16-letter words containing c, h, e, d
- catch red-handed — If someone is caught red-handed, they are caught while they are in the act of doing something wrong.
- catchwater drain — a channel cut along the edge of high ground to catch surface water from it and divert it away from low-lying ground
- cathedral church — the principal church in a diocese
- catherine howard — Catherine, c1520–42, fifth wife of Henry VIII.
- 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.
- centrally heated — A centrally heated building or room has central heating.
- 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
- chagas---disease — an infectious disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, occurring chiefly in tropical America and characterized by irregular fever, palpable lymph nodes, and often heart damage.
- chamber of trade — a national organization representing local chambers of commerce
- channel islander — a person who comes from one of the Channel Islands
- chanson de geste — one of a genre of Old French epic poems celebrating heroic deeds, the most famous of which is the Chanson de Roland
- character comedy — comedy, or a comedy, in which the main source of humour is in the character of the people represented in it
- charged particle — an atomic particle with a positive or negative charge, as an electron, proton, or helium ion
- charles chandler — Charles Frederick, 1836–1925, U.S. scientist, educator, and public-health expert.
- charmed particle — See at charmed (def 2).
- chase the dragon — to smoke opium or heroin
- checking deposit — a deposit on which cheques may be drawn
- cheddar (cheese) — a variety of hard, smooth cheese, mild to very sharp
- 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.
- 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
- 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 medicine — a traditional system of medical treatment based on the principles of Yin and Yang, involving such treatments as acupuncture and the use of a range of drugs derived from animal and vegetable sources
- chinese windlass — differential windlass
- chinese wood oil — tung oil.
- chipped potatoes — chips
- chloracetic acid — chloroacetic acid.
- chlordiazepoxide — a chemical compound used as a tranquillizer and muscle relaxant and in the treatment of delirium tremens. Formula: C16H14ClN3O
- chloride of lime — a white powder with the approximate formula CaOCl2, obtained by treating slaked lime with chlorine and used for disinfecting and bleaching
- chlorinated lime — bleaching powder.
- chlorine dioxide — a compound used to bleach wood pulp
- 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.
- chlorophenol red — an acid-base indicator, C 19 H 12 Cl 2 O 5 S, that changes color from yellow to red as the acidity of a solution decreases.
- chopped tomatoes — tomatoes cut into pieces
- christmas dinner — the main meal on Christmas day, eaten any time in the afternoon or evening
- chromic chloride — a violet, crystalline compound, CrCl 3 , occurring in both water-soluble and water-insoluble forms, or a green or violet, water-soluble deliquescent compound, CrCl 3 ⋅6H 2 O: used chiefly as a mordant, in chrome-steel plating, and in the synthesis of chromium salts.
- chromic fluoride — a green, crystalline, water-insoluble powder, CrF 3 ⋅4H 2 O or CrF 3 ⋅9H 2 O: used chiefly in printing and dyeing woolens.
- chromium dioxide — a chemical compound used as a magnetic coating on cassette tapes; chromium(IV) oxide. Formula: CrO2
- cigarette holder — A cigarette holder is a narrow tube that you can put a cigarette into in order to hold it while you smoke it.
- circuit switched — circuit switching
- clearsightedness — The property of being clearsighted.
- close by/at hand — Something that is close by or close at hand is near to you.
- cluster headache — a type of recurrent headache characterized by sudden onset and intense pain on one side of the face near the eye
- combined honours — (in British education) a degree course that includes more than one subject
- come from behind — sport: win from a disadvantaged position
- commonwealth day — the anniversary of Queen Victoria's birth, May 24, celebrated (now on the second Monday in March) as a holiday in many parts of the Commonwealth