19-letter words containing a, c, u
- continuous creation — the theory that matter is being created continuously in the universe
- contour integration — integration in the complex plane about a closed curve of finite length.
- contra-guide rudder — a rudder having a horizontal offset of its upper and lower halves to improve the flow characteristics of the propeller race.
- contractile vacuole — a membrane-enveloped cellular organelle, found in many microorganisms, that periodically expands, filling with water, and then contracts, expelling its contents to the cell exterior: thought to be important in maintaining hydrostatic equilibrium.
- contradistinguished — Simple past tense and past participle of contradistinguish.
- contradistinguishes — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of contradistinguish.
- contributing factor — something that is partly responsible for a development or phenomenon
- convergent boundary — a major geologic discontinuity or suture marking the juncture of lithospheric plates that have been joined by plate tectonics.
- cooccurrence matrix — (mathematics) Given a position operator P(i,j), let A be a nxn matrix whose element A[i][j] is the number of times that points with grey level (intensity) g[i] occur, in the position specified by P, relative to points with grey level g[j]. Let C be the nxn matrix that is produced by dividing A with the total number of point pairs that satisfy P. C[i][j] is a measure of the joint probability that a pair of points satisfying P will have values g[i], g[j]. C is called a cooccurrence matrix defined by P. Examples for the operator P are: "i above j", "i one position to the right and two below j", etc.
- coordination number — the number of coordinated species surrounding the central atom in a complex or crystal
- corporal punishment — Corporal punishment is the punishment of people by hitting them.
- corporate venturing — the provision of venture capital by one company for another in order to obtain information about the company requiring capital or as a step towards acquiring it
- corrosive sublimate — mercuric chloride
- cost-push inflation — inflation in which prices increase as a result of increased production costs, as labor and parts, even when demand remains the same.
- counter reformation — the movement within the Roman Catholic Church that followed the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
- counter-advertising — the act or practice of calling public attention to one's product, service, need, etc., especially by paid announcements in newspapers and magazines, over radio or television, on billboards, etc.: to get more customers by advertising.
- counter-programming — to schedule (a broadcast on radio or television) to compete with one on another station.
- counter-reformation — the reform movement of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th and early 17th centuries considered as a reaction to the Protestant Reformation
- counterdemonstrator — Someone who demonstrates in opposition to another demonstration that is happening nearby at the same time.
- countersurveillance — The art of evading surveillance.
- countertransference — in psychotherapy, transference in which the psychoanalyst or other psychotherapist substitutes the client for the original object of his or her own repressed impulses
- countervailing duty — an extra import duty imposed by a country on certain imports, esp to prevent dumping or to counteract subsidies in the exporting country
- country and western — Country and western is the same as country music.
- country-and-western — country music.
- court of st james's — the official name of the royal court of Britain
- creative accounting — Creative accounting is when companies present or organize their accounts in such a way that they gain money for themselves or give a false impression of their profits.
- credit default swap — a contract in which the parties exchange the exposure to loss should a creditor fail to make a payment when it comes due back
- creeping featuritis — (jargon) /kree'ping fee'-chr-i:`t*s/ A variant of creeping featurism, with its own spoonerism: "feeping creaturitis". Some people like to reserve this form for the disease as it actually manifests in software or hardware, as opposed to the lurking general tendency in designers' minds. -ism means "condition" or "pursuit of", whereas -itis usually means "inflammation of".
- crystallized fruits — fruits that are covered in sugar which is melted and then allowed to harden
- cuboidal epithelium — epithelium consisting of one or more layers of cells of cuboid or polyhedral shape.
- cudgel one's brains — to think hard about a problem
- cult of personality — a cult promoting adulation of a living national leader or public figure, as one encouraged by Stalin to extend his power.
- cultivated mushroom — an edible mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) with a pale cap and stalk: the most common food mushroom
- cultural relativism — a concept that cultural norms and values derive their meaning within a specific social context. Also called cultural relativism. Compare ethnocentrism (def 2).
- cultural relativity — a concept that cultural norms and values derive their meaning within a specific social context. Also called cultural relativism. Compare ethnocentrism (def 2).
- cultural revolution — (in China) a mass movement (1965–68), in which the youthful Red Guard played a prominent part. It was initiated by Mao Tse-tung to destroy the power of the bureaucrats and to revolutionize the attitudes and behaviour of the people
- cultural-relativism — a concept that cultural norms and values derive their meaning within a specific social context. Also called cultural relativism. Compare ethnocentrism (def 2).
- cumulative evidence — additional evidence reinforcing testimony previously given
- cup-and-saucer vine — a woody, Mexican vine, Cobaea scandens, of the phlox family, having bell-shaped, violet-colored or greenish-purple flowers with an inflated, leaflike calyx and long, curved stamens.
- current liabilities — business liabilities maturing within a year
- current transformer — A current transformer is a transformer that is designed to give an accurate current ratio for the purpose of measurement and control.
- curvilinear tracery — tracery, especially of the 14th and 15th centuries, characterized by a pattern of irregular, boldly curved forms.
- customs declaration — a form declaring the nature and value of goods, etc, for customs purposes
- customs regulations — the regulations relating to customs in a particular country
- darby and joan club — a club for elderly people
- deaf without speech — (usually of a prelingually deaf person) able to utter sounds but not speak
- decontextualization — to remove (a linguistic element, an action, etc.) from a context: decontextualized works of art displayed in museums.
- developable surface — a surface that can be flattened onto a plane without stretching or compressing any part of it, as a circular cone.
- difference equation — (mathematics) A relation between consecutive elements of a sequence. The first difference is D u(n) = u(n+1) - u(n) where u(n) is the nth element of sequence u. The second difference is u(n+2) + a u(n+1) + b u(n) = 0 can be converted to a difference equation (in this case, a second order linear difference equation): D2 u(n) + p D u(n) + q u(n) = 0 and vice versa. a, b, p, q are constants.
- differential backup — (operating system) A kind of backup that copies all files that have changed since the last full backup. Each differential backup will include all files in previous differential backups since the full backup so to restore a version of a file, you only need to search the full backup and the relevant differential backup. Some systems support differential backup by associating an "Archive" flag with each file and setting this flag whenever the file is modified to indicate that it should be included in the next backup. A differential backup does not change this flag, whereas an incremental backup resets it.