12-letter words containing a, c, e, n, t
- 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.
- canaliculate — having a groove or grooves
- cancellation — the fact or an instance of cancelling
- cancer stick — a cigarette.
- candlesticks — Plural form of candlestick.
- candy stripe — a pattern of bright stripes of one color against a plain background, used chiefly in fabrics.
- canine tooth — canine (def 2).
- cantankerous — Someone who is cantankerous is always finding things to argue or complain about.
- canterburies — Plural form of canterbury.
- cantilevered — A cantilevered structure is constructed using cantilevers.
- canton crepe — a fine crinkled silk or rayon crepe fabric, slightly heavier than crepe de Chine
- canton linen — a fabric made from tough vegetable fibers, used for table linens, wall coverings, etc.
- canton river — Zhu Jiang.
- capacitances — Plural form of capacitance.
- cape matapan — a cape in S Greece, at the S central tip of the Peloponnese: the southern point of the mainland of Greece
- captiousness — The state of being captious.
- caravan site — A caravan site is an area of land where people can stay in a caravan on holiday, or where people live in caravans.
- carbon steel — steel whose characteristics are determined by the amount of carbon it contains
- carbonatites — Plural form of carbonatite.
- card counter — a casino player who memorizes or records which cards have been played in previous hands in order to calculate the odds on receiving winning cards or combinations from those remaining to be dealt, the practice often being held as illegal.
- cardinalates — Plural form of cardinalate.
- 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
- carpentering — a person who builds or repairs wooden structures, as houses, scaffolds, or shelving.
- carpet snake — a large nonvenomous Australian snake, Morelia variegata, having a carpetlike pattern on its back
- carpetmonger — a person who frequently visits women's boudoirs
- carry a tune — to be able to sing in tune
- cartwheeling — Present participle of cartwheel.
- carunculated — Alternative form of carunculate.
- cash payment — an immediate payment in cash
- castellation — Architecture. built like a castle, especially with turrets and battlements.
- caster angle — the forward or backward tilt of the steering axis in a vehicle, when considered from the side
- casting vote — When a committee has given an equal number of votes for and against a proposal, the chairperson can give a casting vote. This vote decides whether or not the proposal will be passed.
- catching pen — a pen adjacent to a shearer's stand containing the sheep ready for shearing
- catechumenal — Ecclesiastical. a person under instruction in the rudiments of Christianity, as in the early church; a neophyte.
- categorising — to arrange in categories or classes; classify.
- categorizing — Present participle of categorize.
- cater-cousin — a close friend
- caterwauling — the shrieking and yowling made by a cat, for example when it is on heat or fighting
- catherine ii — known as Catherine the Great. 1729–96, empress of Russia (1762–96), during whose reign Russia extended her boundaries at the expense of Turkey, Sweden, and Poland: she was a patron of literature and the arts
- cattleperson — Someone who works with, or rears cattle.
- catty-corner — Something that is catty-corner or kitty-corner from another thing is placed or arranged diagonally from it.
- cautiousness — showing, using, or characterized by caution: a cautious man; To be cautious is often to show wisdom.
- celebrations — Plural form of celebration.
- celebutantes — Plural form of celebutante.
- celibatarian — inclined towards or characterized by celibacy
- census taker — a person who gathers information for a census.
- census tract — a standard area in certain large American cities used by the U.S. Bureau of the Census for purposes of population enumeration.
- centenarians — Plural form of centenarian.
- centennially — As part of a centennial.
- center plate — one of a pair of plates that fit together and support the body of a car on a truck, while allowing the truck to rotate with respect to the body. One plate (body center plate) is attached to the underside of the car body and the other (truck center plate) is part of the car truck.