterols, enhancing their elimination and thereby lowering their level in the blood (Mina W. Lamb).</I> <DD> Also, <B>fibre.</B> adj. <B>fiberless.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fiberboard">
<B>fiberboard, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a building material made by compressing fibers, especially of wood, into flat sheets. <DD><B> 2. </B>a board or sheet of this material. Also, <B>fibreboard.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fibered">
<B>fibered, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having fibers. <BR> <I>Ex. a cashmere type of wool, though much longer fibered (Atlantic).</I> <DL COMPACT><DD> Also, <B>fibred.</B> </DL>
</DL>
<A NAME="fiberfaced">
<B>fiber-faced, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having a facing or coat of fiber. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S.) (of paper) having a surface composed of visible fibers. </DL>
<A NAME="fiberfill">
<B>fiberfill, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a synthetic fiber used for filling or padding cushions, mattresses, etc. </DL>
<B>fiberglass, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> very fine, flexible filaments of glass; spun glass. Fiberglass can be used, especially when combined with plastic, to make a wide variety of products, such as textiles, automobile bodies, swimming pools, insulating materials, boats, and fishing rods. </DL>
<A NAME="fiberize">
<B>fiberize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to break down to fibers; make fibrous. </DL>
<A NAME="fiberoptic">
<B>fiberoptic</B> or <B>fiber-optic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with fiber optics. <BR> <I>Ex. fiberoptic scanners, a fiberoptic light tube.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fiberoptics">
<B>fiber optics,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a bundle of very thin glass or plastic fibers enclosed in a tube, one end of which is at a light source and the other fronting a camera lens, used for conducting or transmitting light and images around bends and corners. The bundle may be bent or twisted without distorting the image. <BR> <I>Ex. Fiber optics have been fabricated from materials that transmit light in the ultraviolet to the infrared region; the frequent dependence of scientific instrumentation on responses in this spectral region should give impetus to using such fibers in the design of this equipment (Morton Beroza).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the branch of optics using optical fibers to conduct or transmit light. <BR> <I>Ex. Technological progress in fiber optics, especially during the past ten years, has given the engineer an important additional tool for transferring information by means of light (Science).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fiberplant">
<B>fiber plant,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any plant which produces a fiber of commercial value, such as cotton, hemp, or straw. </DL>
<A NAME="fiberscope">
<B>fiberscope, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an instrument for photographing, in color, small interiors, as of the stomach, consisting of a flexible tube containing a bundle of very thin glass fibers, which conduct the light, a mirror, and a lighting device at the end of the tube to be inserted. </DL>
<A NAME="fibersilk">
<B>fiber silk,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an artificial material like silk made from cellulose. </DL>
<A NAME="fibonaccinumbers">
<B>Fibonacci numbers,</B> <B>series,</B> or <B>sequence,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the continuous series or sequence of numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, in which each number is the sum of the preceding two numbers. <BR> <I>Ex. The number of spiral floret formations visible in many sunflowers ... and segments on the surface of a pineapple have been found to match Fibonacci numbers (Time). To make a C-major chord, you can play the third note of the octave (E), the fifth note (G), and the eighth note (C). So your chord is made up of notes 3, 5, and 8, a Fibonacci series (Diane Sherman).</I> </DL>
<B>fibrid, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various synthetic polymers in fibrous form used as bonding materials. </DL>
<A NAME="fibriform">
<B>fibriform, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of the form of a fiber or fibers. </DL>
<A NAME="fibril">
<B>fibril, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a small or very slender fiber. <DD><B> 2. </B>one of the hairs on the roots of some plants. </DL>
<A NAME="fibrilla">
<B>fibrilla, </B>noun, pl. <B>-brillae.</B> <B>=fibril.</B></DL>
<A NAME="fibrillar">
<B>fibrillar, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of fibrils; having to do with or of the nature of fibrils. </DL>
<A NAME="fibrillary">
<B>fibrillary, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of fibrils; having to do with or of the nature of fibrils. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with fibrillation. <BR> <I>Ex. The fibrillary threshold, however, is markedly reduced by hypothermia (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fibrillate">
<B>fibrillate, </B>adjective, verb, <B>-lated,</B> <B>-lating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>having fibrils. <DD><B> 2. </B>finely fibrous. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to suffer fibrillation. <BR> <I>Ex. Hearts cooled to an average 28 degrees centigrade during hypothermia also become highly irritable; they may fibrillate and cause death (Time).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to turn into fibrillae; form fibrils or fibers. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to form fibrils or fibers from. <BR> <I>Ex. to fibrillate a film to form the warp of a synthetic fabric.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fibrillation">
<B>fibrillation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Medicine.) a shivering or tremor in a muscle or nerve, especially a condition of the heart characterized by independent and irregular action of the muscle fibers. <DD><B> 2a. </B>the act or process of forming fibrils or fibers. <DD><B> b. </B>the condition of being fibrillated. </DL>
<A NAME="fibrilliform">
<B>fibrilliform, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of the form of a fibril or fibrils. </DL>
<A NAME="fibrillose">
<B>fibrillose, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> made of or furnished with fibrils. </DL>
