<B>fortress, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a place built with walls and defenses; large fort or fortification. (SYN) citadel. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to provide or protect with a fortress; fortify. adj. <B>fortresslike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fortuitism">
<B>fortuitism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Philosophy.) the doctrine or belief that adaptations in nature occur by chance, and not by design or plan. </DL>
<A NAME="fortuitous">
<B>fortuitous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> happening by chance; accidental. <BR> <I>Ex. a fortuitous meeting, a fortuitous acquaintance. The fortuitous falling of an apple led Newton to formulate the law of gravitation.</I> (SYN) casual. adv. <B>fortuitously.</B> noun <B>fortuitousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fortuity">
<B>fortuity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the fact or condition of being accidental; accidental character. <DD><B> 2. </B>chance; accident. <BR> <I>Ex. Fortuity brought the sisters together.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fortuna">
<B>Fortuna, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Roman Mythology.) the goddess of chance, fortune, or luck, identified with the Greek goddess Tyche. </DL>
<A NAME="fortunate">
<B>fortunate, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having good luck; lucky. <BR> <I>Ex. You are fortunate in having such a fine family.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>bringing good luck; having favorable results. <BR> <I>Ex. a fortunate occurrence.</I> adv. <B>fortunately.</B> noun <B>fortunateness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fortunateislands">
<B>Fortunate Islands,</B> <B>=Islands of the Blessed.</B></DL>
<A NAME="fortune">
<B>fortune, </B>noun, verb, <B>-tuned,</B> <B>-tuning.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a great deal of money or property; riches; wealth. <BR> <I>Ex. He made a fortune in oil.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>what happens; luck; chance. <BR> <I>Ex. Fortune was against us; we lost. ... the vicissitudes of fortune which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works (Edward Gibbon).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>good luck; success; prosperity. <BR> <I>Ex. May fortune attend you!</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>what is going to happen to a person; fate. <BR> <I>Ex. Gypsies often claim that they can tell people's fortunes.</I> (SYN) destiny, lot. <DD><B> 5. </B>position in life as determined by wealth; standing. <BR> <I>Ex. A youth to fortune and to fame unknown (Thomas Gray).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Archaic.) a woman of fortune; heiress. <BR> <I>Ex. He is secretly married to a great fortune (Sir Richard Steele).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to provide with a fortune. <DD><I>v.i. </I> (Archaic.) to happen by chance. </DL>
<A NAME="fortune">
<B>Fortune, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the personification of chance, usually regarded as a goddess who distributes good and bad luck to people without plan. <BR> <I>Ex. I care not, Fortune, what you me deny (James Thomson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fortunecookie">
<B>fortune cookie,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a cookie served in Chinese restaurants containing a piece of paper on which is written a fortune or other message. </DL>
<A NAME="fortunehunter">
<B>fortune hunter,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who tries to get a fortune by marrying someone rich. <DD><B> 2. </B>anybody who seeks wealth. </DL>
<A NAME="fortunehunting">
<B>fortune-hunting, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> trying to get a fortune by marrying someone rich. </DL>
<A NAME="fortuneteller">
<B>fortuneteller, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who claims to be able to tell what will happen to people. (SYN) soothsayer. </DL>
<A NAME="fortunetelling">
<B>fortunetelling, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> telling or claiming to tell what will happen in the future. </DL>
<A NAME="forty">
<B>forty, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> four times ten; 40. </DL>
<A NAME="fortyeightmo">
<B>forty-eightmo, </B>noun, pl. <B>-mos,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a size of a book, or of its pages, made by folding a sheet of paper forty-eight times to form leaves about 2 1/2 X 4 inches. (Abbr:) 48mo. <DD><B> 2. </B>a book having pages of this size. <DD><I>adj. </I> of this size; having pages of this size. </DL>
<A NAME="fortyfive">
<B>forty-five, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a .45 caliber revolver or automatic pistol. <DD><B> 2. </B>a phonograph record which revolves at 45 revolutions per minute. </DL>
<A NAME="fortyish">
<B>fortyish, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> about forty years of age; looking forty years old. </DL>
<A NAME="fortyniners">
<B>Forty-Niners</B> or <B>forty-niners, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> the people who went to California in 1849 to seek gold during the gold rush that had started there in 1848. </DL>
<A NAME="fortywinks">
<B>forty winks,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a short nap. </DL>
<A NAME="forum">
<B>forum, </B>noun, pl. <B>-rums</B> or <B>-ra.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the public square or market place of an ancient Roman city. There business was done and courts and public assemblies were held. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) an assembly for discussing questions of public interest. <BR> <I>Ex. An open forum was held last Tuesday evening.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) a law court; tribunal. </DL>
