12-letter words containing n, a, y
- cachinnatory — Pertaining to loud or immoderate laughter.
- calendar day — the period from one midnight to the following midnight.
- caliginosity — darkness
- call-by-name — (reduction) (CBN) (Normal order reduction, leftmost, outermost reduction). An argument passing convention (first provided by ALGOL 60?) where argument expressions are passed unevaluated. This is usually implemented by passing a pointer to a thunk - some code which will return the value of the argument and an environment giving the values of its free variables. This evaluation strategy is guaranteed to reach a normal form if one exists. When used to implement functional programming languages, call-by-name is usually combined with graph reduction to avoid repeated evaluation of the same expression. This is then known as call-by-need. The opposite of call-by-name is call-by-value where arguments are evaluated before they are passed to a function. This is more efficient but is less likely to terminate in the presence of infinite data structures and recursive functions. Arguments to macros are usually passed using call-by-name.
- call-by-need — (reduction) A reduction strategy which delays evaluation of function arguments until their values are needed. A value is needed if it is an argument to a primitive function or it is the condition in a conditional. Call-by-need is one aspect of lazy evaluation. The term first appears in Chris Wadsworth's thesis "Semantics and Pragmatics of the Lambda calculus" (Oxford, 1971, p. 183). It was used later, by J. Vuillemin in his thesis (Stanford, 1973).
- calumniatory — of, involving, or using calumny; slanderous; defamatory.
- calumniously — in a calumnious manner
- calvin cycle — a series of reactions, occurring during photosynthesis, in which glucose is synthesized from carbon dioxide
- calycanthemy — the abnormal development of the calyx of a flower into a structure resembling a corolla
- cam ranh bay — an inlet of the South China Sea, on the SE coast of Vietnam: U. S. military facility during the Vietnam War.
- canary grass — any of various grasses of the genus Phalaris, esp P. canariensis, that is native to Europe and N Africa and has straw-coloured seeds used as birdseed
- candy stripe — a pattern of bright stripes of one color against a plain background, used chiefly in fabrics.
- candygrammar — (language) A programming-language grammar that is mostly syntactic sugar; a play on "candygram". COBOL, Apple Computer's Hypertalk language, and many 4GLs share this property. The intent is to be as English-like as possible and thus easier for unskilled people to program. However, syntax isn't what makes programming hard; it's the mental effort and organisation required to specify an algorithm precisely. Thus "candygrammar" languages are just as difficult to program in, and far more painful for the experienced hacker.
- cantillatory — involving chanting or incantation
- canyoneering — (US) Canyoning, a hybrid outdoor sport involving the traversal of river canyons.
- cape nordkyn — a cape in N Norway: the northernmost point of the European mainland
- car industry — the industry concerned with the manufacture and selling of automobiles
- carbon cycle — the circulation of carbon between living organisms and their surroundings. Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is synthesized by plants into plant tissue, which is ingested and metabolized by animals and converted to carbon dioxide again during respiration and decay
- cardigan bay — an inlet of St George's Channel, on the W coast of Wales
- carnot cycle — an idealized reversible heat-engine cycle giving maximum efficiency and consisting of an isothermal expansion, an adiabatic expansion, an isothermal compression, and an adiabatic compression back to the initial state
- carolina bay — any of the shallow, usually marshy, oval depressions found in the coastal plains of the eastern U.S. that are heavily forested and have rich soil.
- carry a tune — to be able to sing in tune
- carry-on bag — a small bag that is taken inside an aircraft by hand personally by a passenger
- carryings-on — wild, extravagant, or immoral behavior
- cartoonishly — in a cartoonish manner
- cash economy — an economic system, or part of one, in which financial transactions are carried out in cash rather than via direct debit, standing order, bank transfer, or credit card
- cash payment — an immediate payment in cash
- cationically — in a cationic manner
- catty-corner — Something that is catty-corner or kitty-corner from another thing is placed or arranged diagonally from it.
- centennially — As part of a centennial.
- central city — the principal municipality of a metropolitan area, surrounded by suburbs and smaller towns; esp., the crowded, industrial, often blighted area
- ceremonially — of, relating to, or characterized by ceremony; formal; ritual: a ceremonial occasion.
- chained lady — the constellation Andromeda.
- changelessly — In a changeless manner.
- chickahominy — a member of a North American Indian tribe of the Powhatan confederacy that inhabited eastern Virginia.
- chimneyboard — a partition or a cover to shut off a fireplace
- chlorenchyma — plant tissue consisting of parenchyma cells that contain chlorophyll
- christianity — Christianity is a religion that is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and the belief that he was the son of God.
- christophany — an appearance or emergence of Christ following his crucifixion
- chronography — an arrangement of past events
- chrysophanol — (organic compound) A chemical compound found in rhubarb.
- chthonophagy — (disease) Alternative form of chthonophagia.
- churchianity — loyalty to the church rather than Christianity
- circumbinary — (astronomy) Of, pertaining to, or having an orbit around a binary star.
- city company — (in Britain) a corporation that represents one of the historic trade guilds of London
- city manager — (in the US) an administrator hired by a municipal council to manage its affairs
- clairvoyance — the alleged power of perceiving things beyond the natural range of the senses
- clairvoyancy — the faculty of clairvoyance
- clairvoyants — Plural form of clairvoyant.
- clangorously — In a clangorous manner; ringingly.