17-letter words containing c, o, r, t
- country of origin — the country from which a person originally comes
- course protractor — a navigational instrument for measuring the bearing of a course as given on a chart, having a disk calibrated in degrees and an arm pivoted about the center of the disk.
- court of chancery — (in the US) a court of equity
- court of sessions — any of state courts of criminal jurisdiction in California, New York, and a few other states.
- court-of-chancery — chancery (def 4a).
- courtship display — behaviour that is aimed at attracting a mate
- cover your tracks — If someone covers their tracks, they hide or destroy evidence of their identity or their actions, because they want to keep them secret.
- crampon technique — a climbing style that uses crampons
- cream of the crop — the best of a group
- creature comforts — Creature comforts are the things that you need to feel comfortable in a place, for example good food and modern equipment.
- creature of habit — If you say that someone is a creature of habit, you mean that they usually do the same thing at the same time each day, rather than doing new and different things.
- credit memorandum — a memorandum issued to an account allowing a credit or reducing a debit, especially one posted to a customer's account.
- creeping eruption — a skin eruption with intense itching, caused by the burrowing of various larvae under the skin
- creme de violette — a liqueur flavored with vanilla extract and the essential oils of violets.
- criminal contempt — any seriously disrespectful act committed against the dignity or authority of a court.
- critical constant — any of three constants associated with the critical point of a pure element or compound.
- cross one's heart — to promise or pledge, esp by making the sign of a cross over one's heart
- cross the rubicon — If you say that someone has crossed the Rubicon, you mean that they have reached a point where they cannot change a decision or course of action.
- cross-correlation — the correlation between two sequences of random variables in a time series
- cross-examination — to examine by questions intended to check a previous examination; examine closely or minutely.
- cross-lot bracing — bracing extending from one side of an excavation to the opposite to retain the earth on both sides.
- cross-pollination — the transfer of pollen from the anthers of one flower to the stigma of another flower by the action of wind, insects, etc
- cross-utilization — to make use of in an additional or different way.
- crossover network — an electronic network in a loudspeaker system that separates the signal into two or more frequency bands, the lower frequencies being fed to a woofer, the higher frequencies to a tweeter
- crown corporation — a corporation owned by the federal or a provincial government
- crucifixion thorn — one of several leafless, very thorny shrubs or small trees of the southwestern desert areas of North America.
- cryopreservations — the storage of blood or living tissues at extremely cold temperatures, often -196 degrees Celsius.
- cryptic crossword — a crossword where each clue is a word puzzle
- cryptoclimatology — See under microclimatology.
- cryptocrystalline — (of rocks) composed of crystals that can be distinguished individually only by the use of a polarizing microscope
- cryptographically — In a cryptographic manner; using cryptography; for cryptographic purposes.
- cryptosporidiosis — a disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Cryptosporidium, characterized by fever and gastrointestinal symptoms and typically spread via contaminated drinking water.
- culture diffusion — the spreading out of culture, culture traits, or a cultural pattern from a central point.
- customs brokerage — the work of a customs broker
- customs clearance — the permission to take goods into or out of a country once customs requirements have been satisfied
- cut a good figure — to appear or behave well
- cut a person dead — to ignore a person completely
- cut a poor figure — to appear or behave badly
- cutaneous quittor — a purulent infection of horses and other hoofed animals, characterized by an acute inflammation of soft tissue above the hoof and resulting in suppuration and sloughing of the skin and usually lameness.
- cyclooctatetraene — a colorless, flammable liquid cyclic hydrocarbon, C 8 H 8 , used in organic research.
- cypriot syllabary — a syllabic script in use on Cyprus in the first millennium b.c., used for the writing of Greek and of an unknown language.
- cytoarchitectonic — Of or pertaining to cytoarchitectonics (cytoarchitecture).
- cytomegaloviruses — Plural form of cytomegalovirus.
- cytotrophoblastic — Relating to, or containing, cytotrophoblasts.
- d-shell connector — (hardware) One of the family of connectors: DA-15, DB-25, DC-37, DD-50, DE-9, and DEH-15 [VGA]. The "D" is the shape of the shell, the next letter determines connector size, and the number is the maximum pin count.
- de facto standard — A widespread consensus on a particular product or protocol which has not been ratified by any official standards body, such as ISO, but which nevertheless has a large market share. The archetypal example of a de facto standard is the IBM PC which, despite is many glaring technical deficiencies, has gained such a large share of the personal computer market that it is now popular simply because it is popular and therefore enjoys fierce competition in pricing and software development.
- decellularization — (biology, medicine) The loss of cells from tissue.
- deconstructionism — The belief in, or application of, deconstruction.
- deconstructionist — a philosophical and critical movement, starting in the 1960s and especially applied to the study of literature, that questions all traditional assumptions about the ability of language to represent reality and emphasizes that a text has no stable reference or identification because words essentially only refer to other words and therefore a reader must approach a text by eliminating any metaphysical or ethnocentric assumptions through an active role of defining meaning, sometimes by a reliance on new word construction, etymology, puns, and other word play.
- decriminalisation — (chiefly, British) Alternative form of decriminalization.