17-letter words containing a, c, y
- articulated lorry — a lorry made in two separate sections, a tractor and a trailer, connected by a pivoted bar
- articulatory loop — a short-term memory system that enables a person to remember short strings of words by rehearsing them repeatedly in his head
- artificial kidney — a mechanical apparatus for performing haemodialysis
- ashby-de-la-zouch — a town in central England, in Leicestershire: Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned (1569) in the castle. Pop: 11 409 (2001)
- assembly district — one of a fixed number of districts into which a state is divided, each district electing one member to the lower house of the state legislature.
- associative array — (programming) (Or "hash", "map", "dictionary") An array where the indices are not just integers but may be arbitrary strings.
- astronomical year — year (def 4b).
- asymmetrical bars — a set of parallel bars, having one bar fixed at 230 cm (7 ft, 6 in) and the other at 150 cm (4 ft, 11 in), used by women gymnasts
- attachment theory — a set of concepts that explain the emergence of an emotional bond between an infant and primary caregiver and the way in which this bond affects the child’s behavioral and emotional development into adulthood. See also attachment (def 3a).
- attorneys-in-fact — a person authorized by power of attorney to act on the authorizer's behalf outside a court of law.
- authority control — the establishment and maintainance of consistent forms of terms, as of names, subjects, and titles, to be used as headings in bibliographic records.
- autocatalytically — In an autocatalytic manner.
- backward analysis — (theory) An analysis to determine properties of the inputs of a program from properties or context of the outputs. E.g. if the output of this function is needed then this argument is needed. Compare forward analysis.
- bacteriologically — In a bacteriological manner; with respect to bacteriology.
- balanced literacy — a method of teaching reading in which phonics and whole language approaches are both used to maximize student learning.
- bankruptcy estate — all of the interests that a debtor has at the start of a bankruptcy case
- base rate fallacy — the tendency, when making judgments of the probability with which an event will occur, to ignore the base rate and to concentrate on other information
- beauty specialist — a person who helps someone to improve their beauty, such as a make-up artist
- beyond comparison — outstanding, without equal
- binocular rivalry — the phenomenon whereby one is unable to see simultaneously different images presented one to each eye; usually in some areas of the eye the image presented to the left eye is seen, in others that presented to the right eye
- biological rhythm — biorhythm.
- black huckleberry — a low eastern North American shrub, Gaylussacia baccata, of the heath family, having yellowish-green leaves with resinous dots on the underside, clustered orange-red flowers, and shiny, black, edible fruit.
- blind carbon copy — a duplicate of anything written or typed, or a copy of an email or other electronic document, that is sent to someone whose name is not visible to the primary addressee. Abbreviation: bcc.
- blocking antibody — Immunology. an antibody that partly combines with an antigen and interferes with cell-mediated immunity, thereby preventing an allergic reaction.
- bluegrass country — region in central Ky. where there is much bluegrass
- body 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.
- body modification — any method of permanently adorning the body, including tattooing and piercing
- bouncebackability — the ability to recover after a setback, esp in sport
- branch delay slot — delayed control-transfer
- budgetary control — a system of managing a business by applying a financial value to each forecast activity. Actual performance is subsequently compared with the estimates
- budgetary deficit — the amount by which government expenditure exceeds income from taxation, customs duties, etc, in any one fiscal year
- cabbage butterfly — a common white butterfly (Pieris rapae) whose green larvae feed upon cabbage and related plants
- cache consistency — cache coherency
- calcium cyanamide — a white crystalline compound formed by heating calcium carbide with nitrogen. It is important in the fixation of nitrogen and can be hydrolysed to ammonia or used as a fertilizer. Formula: CaCN2
- calcium hydroxide — a white crystalline slightly soluble alkali with many uses, esp in cement, water softening, and the neutralization of acid soils. Formula: Ca(OH)2
- calf's-foot jelly — a jelly made from the stock of boiled calves' feet and flavourings, formerly often served to invalids
- call-by-reference — (programming) An argument passing convention where the address of an argument variable is passed to a function or procedure, as opposed to passing the value of the argument expression. Execution of the function or procedure may have side-effects on the actual argument as seen by the caller. The C language's "&" (address of) and "*" (dereference) operators allow the programmer to code explicit call-by-reference. Other languages provide special syntax to declare reference arguments (e.g. ALGOL 60). See also call-by-name, call-by-value, call-by-value-result.
- camberwell beauty — a nymphalid butterfly, Nymphalis antiopa, of temperate regions, having dark purple wings with cream-yellow borders
- camera-ready copy — type matter ready to be photographed for plate-making without further alteration
- campus university — a university in which the buildings, often including shops and cafés, are all on one site
- canarybird flower — a nasturtium, Tropaeolum peregrinum, of Peru, having round, deeply lobed leaves and yellow flowers.
- capacity audience — a situation when the maximum number of people possible are watching an event
- carbonyl chloride — phosgene
- carboxyhemoglobin — a compound formed in the blood when carbon monoxide occupies the positions on the hemoglobin molecule normally taken by oxygen, resulting in cellular oxygen starvation
- cardiac glycoside — any of a group of drugs used to stimulate the heart in cases of heart failure, obtained from a number of plants, as the foxglove, squill, or yellow oleander.
- cardiorespiratory — of, relating to, or affecting the heart and respiratory system.
- carry a torch for — If you say that someone is carrying a torch for someone else, you mean that they secretly admire them or love them.
- carrying capacity — the maximum number of individuals that an area of land can support, usually determined by their food requirements
- case-study method — Also called case-study method [keys-stuhd-ee] /ˈkeɪsˈstʌd i/ (Show IPA). the teaching or elucidation of a subject or issue through analysis and discussion of actual cases, as in business education.
- cast/run your eye — If you cast your eye or run your eye over something, you look at it or read it quickly.