17-letter words containing a, c, e, l
- clare boothe luce — Clare Boothe, 1903–87, U.S. writer, politician, and diplomat.
- class-a amplifier — an electronic amplifier in which the output current flows for the whole of the input signal cycle
- class-b amplifier — an electronic amplifier in which the output flows for half of the input signal cycle
- class-c amplifier — an electronic amplifier in which the output current flows for less than half of the input cycle
- classical chinese — a written form of Chinese used from about the 5th century b.c. to 220 a.d.
- classical college — (in Quebec) a college offering a programme that emphasizes the classics and leads to university entrance
- classless society — a society in which class distinctions are negligible or absent
- clear box testing — white box testing
- cleveland heights — city in NE Ohio: suburb of Cleveland: pop. 50,000
- clifden nonpareil — a handsome nocturnal moth, Catocala fraxini, that is brown with bluish patches on the hindwings: related to the red underwing
- climbing accident — an accident occurring during climbing
- clinical efficacy — Clinical efficacy is a measure of how well a treatment succeeds in achieving its aim.
- clipperton island — an uninhabited atoll in the E Pacific SW of Mexico, under French administration. Area: 6 sq km (2.3 sq miles)
- close corporation — a small private limited company
- close parenthesis — right parenthesis
- close punctuation — punctuation in which many commas, full stops, etc, are used
- closed-captioning — (of a television program, film, or video) distributed with synchronized transcription of speech and written descriptions of other relevant audio elements, as for the hearing-impaired, that are visible only when the option to display them is selected. Abbreviation: CC.
- closing-down sale — a sale held to clear stock from a shop that is ceasing to operate
- cloverleaf aerial — a type of aerial, having three or four similar coplanar loops arranged symmetrically around an axis, to which in-phase signals are fed
- clumber (spaniel) — a short-legged spaniel with a heavy body and a thick coat of straight, white hair marked with yellow or orange
- coal-tar creosote — impure phenol or carbolic acid, distinct from the creosote of wood tar.
- coarse-grain salt — salt with a much larger grain size than table salt
- coastguard vessel — a ship used by the coastguard
- cock-a-doodle-doo — an imitation or representation of a cock crowing
- cocktail waitress — a woman who serves in a bar or cocktail lounge
- codlins-and-cream — an onagraceous plant, Epilobium hirsutum, native to Europe and Asia and introduced into North America, having purplish-red flowers and hairy stems and leaves
- coffee-table book — A coffee-table book is a large expensive book with a lot of pictures, which is designed to be looked at rather than to be read properly, and is usually placed where people can see it easily.
- coin of the realm — legal tender.
- coldstream guards — a guard regiment of the English royal household: formed in Coldstream, Scotland, 1659–60, and instrumental in restoring the English monarchy under Charles II.
- coliform bacteria — a large group of bacteria inhabiting the intestinal tract of humans and animals that may cause disease and whose presence in water is an indicator of faecal pollution
- collaborativeness — Quality of being collaborative.
- collateral damage — Collateral damage is accidental injury to non-military people or damage to non-military buildings which occurs during a military operation.
- collateralization — The act or process of collateralizing.
- collection agency — A collection agency is an organization that obtains payments from people who owe money to others.
- collegiate church — a church that has an endowed chapter of canons and prebendaries attached to it but that is not a cathedral
- colleterial gland — a paired accessory reproductive gland, present in most female insects, secreting a sticky substance that forms either the egg cases or the cement that binds the eggs to a surface
- color temperature — a temperature defined in terms of the temperature of a black body at which it emits light of a specified spectral distribution: used to specify the color of a light source.
- color-coordinated — with all parts or elements related, blended, or matched to a particular color scheme.
- colour separation — the division of a coloured original into cyan, magenta, yellow, and black so that plates may be made for print reproduction. Separation may be achieved by electronic scanning or by photographic techniques using filters to isolate each colour
- colour subcarrier — a component of a colour television signal on which is modulated the colour or chrominance information
- combe-capelle man — a skeleton of the early Upper Paleolithic Perigordian culture in France.
- commercial agency — a concern that investigates for the benefit of its subscribers the financial standing, reputation, and credit rating of individuals, firms, corporations, or others.
- commercial credit — credit issued by a bank to a business to finance trading or manufacturing operations.
- commercialisation — Alternative spelling of commercialization.
- commercialization — to make commercial in character, methods, or spirit.
- committal hearing — (in British law) a preliminary inquiry by a magistrate to decide if there is enough evidence for a case to go to trial
- communal marriage — group marriage.
- commuter airplane — air taxi.
- companionableness — The state or quality of being companionable.
- compartmentalised — Simple past tense and past participle of compartmentalise.