<A NAME="forward">
<B>forward, </B>adverb, adjective, verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adv. </I> <B>1. </B>onward; ahead. <BR> <I>Ex. Forward march! From this time forward, do your homework every night.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to the front. <BR> <I>Ex. Come forward.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>in consideration; out. <BR> <I>Ex. In his talk, he brought forward several new ideas.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>to the front. <BR> <I>Ex. the forward part of a ship.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>far ahead; advanced. <BR> <I>Ex. A child of four years that can read is forward for his age.</I> (SYN) precocious. <DD><B> 3. </B>ready; eager. <BR> <I>Ex. He knew his lesson and was forward with his answers. I killed a seafowl or two ... but was not very forward to eat them (Daniel Defoe).</I> (SYN) prompt. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) impudent; bold. <BR> <I>Ex. Don't be so forward as to interrupt the speaker. Your cousin Sophy is a forward, impertinent gipsy (Richard Brinsley Sheridan).</I> (SYN) pert, impertinent, presumptuous. <DD><B> 5. </B>directed ahead; onward. <BR> <I>Ex. a forward movement.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>having to do with the future; prospective. <BR> <I>Ex. Most cotton mills don't expect much additional forward buying until the goods ordered ... are used up (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Figurative.) radical; extreme. <BR> <I>Ex. a forward view of politics.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to help on. <BR> <I>Ex. He tried to forward his friend's plan.</I> (SYN) promote, advance. <DD><B> 2. </B>to send on farther. <BR> <I>Ex. Please forward my mail to my new address.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Bookbinding.) to prepare (a book) for the finisher, especially by fitting it with back and covers. <DD><I>noun </I> a player whose position is in the front line in team games such as basketball, hockey, or soccer. <BR> <I>Ex. The forwards play near the basket their team is attacking, so they can maneuver into good positions for shooting and rebounding (A. W. Haarlow).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="forwarder">
<B>forwarder, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that forwards. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who accepts goods for transportation and turns them over on behalf of their owner to a carrier. </DL>
<A NAME="forwarding">
<B>forwarding, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Bookbinding.) fitting a book with back and covers and preparing it for the finisher. </DL>
<A NAME="forwardingagent">
<B>forwarding agent,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a firm or individual that receives and ships goods for others for a fee. </DL>
<A NAME="forwardlooking">
<B>forward-looking, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>anticipating or preparing for probable future developments; progressive. <BR> <I>Ex. a forward-looking educator or writer.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>foretelling; foreshowing. <BR> <I>Ex. a forward-looking indicator of future business conditions.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="forwardly">
<B>forwardly, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>readily; eagerly. (SYN) promptly. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) pertly; boldly. (SYN) presumptuously. <DD><B> 3. </B>(U.S.) in a forward direction; toward the front. </DL>
<A NAME="forwardmost">
<B>forwardmost, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> most to the front; foremost; nearest. </DL>
<A NAME="forwardness">
<B>forwardness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the state of being far ahead. <DD><B> 2. </B>readiness; eagerness. (SYN) promptness, zeal. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) impudence; boldness; pertness. </DL>
<A NAME="forwardpass">
<B>forward pass,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> throwing a football to a player on the same team in the direction of the opponents' goal. </DL>
<A NAME="forwardplay">
<B>forward play,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Cricket.) a batting stroke with the bat set forward and away from the wicket. </DL>
<A NAME="forwards">
<B>forwards, </B>adverb. <B>=forward.</B></DL>
<A NAME="forwardscatter">
<B>forward scatter,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the scattering of radio waves which pass into the troposphere or ionosphere by a combination of reflection, refraction, and diffraction. It tends to direct the waves forward anddownward, thus enabling the transmission of radio waves over long distances. </DL>
<A NAME="forwent">
<B>forwent, </B>verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> past tense of <B>forgo.</B> <BR> <I>Ex. She forwent the movies in order to do her lessons.</I> </DL>
<B>Fosbury flop,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a style of high jumping in which the jumper goes over the bar backwards and lands on his shoulders and back. </DL>
<A NAME="fosdic">
<B>FOSDIC</B> or <B>Fosdic, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an electronic scanning device built by the United States Bureau of Standards to translate data into a digital computer. It is used in large-scale statistics, such as the census. </DL>
<A NAME="fossa">
<B>fossa</B> (1), noun, pl. <B>fossae.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anatomy.) a usually elongated shallow depression or cavity, especially in a bone. </DL>
<A NAME="fossa">
<B>fossa</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a slender, catlike carnivore of Madagascar that reaches an overall length of five feet; galet. It is the only species of its genus and appears to be a connecting link between the cats and the civets. </DL>
