17-letter words containing c, i, r, u, t
- casting the runes — (jargon) What a guru does when you ask him or her to run a particular program because it never works for anyone else; especially used when nobody can ever see what the guru is doing different from what J. Random Luser does. Compare incantation, runes, examining the entrails; also see the AI koan about Tom Knight.
- causality paradox — the hypothetical cause-and-effect of time travel and making changes in the past that would affect current actions.
- celestial equator — the great circle lying on the celestial sphere, the plane of which is perpendicular to the line joining the north and south celestial poles
- cellulose nitrate — a compound made by treating cellulose with nitric and sulphuric acids, used in plastics, lacquers, and explosives: a nitrogen-containing ester of cellulose
- centrifugal brake — a safety mechanism on a hoist, crane, etc, that consists of revolving brake shoes that are driven outwards by centrifugal force into contact with a fixed brake drum when the rope drum revolves at excessive speed
- centrifugal force — In physics, centrifugal force is the force that makes objects move outwards when they are spinning around something or travelling in a curve.
- chemotherapeutics — chemotherapy.
- chicken drumstick — a chicken leg, considered as food
- chiltern hundreds — (in Britain) short for Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds; a nominal office that an MP applies for in order to resign his seat
- chinese turkestan — the E part of the central Asian region of Turkestan: corresponds generally to the present-day Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China
- christmas pudding — Christmas pudding is a special pudding that is eaten at Christmas.
- church triumphant — those Christians in heaven who have triumphed over evil and the enemies of Christ.
- circassian walnut — the hard, heavy, brown or purplish wood of the English walnut
- circuit switching — (communications) Communication via a single dedicated path between the sender and receiver. The telephone system is an example of a circuit switched network. The term connection-oriented is used in packet-based networks in contrast to connectionless communication or packet switching.
- circular function — trigonometric function (def 1).
- circular triangle — a triangle in which each side is the arc of a circle
- circular velocity — the velocity at which a body must move in order to maintain an orbit at the outer edge of the earth's atmosphere.
- circumlocutionary — a roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than necessary to express an idea.
- circumscriptively — In a circumscriptive manner.
- circumstantiality — the quality of being circumstantial
- circumstantiating — Present participle of circumstantiate.
- circumterrestrial — surrounding or revolving about the earth.
- clairaut equation — a differential equation of the form y = xy prime; + f (y prime;).
- club subscription — an amount of money that someone pays regularly in order to belong to a club
- coitus reservatus — the deliberate delaying or avoidance of orgasm during intercourse
- collegiate church — a church that has an endowed chapter of canons and prebendaries attached to it but that is not a cathedral
- colour separation — the division of a coloured original into cyan, magenta, yellow, and black so that plates may be made for print reproduction. Separation may be achieved by electronic scanning or by photographic techniques using filters to isolate each colour
- colour television — television that broadcasts in real-life colours, as opposed to black and white
- columnar jointing — (in basaltic igneous rocks) a series of generally hexagonal columns formed by vertical joints as a result of contraction during cooling.
- community service — Community service is unpaid work that criminals sometimes do as a punishment instead of being sent to prison.
- commuter airplane — air taxi.
- commuter marriage — a marriage in which the partners live some distance apart most of the time, usually because of separate work commitments
- compound fraction — complex fraction
- compound interest — Compound interest is interest that is calculated both on an original sum of money and on interest which has previously been added to the sum. Compare simple interest.
- compound interval — an interval that is greater than an octave, as a ninth or a thirteenth.
- computer compiler — 1. (language) A proposed language for compiler design. 2. A discussion of various applications of computers to the design and production of computers.
- computer confetti — (jargon) (Or "chad") A common term for punched-card chad, which, however, does not make good confetti, as the pieces are stiff and have sharp corners that could injure the eyes.
- computer graphics — the use of a computer to produce and manipulate pictorial images on a video screen, as in animation techniques or the production of audiovisual aids
- computer literacy — basic, nontechnical knowledge about computers and how to use them; familiarity and experience with computers, software, and computer systems.
- computer literate — basic, nontechnical knowledge about computers and how to use them; familiarity and experience with computers, software, and computer systems.
- computer printout — a document that is printed from a computer file
- computer security — security
- computer terminal — a keyboard and computer monitor connected to a computer
- computer-literate — If someone is computer-literate, they have enough skill and knowledge to be able to use a computer.
- concurrent euclid — (language, parallel) A concurrent extension of a subset of Euclid ("Simple Euclid") developed by J.R. Cordy and R.C. Holt of the University of Toronto in 1980. Concurrent Euclid features separate compilation, modules, processes and monitors, signal and wait on condition variables, 'converters' to defeat strong type checking, absolute addresses. All procedures and functions are re-entrant. TUNIS (a Unix-like operating system) is written in Concurrent Euclid.
- configurationally — With regard to a configuration.
- construction loan — the act or fact of taking out.
- construction site — the piece of land where a building, etc, is to be located
- continental crust — that part of the earth's crust that underlies the continents and continental shelves
- continuous cutter — any of various machines that can remove coal from the mine face and load it into cars or conveyors.