15-letter words containing a, n, u, c, l
- bear animalcule — tardigrade (def 3).
- bioaccumulation — the process in which industrial waste, toxic chemicals, etc. gradually accumulate in living tissue
- bishop auckland — a town in N England, in central Durham: seat of the bishops of Durham since the 12th century: light industries. Pop: 24 764 (2001)
- bituminous coal — a soft black coal, rich in volatile hydrocarbons, that burns with a smoky yellow flame. Fixed carbon content: 46–86 per cent; calorific value: 1.93 × 107 – 3.63 × 107 J/kg
- black horehound — a hairy unpleasant-smelling chiefly Mediterranean plant, Ballota nigra, having clusters of purple flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)
- black mountains — a mountain range running from N Monmouthshire and SE Powys (Wales) to SW Herefordshire (England). Highest peak: Waun Fach, 811 m (2660 ft)
- blockade runner — a person, ship etc that tries to carry goods through a blockade
- blockade-runner — a ship or person that passes through a blockade.
- blueback salmon — sockeye salmon.
- branchial pouch — one of a series of rudimentary outcroppings of the inner pharyngeal wall, corresponding to the branchial grooves on the surface.
- branching rules — rules that are used to break down a complex problem into several smaller problems
- bronchial tubes — the bronchi or their smaller divisions
- buffalo currant — an ornamental shrub, Ribes odoratum, of the central U.S., having showy, drooping clusters of fragrant yellow flowers and edible black fruit.
- business casual — a style of casual clothing worn by businesspeople at work instead of more formal attire
- by all accounts — according to everyone
- calabash nutmeg — a tropical African shrub, Monodora myristica, whose oily aromatic seeds can be used as nutmegs: family Annonaceae
- calcium cyanide — a white or grayish-black compound, Ca(CN) 2, used as an insecticide and rodent poison.
- calcium nitrate — a white, deliquescent solid, Ca(NO 3) 2 , used chiefly in the manufacture of fertilizers, fireworks, matches, and explosives.
- california gull — a large gull, Larus californicus, of the western U.S.
- call to account — to insist on explanation
- calydonian hunt — the pursuit by Meleager, Atalanta, and others of a savage boar (Calydonian boar) sent by Artemis to lay waste to Calydon.
- camp counsellor — an adult supervisor assigned to a group of campers at a summer camp
- cannot help but — to be unable to do anything else except
- canteen culture — the alleged clannishness of the police force, whereby the prevalent attitudes inhibit officers from reporting or speaking out against malpractice, racism, etc
- canterbury bell — a campanulaceous biennial European plant, Campanula medium, widely cultivated for its blue, violet, or white flowers
- canterbury lamb — New Zealand lamb exported chilled or frozen to the United Kingdom
- cape chelyuskin — a cape in N central Russia, in N Siberia at the end of the Taimyr Peninsula: the northernmost point of Asia
- capital account — A country's capital account is the part of its balance of payments that is concerned with the movement of capital.
- capitulationism — advocacy or approval of capitulation.
- capitulationist — advocacy or approval of capitulation.
- cardinal humour — any of the four bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, choler or yellow bile, melancholy or black bile) formerly thought to determine emotional and physical disposition
- cardinal number — A cardinal number is a number such as 1, 3, or 10 that tells you how many things there are in a group but not what order they are in. Compare ordinal number.
- cardinal virtue — anything considered to be an important or characteristic virtue: Tenacity is his cardinal virtue.
- cardiopulmonary — of, relating to, or affecting the heart and lungs
- castellated nut — a nut that has indentations similar to battlements
- central sudanic — a group of languages belonging to the Nilo-Saharan family, spoken in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Uganda, southern Sudan, Chad, and the Central African Republic, and including Mangbetu.
- centrifugal box — a revolving chamber, used in the spinning of manufactured filaments, in which the plastic fibers, subjected to centrifugal force, are slightly twisted and emerge in the form of yarn wound into the shape of a hollow cylinder.
- chamber counsel — a counsel who advises in private and does not plead in court
- champagne flute — a tall, thin champagne glass
- channel surfing — to change from one channel on a television set to another with great or unusual frequency, especially by using a remote control.
- channel-surfing — Channel-surfing is the same as channel-hopping.
- chantilly-sauce — a town in N France, N of Paris: lace manufacture.
- charcoal burner — (formerly) a person whose work was making charcoal by burning
- charcoal-burner — a device that burns charcoal, as a stove or brazier.
- child abduction — the crime of removing a child from its rightful home
- chinese lacquer — lacquer (def 2).
- church calendar — ecclesiastical calendar (def 2).
- church militant — those Christians on earth who are engaged in a continuous war against evil and the enemies of Christ.
- church slavonic — Old Church Slavonic, esp as preserved in the liturgical use of the Orthodox church
- church-calendar — a calendar based on the lunisolar cycle, used by many Christian churches in determining the dates for the movable feasts.