| FF | degree of fineness of abrasive particles; fat-free; father factor; fecal frequency; fertility factor... |
|---|---|
| FATS | face and thigh squeeze [position for bag mask ventilation] |
| fcc | face-centered-cubic |
| fcly | face lying |
| FM | face mask; facilities management; family medicine; feedback mechanism; fetal movement; fibromuscular... |
| extraoral fracture appliance | A device used for extraoral reduction and fixation of maxillary or mandibular fractures, in which pins, clamps, or screws interjoined with metal or acrylic connectors are used to align the fractured segments. See: external pin fixation. (05 Mar 2000) |
|---|---|
| universal appliance | A combination of the edgewise and ribbon arch appliance techniques, affording precise control of individual teeth in all planes of space. (05 Mar 2000) |
| fixed appliance | <dentistry> Any orthodontic component that is cemented or bonded to the teeth. (08 Jan 1998) |
| flat | 1. Having an even and horizontal surface, or nearly so, without prominences or depressions; level without inclination; plane. "Though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk." (Milton) 2. Lying at full length, or spread out, upon the ground; level with the ground or earth; prostrate; as, to lie flat on the ground; hence, fallen; laid low; ruined; destroyed. "What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat!" (Milton) "I feel . . . My hopes all flat." (Milton) 3. Wanting relief; destitute of variety; without points of prominence and striking interest. "A large part of the work is, to me, very flat." (Coleridge) 4. Tasteless; stale; vapid; insipid; dead; as, fruit or drink flat to the taste. 5. Unanimated; dull; uninteresting; without point or spirit; monotonous; as, a flat speech or composition. "How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world." (Shak) 6. Lacking liveliness of commercial exchange and dealings; depressed; dull; as, the market is flat. 7. Clear; unmistakable; peremptory; absolute; positive; downright. "Flat burglary as ever was committed." (Shak) "A great tobacco taker too, that's flat." (Marston) 8. Below the true pitch; hence, as applied to intervals, minor, or lower by a half step; as, a flat seventh; A flat. Not sharp or shrill; not acute; as, a flat sound. 9. Sonant; vocal; applied to any one of the sonant or vocal consonants, as distinguished from a nonsonant (or sharp) consonant. Flat arch. <geometry> A coat of water colour of one uniform shade. To fall flat, to produce no effect; to fail in the intended effect; as, his speech fell flat. "Of all who fell by saber or by shot, Not one fell half so flat as Walter Scott." (Lord Erskine) Origin: Akin to Icel. Flatr, Sw. Flat, Dan. Flad, OHG. Flaz, and AS. Flet floor, G. Flotz stratum, layer. 1. A level surface, without elevation, relief, or prominences; an extended plain; specifically, in the United States, a level tract along the along the banks of a river; as, the Mohawk Flats. "Envy is as the sunbeams that beat hotter upon a bank, or steep rising ground, than upon a flat." (Bacon) 2. A level tract lying at little depth below the surface of water, or alternately covered and left bare by the tide; a shoal; a shallow; a strand. "Half my power, this night Passing these flats, are taken by the tide." (Shak) 3. Something broad and flat in form; as: A flat-bottomed boat, without keel, and of small draught. A straw hat, broad-brimmed and low-crowned. <machinery> A car without a roof, the body of which is a platform without sides; a platform car. A platform on wheel, upon which emblematic designs, etc, are carried in processions. 4. The flat part, or side, of anything; as, the broad side of a blade, as distinguished from its edge. 5. A floor, loft, or story in a building; especially, a floor of a house, which forms a complete residence in itself. 6. <chemical> A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal. 7. A dull fellow; a simpleton; a numskull. "Or if you can not make a speech, Because you are a flat." (Holmes) 8. A character [<flat/] before a note, indicating a tone which is a half step or semitone lower. 9. <geometry> A homaloid space or extension. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| flat affect | The absence of or diminution in the amount of emotional tone or outward emotional reaction typically shown by others or oneself under similar circumstances; a milder form is termed blunted affect. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flat bone | A type of bone characterised by its thin, flattened shape, such as the scapula or certain of the cranial bones. Synonym: os planum. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flat chest | A chest in which the anteroposterior diameter is shorter than the average. Synonym: alar chest, pterygoid chest. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flat condyloma | <tumour> A condyloma of the uterine cervix or other site caused by human papilloma virus infection and characterised histologically by koilocytosis without papillomatosis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flat feet | All babies have flat feet because their arches are not yet built up (anf their feet tend to be plump). (12 Dec 1998) |
| flat flap | A flap in which during transfer the pedicle is left flat or open, i.e., untubed. Synonym: open flap. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flat hand | Loss of normal arches of the hand. Synonym: flat hand. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flat papular syphilid | Eruption of flattened, dull reddish papules, 5 mm to 1 cm in diameter, occurring in secondary syphilis. Synonym: flat papular syphilid. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flat pelvis | A pelvis in which the anteroposterior diameter is uniformly contracted, the sacrum being dislocated forward between the iliac bones. Synonym: pelvis plana. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flat plate | Jargon for plain film. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flat revertant | <cell biology> Variant of a malignant transformed animal tissue cell in which the characteristic high saturation density and piled up morphology have reverted to the flatter morphology associated with nontransformed cells. (18 Nov 1997) |