16-letter words containing h, o, c, u
- chiang ching-kuo — 1910–88, Chinese statesman; the son of Chiang Kai-shek. He was prime minister of Taiwan (1971–78); president (1978–88)
- chicken mushroom — an edible yellow-to-orange bracket fungus, Laetiporus sulphureus, common on tree trunks, in which it causes wood decay.
- cholera infantum — an often fatal form of gastroenteritis occurring in infants, not of the same cause as cholera but having somewhat similar characteristics.
- chorionic villus — one of the branching outgrowths of the chorion that, together with maternal tissue, form the placenta.
- chromatic number — (mathematics) The smallest number of colours necessary to colour the nodes of a graph so that no two adjacent nodes have the same colour. See also: four colour map theorem.
- 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
- chromium plating — plating, often for decorative effect, made of chromium
- chronic glaucoma — Ophthalmology. abnormally high fluid pressure in the eye, most commonly caused either by blockage of the channel through which aqueous humor drains (open-angle glaucoma or chronic glaucoma) or by pressure of the iris against the lens, which traps the aqueous humor (angle-closure glaucoma or acute glaucoma)
- cobweb houseleek — a small southern European plant, Sempervivum arachoideum, of the stonecrop family, having a dense, globular cluster of cobwebby leaves and red flowers on hairy stalks.
- cochineal cactus — a treelike cactus, Nopalea cochenillifera, of Mexico and Central America, that is a principal source of food of the cochineal insect.
- columbia heights — a city in SE Minnesota, near Minneapolis.
- combined honours — (in British education) a degree course that includes more than one subject
- commission house — a brokerage firm that buys and sells for customers on a commission basis
- community charge — (formerly in Britain) a flat-rate charge paid by each adult in a community to his or her local authority in place of rates
- community church — an independent or denominational church in a particular community.
- community school — a school offering some nonacademic activities related to life in a particular community and often serving as a community centre
- consulting hours — the hours during which health practitioners are available for consultation
- continuous hinge — a long narrow hinge that runs the full length of the two surfaces to which its leaves are joined.
- contour feathers — feathers that form the surface plumage of a bird and determine the outer contour, including the wing and tail feathers
- cornhusker state — Nebraska (used as a nickname).
- coronary cushion — a thick band of vascular tissue in the coronet of horses and other hoofed animals that secretes the horny wall of the hoof.
- counter-checking — a check that opposes or restrains.
- counterchallenge — A challenge made in response to another challenge.
- cross-cut chisel — a chisel used for making grooves
- cupric hydroxide — a blue, water-insoluble, poisonous powder, Cu(OH) 2 , used in the manufacture of rayon, as a source for copper salts, and as a mordant.
- cut one's throat — to bring about one's own ruin
- cut to the chase — If someone cuts to the chase, they start talking about or dealing with what is important, instead of less important things.
- cut to the quick — done, proceeding, or occurring with promptness or rapidity, as an action, process, etc.; prompt; immediate: a quick response.
- cut-throat razor — a razor with a long blade that usually folds into the handle
- cystourethrocele — A urethrocele occurring with a cystocele.
- cytoarchitecture — (biology) The arrangement of cells in an organism or organ.
- dehumidification — Dehumidification is the removal of vapor from a gas-vapor mixture.
- diplomatic pouch — a sealed mailbag containing diplomatic correspondence that is sent free of inspection between a foreign office and its diplomatic or consular post abroad or from one such post to another.
- double-clutching — (of a bird) to produce a second clutch of eggs after the first has been removed, usually for hatching in an incubator.
- drogue parachute — Also called drogue. a small parachute that deploys first in order to pull a larger parachute from its pack.
- duchess of malfi — a tragedy (1614?) by John Webster.
- electrohydraulic — Relating to electrohydraulics.
- episcopal church — an autonomous branch of the Anglican Communion in Scotland and the US
- escutcheon plate — a plate or shield that surrounds a keyhole, door handle, light switch, etc, esp an ornamental one protecting a door or wall surface
- ethnolinguistics — The field of linguistic anthropology which studies the language of a specific ethnic group.
- farmhouse cheese — cheese that is made by traditional methods, on or as if on a farm
- figure of speech — any expressive use of language, as a metaphor, simile, personification, or antithesis, in which words are used in other than their literal sense, or in other than their ordinary locutions, in order to suggest a picture or image or for other special effect. Compare trope (def 1).
- finished product — the product that emerges at the end of a manufacturing process
- fish or cut bait — any of various cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates, having gills, commonly fins, and typically an elongated body covered with scales.
- follicular phase — a stage of the menstrual cycle, from onset of menstruation to ovulation.
- forbush decrease — the sudden decrease in the intensity of cosmic rays after an increase in solar activity.
- frankfurt school — a school of thought, founded at the University of Frankfurt in 1923 by Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and others, derived from Marxist, Freudian, and Hegelian theory
- french community — a cultural and economic association of France, its overseas departments and territories, and former French territories that chose to maintain association after becoming independent republics: formed 1958.
- functional shift — a change in the grammatical function of a word, as in the use of the noun input as a verb or the noun fun as an adjective.