15-letter words starting with c
- central sudanic — a group of languages belonging to the Nilo-Saharan family, spoken in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Uganda, southern Sudan, Chad, and the Central African Republic, and including Mangbetu.
- centrifugal box — a revolving chamber, used in the spinning of manufactured filaments, in which the plastic fibers, subjected to centrifugal force, are slightly twisted and emerge in the form of yarn wound into the shape of a hollow cylinder.
- centrosymmetric — having symmetry with a central point
- cephalochordate — any chordate animal of the subphylum Cephalochordata, having a fishlike body and no vertebral column; lancelet
- cephalohematoma — A hemorrhage of blood between the skull and periosteum of a newborn baby secondary to rupture of blood vessels crossing the periosteum.
- cephalothoracic — the anterior part of the body in certain arachnids and crustaceans, consisting of the coalesced head and thorax.
- cephalothoraxes — Plural form of cephalothorax.
- cerebral cortex — the outermost layer of the cerebrum that is the locus of higher brain processes
- cerebrovascular — of or relating to the blood vessels and the blood supply of the brain
- ceremoniousness — The state of being ceremonious.
- certified check — A certified check is a check that is guaranteed by a bank, because the bank has set aside sufficient money in the account.
- cervical cancer — a cancer of the cervix (the lower end of the womb)
- cervical plexus — a network of nerves branching from the spinal nerves of the neck region and innervating the neck, chest, diaphragm, and part of the face.
- ceteris paribus — other things being equal
- cetti's warbler — a reddish-brown Eurasian warbler, Cettia cetti, with a distinctive song
- ceylon cinnamon — the aromatic inner bark of any of several East Indian trees belonging to the genus Cinnamonum, of the laurel family, especially the bark of C. zeylanicum (Ceylon cinnamon) used as a spice, or that of C. loureirii (Saigon cinnamon) used in medicine as a cordial and carminative.
- chagas' disease — a form of trypanosomiasis found in South America, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, characterized by fever and, often, inflammation of the heart muscles
- chain lightning — lightning that zigzags across the sky
- chairpersonship — a person who presides over a meeting, committee, board, etc.
- chamber concert — a concert of chamber music
- chamber counsel — a counsel who advises in private and does not plead in court
- chamois leather — soft cleaning cloth
- champagne flute — a tall, thin champagne glass
- champagne glass — a glass for drinking champagne, either a glass with a wide mouth and a roughly triangular shape or a tall flute
- chandler period — the period of the oscillation (Chandler wobble) of the earth's axis, varying between 416 and 433 days.
- chandler wobble — a slight, irregular nutation of the earth's rotational axis with a period of c. 428 days
- change of heart — a profound change of outlook, opinion, etc
- change of venue — the removal of a trial out of one jurisdiction into another
- channel captain — the most powerful member, and often the one that decides specifications, in a channel for distributing goods (which usually consists of a manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer). The channel captain is sometimes the manufacturer but in the case of a chain store it may be the retailer
- channel catfish — a food fish, Ictalurus punctatus, common in fresh waters throughout central U.S.
- channel hopping — (chat) To rapidly switch channels on IRC, or a GEnie chat board. This term may derive from the TV idiom, "channel surfing".
- channel islands — a group of islands in the English Channel, off the NW coast of France, consisting of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Brechou or Brecqhou, Sark, Herm, Jethou, and Lihou (all between them representing the British Kingdom Crown Dependencies of the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey) - the only part of the duchy of Normandy remaining to Britain - and the Roches Douvres and the Îles Chausey (which belong to France). Pop: 149 878 (2001). Area: 194 sq km (75 sq miles)
- channel surfing — to change from one channel on a television set to another with great or unusual frequency, especially by using a remote control.
- channel-hopping — Channel-hopping means switching quickly between different television channels because you are looking for something interesting to watch.
- channel-surfing — Channel-surfing is the same as channel-hopping.
- chanson d'amour — love song.
- chantilly-sauce — a town in N France, N of Paris: lace manufacture.
- chao k'uang-yin — (Tʾai Tsu) 927–976 a.d, Chinese emperor 960–976: founder of the Sung dynasty.
- character actor — A character actor is an actor who specializes in playing unusual or eccentric people.
- character dance — a style of balletic folk dance that intends to give a sense of national character and color.
- character level — the stage or rank of a player character in a role-playing game or video game: When you advance to a higher character level, your character will have access to more advanced skills.
- character piece — a short, simple piece, usually for piano, of a type developed chiefly during the 19th century, often of a descriptive or seemingly improvisatory character.
- character space — a space in a computer file into which a character can be fitted or which can be left blank
- character study — a work of fiction in which the delineation of the central character's personality is more important than the plot.
- character trait — a notable feature of a person's character
- characteristick — Obsolete form of characteristic.
- characteristics — Also, characteristical. pertaining to, constituting, or indicating the character or peculiar quality of a person or thing; typical; distinctive: Red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn.
- characterizable — Able to be characterized.
- charcoal burner — (formerly) a person whose work was making charcoal by burning
- charcoal-burner — a device that burns charcoal, as a stove or brazier.