17-letter words containing e, t, c, h, s
- cat-scratch fever — a disease of humans caused by an organism, Bartonella henselae, usually resulting from a scratch by a cat and characterized by lymph node enlargement
- catch one's death — to contract a severe cold
- catcher resonator — See under Klystron.
- catholic epistles — the epistles of James, I and II Peter, I John, and Jude, which were addressed to the universal Church rather than to an individual or a particular church
- caudal anesthesia — anesthesia below the pelvis, induced by injecting an anesthetic into the sacral portion of the spinal canal.
- celestial horizon — the line or circle that forms the apparent boundary between earth and sky.
- chamber orchestra — A chamber orchestra is a small orchestra which plays classical music.
- change one's tune — to alter one's attitude or tone of speech
- change the sheets — If you change the sheets on a bed, you take the used sheets off the bed and put on different ones.
- chapter and verse — If you say that someone gives you chapter and verse on a particular subject, you are emphasizing that they tell you every detail about it.
- character actress — an actress who specializes in playing odd or eccentric characters
- character defense — a personality trait, as a habitual tendency to idealize or rationalize, that serves some unconscious defensive purpose.
- character witness — a witness in a trial who testifies to the accused's general good character rather than providing evidence about the specific offence which has led to him or her being on trial
- characterisations — Plural form of characterisation.
- characterizations — portrayal; description: the actor's characterization of a politician.
- characterlessness — The state or condition of being characterless; lack of character.
- charles the great — ("Charles the Great") a.d. 742–814, king of the Franks 768–814; as Charles I, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 800–814.
- charles townshend — Charles, 1725–67, English politician, chancellor of the exchequer for whom the Townshend Acts are named.
- charter of rights — a section of the Canadian Constitution containing a statement of the basic rights of citizens of Canada.
- chartered society — a society that has an official charter
- checkable deposit — a checking account
- chemotherapeutics — chemotherapy.
- chest compression — Chest compression is the act of applying pressure to someone's chest in order to help blood flow through the heart in an emergency situation.
- chest measurement — the circumference of the trunk, measured around the middle of the chest
- 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 artichoke — a hairy plant, Stachys affinis, of China and Japan, having numerous small, white, edible tubers.
- chinese turkestan — the E part of the central Asian region of Turkestan: corresponds generally to the present-day Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China
- choanoflagellates — Plural form of choanoflagellate.
- chocolate biscuit — a biscuit covered with chocolate
- chocolate soldier — a person who mistakenly believes that he or she is very powerful, important, or impressive
- cholecystectomies — Plural form of cholecystectomy.
- christian science — Christian Science is a type of Christianity which emphasizes the use of prayer to cure illness.
- christmas cracker — a decorated cardboard tube that emits a bang when pulled apart, releasing a toy, a joke, or a paper hat.
- christmas disease — a relatively mild type of haemophilia, caused by lack of a protein (Christmas factor) implicated in the process of blood clotting
- christmas present — a present given at Christmas time, typically on Christmas Day
- circle the wagons — to take defensive action; prepare for an attack: from arranging a wagon train in a circular formation
- citizen's charter — (formerly, in Britain) a government document setting out standards of service for public and private sector bodies, such as schools, hospitals, railway companies, water and energy suppliers, etc
- civil partnership — A civil partnership is a legal relationship between two people of the same sex that is similar to marriage.
- cleveland heights — city in NE Ohio: suburb of Cleveland: pop. 50,000
- close parenthesis — right parenthesis
- close the book on — to bring to a definite end
- close the door on — rule out, exclude
- close to the bone — If something is too close to the bone, it makes you feel uncomfortable because it is very close to the truth or to the real nature of something.
- close to the wind — sailing as nearly as possible towards the direction from which the wind is blowing
- cock of the woods — pileated woodpecker.
- colloid chemistry — the study of colloids.
- combine harvester — A combine harvester is a large machine which is used on farms to cut, sort, and clean grain.
- come to handgrips — to engage in hand-to-hand fighting
- comprehensibility — capable of being comprehended or understood; intelligible.