12-letter words starting with c
- camera-ready — designating or of copy, artwork, etc. that is ready to be photographed for making into a plate for printing
- cameralistic — of or relating to public finance.
- camerapeople — a person who operates a camera, especially a movie or TV camera.
- cameraperson — a camera operator
- camiknickers — women's knickers attached to a camisole top
- camomile tea — a medicinal beverage made from the fragrant leaves and flowers of any of these plants
- camouflaging — Present participle of camouflage.
- camp bastion — a large British military base in Helmand province, Afghanistan, built in 2006
- camp lejeune — a U.S. Marine Corps base in SE North Carolina SE of Jacksonville on Onslow Bay.
- camp meeting — a religious meeting held in a large tent or outdoors, often lasting several days
- camp springs — a city in central Maryland, near Washington, D.C.
- campaign hat — a felt hat with a broad, stiff brim and four dents in the crown, formerly worn by personnel in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps.
- camper truck — a pickup truck having a camper mounted on the truck body.
- camphor ball — mothball
- camphor tree — a lauraceous evergreen E Asian tree, Cinnamomum camphora, whose aromatic wood yields camphor
- camphorating — Present participle of camphorate.
- camping site — A camping site is the same as a campsite.
- campo formio — a village in NE Italy, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia: scene of the signing of a treaty in 1797 that ended the war between revolutionary France and Austria
- campo grande — a city in SW Brazil, capital of Mato Grosso do Sul state on the São Paulo–Corumbá railway: market centre. Pop: 746 000 (2005 est)
- campodeiform — resembling insects of the genus Campodea
- campshedding — to line (the bank of a river) with campshot.
- can of worms — a complicated problem
- can't happen — (programming) The traditional program comment for code executed under a condition that should never be true, for example a file size computed as negative. Often, such a condition being true indicates data corruption or a faulty algorithm; it is almost always handled by emitting a fatal error message and terminating or crashing, since there is little else that can be done. Some case variant of "can't happen" is also often the text emitted if the "impossible" error actually happens. Although "can't happen" events are genuinely infrequent in production code, programmers wise enough to check for them habitually are often surprised at how frequently they are triggered during development and how many headaches checking for them turns out to head off. See also firewall code, professional programming.
- canada goose — A Canada goose is a grayish-brown wild goose that comes from North America.
- canaliculate — having a groove or grooves
- canalisation — The conversion of a river or other waterway to a canal.
- canalization — the act of canalizing
- 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
- cancellarial — relating to a chancellor
- cancellation — the fact or an instance of cancelling
- cancelpoodle — (messaging) (Or Cancelbunny) A manifestation of the Cancelmoose in the form of a more selective (and probably not automated) way to cancel Usenet articles. The term became common during the alt.religion.scientology wars of the mid-90s, during which Cancelpoodles were used. The "poodle" part is an allusion to one of the parties obliquely involved in the fray, who an earlier well-known witticism had compared to "a psychotic poodle".
- cancer stick — a cigarette.
- cancerphobia — an excessive fear of getting cancer
- candied peel — fruit skin which has been impregnated or encrusted with sugar or syrup, esp that of citrus fruits
- candlefishes — Plural form of candlefish.
- candleholder — a candlestick
- candlesticks — Plural form of candlestick.
- 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.
- canine corps — a military or law enforcement body which uses dogs for the detection of explosives or drugs or for security, tracking, etc
- canine tooth — canine (def 2).
- cankeredness — spitefulness or crabbedness
- cannabinoids — Plural form of cannabinoid.
- canned goods — tinned food produce
- cannibalised — Simple past tense and past participle of cannibalise.
- cannibalized — Simple past tense and past participle of cannibalize.
- cannibalizes — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of cannibalize.
- cannonballed — Simple past tense and past participle of cannonball.
- canoe slalom — a competitive event in which a canoeist maneuvers through a slalom course, usually in white water.
- canola (oil) — an oil derived from the seed of any of several varieties of the rape plant, used in cooking, salad dressings, etc.: it is low in saturated fats