15-letter words containing a, c, r, d
- brush discharge — a slightly luminous electrical discharge between points of high charge density when the charge density is insufficient to cause a spark or around sharp points on a highly charged conductor because of ionization of air molecules in their vicinity
- cache la poudre — a river in N Colorado, flowing N and E to the South Platte River. 126 miles (203 km) long.
- cadmean victory — a victory won with great losses to the victors
- calcined baryta — baryta (def 1).
- calcined-baryta — Also called calcined baryta, barium oxide, barium monoxide, barium protoxide. a white or yellowish-white poisonous solid, BaO, highly reactive with water: used chiefly as a dehydrating agent and in the manufacture of glass.
- calcium carbide — a grey salt of calcium used in the production of acetylene (by its reaction with water) and calcium cyanamide. Formula: CaC2
- calculated risk — a chance of failure, the probability of which is estimated before some action is undertaken.
- caldecott award — an annual award in the U.S. for an outstanding illustrated juvenile book.
- calendarization — the process of calendarizing
- calf diphtheria — a disease of the throat in young calves caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum, resulting in breathing difficulty and a painful cough
- call forwarding — a telephone service that allows incoming calls to be transferred automatically to another number or extension
- calydonian boar — a savage boar sent by Artemis to destroy Calydon, a city in Aetolia, because its king had neglected to sacrifice to her. It was killed by Meleager, the king's son
- camphorated oil — a liniment consisting of camphor and peanut oil, used as a counterirritant
- canadian forces — the official name for the military forces of Canada
- canadian french — the French language as spoken in Canada, esp in Quebec
- carbazotic acid — picric acid.
- carbon monoxide — Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that is produced especially by the engines of vehicles.
- carboxylic acid — any of a class of organic acids containing the carboxyl group
- cardiac massage — a rhythmic compressing of the heart, using the hands to force blood through the blood vessels: an emergency medical procedure for treating heart failure
- cardinal beetle — any of various large N temperate beetles of the family Pyrochroidae, such as Pyrochroa serraticornis, typically scarlet or partly scarlet in colour
- cardinal flower — a campanulaceous plant, Lobelia cardinalis of E North America, that has brilliant scarlet, pink, or white flowers
- cardinal humour — any of the four bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, choler or yellow bile, melancholy or black bile) formerly thought to determine emotional and physical disposition
- cardinal number — A cardinal number is a number such as 1, 3, or 10 that tells you how many things there are in a group but not what order they are in. Compare ordinal number.
- cardinal points — the four main points of the compass: north, south, east, and west
- cardinal spider — a large house spider, Tegenaria parietina
- cardinal system — a system of coding navigational aids by shape, color, and number, according to their positions relative to navigational hazards.
- cardinal virtue — anything considered to be an important or characteristic virtue: Tenacity is his cardinal virtue.
- cardinal vowels — a set of theoretical vowel sounds, based on the shape of the mouth needed to articulate them, that can be used to classify the vowel sounds of any speaker in any language
- carding machine — card2 (defs 1, 2).
- cardiopulmonary — of, relating to, or affecting the heart and lungs
- careers adviser — a person trained in giving vocational advice, esp in secondary, further, or higher education
- cartesian diver — a glass vessel partially filled with water and covered with an airtight membrane, containing a hollow object that is open at the bottom and contains just enough air to allow it to float. Pressing on the membrane compresses the air in the vessel and forces water into the object, causing it to sink; releasing the membrane causes it to rise.
- cartesian doubt — willful suspension of all interpretations of experience that are not absolutely certain: used as a method of deriving, by elimination of such uncertainties, axioms upon which to base theories.
- cartridge brass — brass composed of about 70 percent copper and 30 percent zinc.
- cartridge paper — an uncoated type of drawing or printing paper, usually made from bleached sulphate wood pulp with an addition of esparto grass
- cascara sagrada — the dried bark of the cascara buckthorn, used as a stimulant and laxative
- cast around for — If you cast around for something or cast about for it, you try to find it or think of it.
- casters-up mode — [IBM, probably from slang belly up] Yet another synonym for "broken" or "down". Usually connotes a major failure. A system (hardware or software) which is "down" may be already being restarted before the failure is noticed, whereas one which is "casters up" is usually a good excuse to take the rest of the day off (as long as you're not responsible for fixing it).
- catchment board — a public body concerned with the conservation and organization of water supply from a catchment area
- cathedral choir — the choir, traditionally consisting of boys and men, that sings in cathedral services
- cathedral glass — a semitransparent sheet of rolled glass having a decorative pattern.
- cattle breeding — the science or business of breeding and raising cattle
- cellar dwellers — the team at the bottom of a sports league
- centipede grass — a slow-growing grass, Eremochloa ophiuroides, introduced into the U.S. from China and used for lawns in warm areas.
- 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.
- cephalochordate — any chordate animal of the subphylum Cephalochordata, having a fishlike body and no vertebral column; lancelet
- 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
- chanson d'amour — love song.
- character dance — a style of balletic folk dance that intends to give a sense of national character and color.