17-letter words containing a, c, r, e, s, n
- attorneys-in-fact — a person authorized by power of attorney to act on the authorizer's behalf outside a court of law.
- attraction sphere — centrosphere (sense 1)
- audience research — research into the make-up and habits of the audience of a particular television or radio programme or network
- audio description — a facility provided for visually impaired people in which a film, television programme, or play is described through audio technology
- australia current — a branch of the South Equatorial Current flowing SW from around Fiji to the E coast of Australia and then S along the coast.
- australopithecine — any of various extinct apelike primates of the genus Australopithecus and related genera, remains of which have been discovered in southern and E Africa. Some species are estimated to be over 4.5 million years old
- bachelor's button — any of several plants of a genus (Centaurea) of the composite family, that have scaly, vase-shaped bracts below the white, pink, or blue flowers; esp., the cornflower and knapweed
- bachelor's-button — any of various plants with round flower heads, especially the cornflower.
- back on the rails — If something is back on the rails, it is beginning to be successful again after a period when it almost failed.
- bacon's rebellion — an unsuccessful uprising by frontiersmen in Virginia in 1676, led by Nathaniel Bacon against the colonial government in Jamestown.
- bacteriorhodopsin — a purple protein containing retinal and found in the plasma membrane of certain bacteria (genus Halobacterium): it directly supplies electrochemical energy from sunlight
- baggage screening — the procedure whereby baggage is electronically screened at an airport before it is allowed on the plane
- bankruptcy estate — all of the interests that a debtor has at the start of a bankruptcy case
- barkhausen effect — the phenomenon of short, sudden changes in the magnetism of a ferromagnetic substance occurring when the intensity of the magnetizing field is continuously altered.
- be running scared — If you say that a person or group is running scared, you mean that they are frightened of what someone might do to them or what might happen.
- beyond comparison — outstanding, without equal
- black renaissance — a renewal and flourishing of black literary and musical culture during the years after World War I in the Harlem section of New York City.
- blessed sacrament — the consecrated elements of the Eucharist
- bluegrass country — region in central Ky. where there is much bluegrass
- branch delay slot — delayed control-transfer
- breakdown service — a service that provides assistance to motorists who break down
- british cameroons — a former British trust territory of West Africa
- british-cameroons — German Kamerun. a region in W Africa: a German protectorate 1884–1919; divided in 1919 into British and French mandates.
- brocot escapement — a type of anchor escapement.
- brzesc nad bugiem — Polish name of Brest Litovsk.
- buncher resonator — See under Klystron.
- caesarean section — A Caesarean or a Caesarean section is an operation in which a baby is lifted out of a woman's womb through an opening cut in her abdomen.
- call-and-response — a form of interaction between a speaker and one or more listeners, in which every utterance of the speaker elicits a verbal or non-verbal response from the listener or listeners
- calorie-conscious — aware of the calorie content of one's diet
- campus university — a university in which the buildings, often including shops and cafés, are all on one site
- cancer specialist — a medical professional who specializes in the treatment or study of malignant growths or tumours
- canine parvovirus — a highly contagious viral disease of dogs characterized by vomiting, haemorrhagic diarrhoea, depression, and, in severe cases, death
- cape barren goose — a greyish Australian goose, Cereopsis novaehollandiae, having a black bill with a greenish cere
- carbon disulphide — a colourless slightly soluble volatile flammable poisonous liquid commonly having a disagreeable odour due to the presence of impurities: used as an organic solvent and in the manufacture of rayon and carbon tetrachloride. Formula: CS2
- carbon offsetting — a program in which a company, country, etc., reduces or offsets its carbon emissions through the funding of activities and projects that improve the environment: Carbon offsetting does not always have a quantifiable impact on the planet.
- cardinal grosbeak — any of various mostly tropical American buntings, such as the cardinal and pyrrhuloxia, the males of which have brightly coloured plumage
- cardiogenic shock — a type of shock caused by decreased cardiac output despite adequate blood volume, owing to a disease of the heart itself, as myocardial infarction, or any other factor that interferes with the filling or emptying of the heart.
- carolina allspice — any of a genus (Calycanthus) of hardy shrubs (family Calycanthaceae) of a dicotyledonous order (Laurales) of plants, bearing reddish-brown, sweet-smelling flowers
- carolina moonseed — a twining woody vine, Cocculus carolinus, of the southeastern U.S., having inconspicuous flowers and showy, red fruit.
- cartesian product — the set of all ordered pairs of members of two given sets. The product A × B is the set of all pairs <a, b> where a is a member of A and b is a member of B
- cast/run your eye — If you cast your eye or run your eye over something, you look at it or read it quickly.
- casting the runes — (jargon) What a guru does when you ask him or her to run a particular program because it never works for anyone else; especially used when nobody can ever see what the guru is doing different from what J. Random Luser does. Compare incantation, runes, examining the entrails; also see the AI koan about Tom Knight.
- castle in the air — a hope or desire unlikely to be realized; daydream
- catcher resonator — See under Klystron.
- cavalier servente — a lover; suitor.
- celestial horizon — the line or circle that forms the apparent boundary between earth and sky.
- cellulose nitrate — a compound made by treating cellulose with nitric and sulphuric acids, used in plastics, lacquers, and explosives: a nitrogen-containing ester of cellulose
- cellulose varnish — a varnish made from cellulose nitrate, used as a protective sealing film
- châlons-sur-marne — city in NE France, on the Marne River: scene of defeat ( a.d. 451) of Attila by the Romans: pop. 50,000
- chancery division — (in England) the Lord Chancellor's court, now a division of the High Court of Justice