16-letter words containing a, r, c, h, e
- cepheid variable — any of a class of variable stars with regular cycles of variations in luminosity (most ranging from three to fifty days). There is a relationship between the periods of variation and the absolute magnitudes, which is used for measuring the distance of such stars
- chalon-sur-saône — an industrial city in E central France, on the Saône River. Pop: 50 124 (1999)
- chamber of trade — a national organization representing local chambers of commerce
- chance one's arm — to attempt to do something although the chance of success may be slight
- chancellorsville — hamlet in NE Va. (now called Chancellor): site of a Civil War battle (May, 1863) won by Confederate forces
- channel crossing — a crossing of the English Channel
- channel islander — a person who comes from one of the Channel Islands
- character armour — the defence an individual exhibits to others and to himself or herself to disguise his or her underlying weaknesses: a term coined by William Reich
- character comedy — comedy, or a comedy, in which the main source of humour is in the character of the people represented in it
- character sketch — a brief description or portrayal of a person's character, qualities, etc
- character string — a series of characters that can be manipulated as a group, but do not necessarily represent anything
- characterisation — (British spelling) Alternative form of characterization.
- characteristical — Also, characteristical. pertaining to, constituting, or indicating the character or peculiar quality of a person or thing; typical; distinctive: Red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn.
- characterization — Characterization is the way an author or an actor describes or shows what a character is like.
- charge to a room — If you charge an item or expense to a room at a hotel, you add it to a guest's final bill so they can pay for it when they check out of the room.
- chargeable asset — any asset that can give rise to assessment for capital gains tax on its disposal. Exempt assets include principal private residences, cars, investments held in a personal equity plan, and government securities
- charged particle — an atomic particle with a positive or negative charge, as an electron, proton, or helium ion
- charitable trust — a trust set up for the benefit of a charity that complies with the regulations of the Charity Commissioners to enable it to be exempt from paying income tax
- charles chandler — Charles Frederick, 1836–1925, U.S. scientist, educator, and public-health expert.
- charles coughlin — Charles Edward ("Father Coughlin") 1891–1979, U.S. Roman Catholic priest, activist, radio broadcaster, and editor, born in Canada.
- charlotte amalie — the capital of the Virgin Islands of the United States, a port on St Thomas Island. Pop: 18 914 (2000)
- charmed particle — See at charmed (def 2).
- chase the dragon — to smoke opium or heroin
- chatsworth house — a mansion near Bakewell in Derbyshire: seat of the Dukes of Devonshire; built (1687–1707) in the classical style
- chattel mortgage — a mortgage on movable personal property
- chattel personal — an item of movable personal property, such as furniture, domestic animals, etc
- chattering class — well-educated members of the upper-middle or upper class who freely express especially liberal opinions or judgments on current issues and events.
- cheddar (cheese) — a variety of hard, smooth cheese, mild to very sharp
- chemical warfare — warfare in which chemicals other than explosives are used as weapons, esp warfare using asphyxiating or nerve gases, poisons, defoliants, etc
- chemoautotrophic — producing organic matter by the use of energy obtained by oxidation of certain chemicals with carbon dioxide as the carbon source
- chemoprophylaxis — the prevention of disease using chemical drugs
- chemotherapeutic — of or used in chemotherapy
- chernobyl packet — (networking) /cher-noh'b*l pak'*t/ A network packet that induces a broadcast storm and/or network meltdown, named in memory of the April 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl in Ukraine. The typical scenario involves an IP Ethernet datagram that passes through a gateway with both source and destination Ethernet address and IP address set as the respective broadcast addresses for the subnetworks being gated between. Compare Christmas tree packet.
- chest of drawers — A chest of drawers is a low, flat piece of furniture with drawers in which you keep clothes and other things.
- chevaux-de-frise — plural of cheval-de-frise.
- chian turpentine — turpentine (def 2).
- chiclet keyboard — (hardware, abuse) A keyboard with a small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like pieces of Chiclets chewing gum. Used especially to describe the original IBM PCjr keyboard. Vendors unanimously liked these because they were cheap, and a lot of early portable and laptop computers were launched with them. Customers rejected the idea with almost equal unanimity, and chiclets are not often seen on anything larger than a digital watch any more.
- childcare center — a place or business offering childcare for working parents
- childcare worker — someone who takes care of children in return for money
- children's panel — (in Scotland) a group of representatives of relevant agencies, with the power to deal with a child under sixteen who is in criminal or family trouble. Its hearings are private and replace most of the functions of juvenile courts
- chilean firebush — South American shrub with scarlet flowers
- chilli con carne — Chilli con carne is a dish made from minced meat, vegetables, and powdered or fresh chillies.
- chinese calendar — the former calendar of China, in which the year consisted of 12 lunar months with an intercalary month added seven times every 19 years to reconcile the lunar year of 354 days with the solar year of 365 days, time being reckoned in 60-year cycles with the first cycle dating from 2637 b.c.
- chinese shar-pei — Shar-Pei.
- chinese wisteria — a high-climbing Chinese vine, Wisteria sinensis, of the legume family, having hanging clusters of fragrant, bluish-violet flowers and long, velvety pods.
- chloracetic acid — chloroacetic acid.
- chlordiazepoxide — a chemical compound used as a tranquillizer and muscle relaxant and in the treatment of delirium tremens. Formula: C16H14ClN3O
- chlorinated lime — bleaching powder.
- chlorogenic acid — a colorless crystalline acid, C 16 H 18 O 9 , that is important in plant metabolism and is purportedly responsible for the browning or blackening of cut apples, potatoes, and other fruits and vegetables.
- chlorophenothane — DDT.