17-letter words containing a, c, s, e
- chadless keypunch — (hardware) A card punch which cut little U-shapes in punched cards, rather than punching out a circle or rectangle. The U's made a hole when folded back. One of the Jargon File's correspondents believed that the term "chad" derived from the Chadless keypunch. Obviously, if the Chadless keypunch didn't make them, then the stuff that other keypunches made had to be "chad". The assertion that the keypunch was named after its inventor is not supported by any record in US or UK patents or surname references.
- 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
- chamber orchestra — A chamber orchestra is a small orchestra which plays classical music.
- chancery division — (in England) the Lord Chancellor's court, now a division of the High Court of Justice
- change one's mind — to alter one's decision or opinion
- change one's tune — to alter one's attitude or tone of speech
- change the sheets — If you change the sheets on a bed, you take the used sheets off the bed and put on different ones.
- chanson de roland — English The Song of Roland. a chanson de geste (c1100) relating Roland's brave deeds and death at Roncesvalles and Charlemagne's revenge.
- chapter and verse — If you say that someone gives you chapter and verse on a particular subject, you are emphasizing that they tell you every detail about it.
- character actress — an actress who specializes in playing odd or eccentric characters
- character defense — a personality trait, as a habitual tendency to idealize or rationalize, that serves some unconscious defensive purpose.
- character witness — a witness in a trial who testifies to the accused's general good character rather than providing evidence about the specific offence which has led to him or her being on trial
- characterisations — Plural form of characterisation.
- characterizations — portrayal; description: the actor's characterization of a politician.
- characterlessness — The state or condition of being characterless; lack of character.
- charge d'affaires — A chargé d'affaires is a person appointed to act as head of a diplomatic mission in a foreign country while the ambassador is away.
- charles de gaulle — Charles André Joseph Marie [chahrlz ahn-drey joh-zuh f muh-ree;; French sharl ahn-drey zhoh-zef ma-ree] /tʃɑrlz ˈɑn dreɪ ˈdʒoʊ zəf məˈri;; French ʃarl ɑ̃ˈdreɪ ʒoʊˈzɛf maˈri/ (Show IPA), 1890–1970, French general and statesman: president 1959–69.
- charles henry dow — Charles Henry, 1851–1902, U.S. journalist and publisher: a founder of Dow Jones company.
- charles lindbergh — Anne (Spencer) Morrow, 1906–2001, U.S. writer (wife of Charles Augustus Lindbergh).
- charles the great — ("Charles the Great") a.d. 742–814, king of the Franks 768–814; as Charles I, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 800–814.
- charles townshend — Charles, 1725–67, English politician, chancellor of the exchequer for whom the Townshend Acts are named.
- charter of rights — a section of the Canadian Constitution containing a statement of the basic rights of citizens of Canada.
- chartered society — a society that has an official charter
- checkable deposit — a checking account
- chelsea pensioner — an old ex-soldier resident in the Chelsea Royal Hospital
- chemotherapeutics — chemotherapy.
- chest measurement — the circumference of the trunk, measured around the middle of the chest
- chinaman's chance — Older Use: Offensive. a term used to refer to a Chinese person or a person of Chinese descent.
- chinese artichoke — a hairy plant, Stachys affinis, of China and Japan, having numerous small, white, edible tubers.
- chinese turkestan — the E part of the central Asian region of Turkestan: corresponds generally to the present-day Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China
- choanoflagellates — Plural form of choanoflagellate.
- chocolate biscuit — a biscuit covered with chocolate
- chocolate soldier — a person who mistakenly believes that he or she is very powerful, important, or impressive
- christian science — Christian Science is a type of Christianity which emphasizes the use of prayer to cure illness.
- christmas cracker — a decorated cardboard tube that emits a bang when pulled apart, releasing a toy, a joke, or a paper hat.
- christmas disease — a relatively mild type of haemophilia, caused by lack of a protein (Christmas factor) implicated in the process of blood clotting
- christmas present — a present given at Christmas time, typically on Christmas Day
- chukchi peninsula — a peninsula in the extreme NE of Russia, in NE Siberia: mainly tundra
- cinisello balsamo — a city in N Italy, near Milan.
- circle the wagons — to take defensive action; prepare for an attack: from arranging a wagon train in a circular formation
- circumterrestrial — surrounding or revolving about the earth.
- cistern barometer — a mercury barometer in which the lower mercury surface has a greater area than the upper.
- citizen's charter — (formerly, in Britain) a government document setting out standards of service for public and private sector bodies, such as schools, hospitals, railway companies, water and energy suppliers, etc
- civil partnership — A civil partnership is a legal relationship between two people of the same sex that is similar to marriage.
- 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