16-letter words containing a, n, e, c
- croydon facelift — the tightening effect on the skin of a woman's face caused by securing the hair at the back of the head in a tight ponytail
- cryopreservation — the storage of blood or living tissues at extremely cold temperatures, often -196 degrees Celsius.
- crystalline lens — a biconvex transparent elastic structure in the eye situated behind the iris, serving to focus images on the retina
- cumberland sauce — a cold sauce made from orange and lemon juice, port, and redcurrant jelly, served with ham, game, or other meat
- curlew sandpiper — a common Eurasian sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea, having a brick-red breeding plumage and a greyish winter plumage
- currency trading — the business of trading in different currencies in order to profit from exchange rate differentials
- currier and ives — any of a 19th-cent. series of prints showing the manners, people, and events of the times
- curtain-twitcher — a person who likes to watch unobserved what other people are doing
- customary tenant — a tenant occupying a property under the customs of the manor, often a low-status tenant with little security of tenure
- cut one's throat — to bring about one's own ruin
- cute as a button — very sweet, adorable
- cyanogen bromide — a colorless, slightly water-soluble, poisonous, volatile, crystalline solid, BrCN, used chiefly as a fumigant and a pesticide.
- cyclohexamantane — (chemistry) A certain diamondoid, C26H30.
- darwin's finches — the finches of the subfamily Geospizinae of the Galapagos Islands, showing great variation in bill structure and feeding habits: provided Darwin with evidence to support his theory of evolution
- data compression — the act of compressing.
- database machine — (hardware) A computer or special hardware that stores and retrieves data from a database. It is specially designed for database access and is coupled to the main (front-end) computer(s) by a high-speed channel. This contrasts with a database server, which is a computer in a local area network that holds a database. The database machine is tightly coupled to the main CPU, whereas the database server is loosely coupled via the network.
- davidson current — a winter countercurrent that flows N along the W coast of the U.S.
- day of reckoning — If someone talks about the day of reckoning, they mean a day or time in the future when people will be forced to deal with an unpleasant situation which they have avoided until now.
- de-anglicization — (in Ireland) the elimination of English influence, language, customs, etc
- de-concentration — to reduce the power or control of (a corporation, industry, etc.); decentralize.
- dealcoholization — to remove some or all of the alcohol from (a drink).
- debating chamber — a room where a legislative assembly holds debates
- debating society — a club, e.g. at a school or university, which regularly holds debates
- deboursification — (jargon) Removal of irrelevant newsgroups from the Newsgroups header of a followup. The term applies particularly to the removal of frivolous groups added by one of the Kooks. See also: sneck.
- debut appearance — debut
- decanedioic acid — a white crystalline carboxylic acid obtained by heating castor oil with sodium hydroxide, used in the manufacture of polyester resins and rubbers and plasticizers. Formula: HOOC(CH2)8COOH
- decapitalization — to deprive of capital; discourage capital formation; withdraw capital from: The government decapitalized industry with harsh tax policies.
- decentralisation — Alternative spelling of decentralization.
- decentralization — to distribute the administrative powers or functions of (a central authority) over a less concentrated area: to decentralize the national government.
- dechristianizing — Present participle of dechristianize.
- decimal currency — a system of currency in which the monetary units are parts or powers of ten
- decimal fraction — a fraction whose denominator is some power of 10, usually indicated by a dot (decimal point or point) written before the numerator: as 0.4 = 4/10; 0.126 = 126/1000.
- declare war (on) — to make a formal declaration of being at war (with)
- declassification — to remove the classification from (information, a document, etc.) that restricts access in terms of secrecy, confidentiality, etc. Compare classification (def 5).
- decontextualized — removed from the usual context
- definite article — The word 'the' is sometimes called the definite article.
- dehumidification — Dehumidification is the removal of vapor from a gas-vapor mixture.
- delayed reaction — response after an interval
- delaying tactics — techniques used to delay sth
- delta connection — a connection used in a three-phase electrical system in which three elements in series form a triangle, the supply being input and output at the three junctions
- delta conversion — delta reduction
- dementia praecox — schizophrenia
- demoiselle crane — a gray crane, Anthropoides virgo, of northern Africa, Europe, and Asia, having long, white plumes behind each eye.
- dental insurance — Dental insurance is insurance that pays for treatment by a dentist.
- denuclearization — The act or process of denuclearizing.
- dependent clause — a clause that cannot function syntactically as a complete sentence by itself but has a nominal, adjectival, or adverbial function within a larger sentence; subordinate clause (Ex.: She will visit us if she can.)
- depoliticization — The act or process of depoliticizing.
- deradicalization — the practice of encouraging those with extreme and violent religious or political ideologies to adopt more moderate views
- deuterocanonical — of or constituting a second or subsequent canon; specif., designating certain Biblical books accepted as canonical in the Roman Catholic Church, but held by Protestants to be apocryphal
- devonshire cream — clotted cream.