17-letter words containing c, r, a, y
- beyond comparison — outstanding, without equal
- binocular rivalry — the phenomenon whereby one is unable to see simultaneously different images presented one to each eye; usually in some areas of the eye the image presented to the left eye is seen, in others that presented to the right eye
- biological rhythm — biorhythm.
- black huckleberry — a low eastern North American shrub, Gaylussacia baccata, of the heath family, having yellowish-green leaves with resinous dots on the underside, clustered orange-red flowers, and shiny, black, edible fruit.
- blind carbon copy — a duplicate of anything written or typed, or a copy of an email or other electronic document, that is sent to someone whose name is not visible to the primary addressee. Abbreviation: bcc.
- bluegrass country — region in central Ky. where there is much bluegrass
- body center plate — one of a pair of plates that fit together and support the body of a car on a truck, while allowing the truck to rotate with respect to the body. One plate (body center plate) is attached to the underside of the car body and the other (truck center plate) is part of the car truck.
- branch delay slot — delayed control-transfer
- budgetary control — a system of managing a business by applying a financial value to each forecast activity. Actual performance is subsequently compared with the estimates
- budgetary deficit — the amount by which government expenditure exceeds income from taxation, customs duties, etc, in any one fiscal year
- cabbage butterfly — a common white butterfly (Pieris rapae) whose green larvae feed upon cabbage and related plants
- calcium hydroxide — a white crystalline slightly soluble alkali with many uses, esp in cement, water softening, and the neutralization of acid soils. Formula: Ca(OH)2
- call-by-reference — (programming) An argument passing convention where the address of an argument variable is passed to a function or procedure, as opposed to passing the value of the argument expression. Execution of the function or procedure may have side-effects on the actual argument as seen by the caller. The C language's "&" (address of) and "*" (dereference) operators allow the programmer to code explicit call-by-reference. Other languages provide special syntax to declare reference arguments (e.g. ALGOL 60). See also call-by-name, call-by-value, call-by-value-result.
- camberwell beauty — a nymphalid butterfly, Nymphalis antiopa, of temperate regions, having dark purple wings with cream-yellow borders
- camera-ready copy — type matter ready to be photographed for plate-making without further alteration
- campus university — a university in which the buildings, often including shops and cafés, are all on one site
- canarybird flower — a nasturtium, Tropaeolum peregrinum, of Peru, having round, deeply lobed leaves and yellow flowers.
- carbonyl chloride — phosgene
- carboxyhemoglobin — a compound formed in the blood when carbon monoxide occupies the positions on the hemoglobin molecule normally taken by oxygen, resulting in cellular oxygen starvation
- cardiac glycoside — any of a group of drugs used to stimulate the heart in cases of heart failure, obtained from a number of plants, as the foxglove, squill, or yellow oleander.
- cardiorespiratory — of, relating to, or affecting the heart and respiratory system.
- carry a torch for — If you say that someone is carrying a torch for someone else, you mean that they secretly admire them or love them.
- carrying capacity — the maximum number of individuals that an area of land can support, usually determined by their food requirements
- cast/run your eye — If you cast your eye or run your eye over something, you look at it or read it quickly.
- catalytic cracker — a unit in an oil refinery in which mineral oils with high boiling points are converted to fuels with lower boiling points by a catalytic process
- causality paradox — the hypothetical cause-and-effect of time travel and making changes in the past that would affect current actions.
- center of gravity — The center of gravity of an object is a point in it. If this point is above the base of the object, it stays stable, rather than falling over.
- centre of gravity — The centre of gravity of an object is a point in it. If this point is above the base of the object, it stays stable, rather than falling over.
- chancery division — (in England) the Lord Chancellor's court, now a division of the High Court of Justice
- charles henry dow — Charles Henry, 1851–1902, U.S. journalist and publisher: a founder of Dow Jones company.
- chartered company — a company formed for the purpose of exploration and colonization
- chartered society — a society that has an official charter
- chemical property — Chemistry. a property or characteristic of a substance that is observed during a reaction in which the chemical composition or identity of the substance is changed: Combustibility is an important chemical property to consider when choosing building materials.
- chemoradiotherapy — (medicine) A combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy used to treat some cancers.
- chicklet keyboard — (spelling) It's spelled "chiclet keyboard".
- child pornography — pornography using a child or children as the subject.
- chlortetracycline — an antibiotic used in treating many bacterial and rickettsial infections: obtained from the bacterium Streptomyces aureofaciens. Formula: C22H23ClN2O8
- choreographically — As if choreographed.
- chromolithography — the process of making coloured prints by lithography
- chronographically — a timepiece fitted with a recording device, as a stylus and rotating drum, used to mark the exact instant of an occurrence, especially in astronomy.
- churchyard beetle — a blackish nocturnal ground beetle, Blaps mucronata, found in cellars and similar places
- 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.
- circumstantiality — the quality of being circumstantial
- citric acid cycle — Krebs cycle.
- city of gibraltar — a city on the Rock of Gibraltar, a limestone promontory at the tip of S Spain: settled by Moors in 711 and taken by Spain in 1462; ceded to Britain in 1713; a British crown colony (1830–1969), still politically associated with Britain; a naval and air base of strategic importance. Pop: 29 111 (2013 est). Area: 6.5 sq km (2.5 sq miles)
- cognitive therapy — a form of psychotherapy in which the patient is encouraged to change the way he or sees the world and himself or herself: used particularly to treat depression
- combinatory logic — (logic) A system for reducing the operational notation of logic, mathematics or a functional language to a sequence of modifications to the input data structure. First introduced in the 1920's by Schoenfinkel. Re-introduced independently by Haskell Curry in the late 1920's (who quickly learned of Schoenfinkel's work after he had the idea). Curry is really responsible for most of the development, at least up until work with Feys in 1958. See combinator.
- come to the party — to take part or become involved
- comedy of manners — a comedy dealing with the way of life and foibles of a social group