0%

16-letter words containing c, a, b

  • castellated beam — a rolled metal beam the web of which is first divided by a lengthwise zigzag cut, then welded together so as to join the peaks of both halves, thus increasing its depth and strength.
  • catch sb napping — If someone is caught napping, something happens when they are not prepared for it, although they should have been.
  • cathode ray tube — (hardware)   (CRT) An electrical device for displaying images by exciting phosphor dots with a scanned electron beam. CRTs are found in computer VDUs and monitors, televisions and oscilloscopes. The first commercially practical CRT was perfected on 29 January 1901 by Allen B DuMont. A large glass envelope containing a negative electrode (the cathode) emits electrons (formerly called "cathode rays") when heated, as in a vacuum tube. The electrons are accelerated across a large voltage gradient toward the flat surface of the tube (the screen) which is covered with phosphor. When an electron strikes the phosphor, light is emitted. The electron beam is deflected by electromagnetic coils around the outside of the tube so that it scans across the screen, usually in horizontal stripes. This scan pattern is known as a raster. By controlling the current in the beam, the brightness at any particular point (roughly a "pixel") can be varied. Different phosphors have different "persistence" - the length of time for which they glow after being struck by electrons. If the scanning is done fast enough, the eye sees a steady image, due to both the persistence of the phospor and of the eye itself. CRTs also differ in their dot pitch, which determines their spatial resolution, and in whether they use interlace or not.
  • cathode-ray tube — A cathode-ray tube is a device in televisions and computer terminals which sends an image onto the screen.
  • cedar of lebanon — a cedar, Cedrus libani, of SW Asia with level spreading branches and fragrant wood
  • celebrity status — the prominence of film star, footballer, musician etc who is constantly photographed and written about in tabloids and magazines
  • 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
  • cerulean warbler — a North American wood warbler, Dendroica cerulea, the male of which is blue above and white below.
  • chafe at the bit — to be impatient or vexed, as because of delay
  • chamber of trade — a national organization representing local chambers of commerce
  • champ at the bit — If someone is champing at the bit or is chomping at the bit, they are very impatient to do something, but they are prevented from doing it, usually by circumstances that they have no control over.
  • champagne bucket — A champagne bucket is a container that holds ice cubes or cold water and ice. You can use it to put bottles of champagne in and keep the champagne cool.
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • chilean firebush — South American shrub with scarlet flowers
  • chinese snowball — a Chinese shrub, Viburnum macrocephalum, of the honeysuckle family, having scurfy, hairy twigs, hairy leaves, and white flowers in large, showy, globelike clusters.
  • chomp at the bit — champ at the bit (see phrase under champ1)
  • christmas beetle — any of various greenish-gold Australian scarab beetles of the genus Anoplognathus, which are common in summer
  • chromatic number — (mathematics)   The smallest number of colours necessary to colour the nodes of a graph so that no two adjacent nodes have the same colour. See also: four colour map theorem.
  • chuvash republic — a constituent republic of W central Russia, in the middle Volga valley: generally low-lying with undulating plains and large areas of forest. Capital: Cheboksary. Pop: 1 313 900 (2002). Area: 18 300 sq km (7064 sq miles)
  • cigarette beetle — a small cylindrical beetle, Lasioderma serricorne, that is a pest, especially of dried tobacco.
  • circumambulating — Present participle of circumambulate.
  • circumambulation — The act of walking around something in a circle, especially for a ritual purpose.
  • city of aberdeen — a council area in NE Scotland, established in 1996. Pop: 206 600 (2003 est). Area: 186 sq km (72 sq miles)
  • clarified butter — butter with the water and milk solids removed, used for cooking at high temperatures without burning
  • class background — a person's background with reference to social class
  • clbuttic mistake — the humorous effect created by anti-obscenity filters that automatically replace offensive words in online articles with more acceptable variants
  • clinically obese — overweight to a degree which causes medical complications
  • close by/at hand — Something that is close by or close at hand is near to you.
  • cluster variable — RR Lyrae star.
  • cobra de capello — a cobra, Naja tripudians, that has ringlike markings on the body and exists in many varieties in S and SE Asia
  • cocktail cabinet — a cupboard in which glasses and bottles are kept
  • collaborationism — The act of collaborating, especially with an enemy.
  • collaborationist — A collaborationist government or individual is one that helps or gives support to the enemy during the war.
  • columbia heights — a city in SE Minnesota, near Minneapolis.
  • combination door — an outside door having a frame into which different types of panels can be inserted, as a screen for summer or storm sash for winter.
  • combination drug — a medication comprised of set dosages of two or more separate drugs.
  • combination last — a shoe last that has a narrower heel or instep than the standard last.
  • combination lock — A combination lock is a lock which can only be opened by turning a dial or a number of dials according to a particular series of letters or numbers.
  • combination room — (at Cambridge University) a common room
  • combination shot — a shot in pool in which the cue ball strikes at least one object ball before contact is made with the ball to be pocketed.
  • combination skin — facial skin that is dry in some areas and greasy in others
  • come/bring alive — If a story or description comes alive, it becomes interesting, lively, or realistic. If someone or something brings it alive, they make it seem more interesting, lively, or realistic.
  • commensurability — The quality of being commensurable or commensurate.
  • commercial break — A commercial break is the interval during a commercial television programme, or between programmes, during which advertisements are shown.
  • commonplace book — a notebook in which quotations, poems, remarks, etc, that catch the owner's attention are entered
  • communicableness — The state or quality of being communicable.
  • companionability — The state of being companionable, suitability for companionship.
Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?