17-letter words containing i, c, e, u
- continental quilt — a quilt, stuffed with down or a synthetic material and containing pockets of air, used as a bed cover in place of the top sheet and blankets
- continuous cutter — any of various machines that can remove coal from the mine face and load it into cars or conveyors.
- contrasuggestible — responding or tending to respond to a suggestion by doing or believing the opposite
- coordinate clause — one of two or more clauses in a sentence having the same status and introduced by coordinating conjunctions
- copious free time — (jargon) (Apple; originally from the introduction to Tom Lehrer's song "It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier") Used ironically to indicate the speaker's lack of the quantity in question; a mythical schedule slot for accomplishing tasks held to be unlikely or impossible. Sometimes used to indicate that the speaker is interested in accomplishing the task, but believes that the opportunity will not arise. "I'll implement the automatic layout stuff in my copious free time." The phrase is also used for time reserved for bogus or otherwise idiotic tasks, such as implementation of bad chrome, or the stroking of suits. "I'll get back to him on that feature in my copious free time."
- council of europe — an association of European states, established in 1949 to promote unity between its members, defend human rights, and increase social and economic progress
- counter-complaint — an expression of discontent, regret, pain, censure, resentment, or grief; lament; faultfinding: his complaint about poor schools.
- counter-espionage — Counter-espionage is the same as counter-intelligence.
- counter-influence — the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others: He used family influence to get the contract.
- counter-migration — a migration in the opposite direction.
- counter-signature — a signature added by way of countersigning.
- counteraccusation — An accusation made in reply to another accusation.
- counterattraction — a rival attraction
- counterinitiative — An initiative opposing another initiative.
- counterinsurgency — action taken by a government to counter the activities of rebels, guerrillas, etc
- counterirritation — (medicine) The treatment of one diseased area by acting elsewhere.
- counteroffensives — Plural form of counteroffensive.
- counterparty risk — the risk that a person who is a party to a contract will default on their obligations under that contract
- counterproductive — Something that is counterproductive achieves the opposite result from the one that you want to achieve.
- counterrevolution — A counterrevolution is a revolution that is intended to reverse the effects of a previous revolution.
- countersignatures — Plural form of countersignature.
- countersubversive — Also, subversionary [suh b-vur-zhuh-ner-ee, -shuh-] /səbˈvɜr ʒəˌnɛr i, -ʃə-/ (Show IPA). tending or intending to subvert or overthrow, destroy, or undermine an established or existing system, especially a legally constituted government or a set of beliefs.
- counterterrorists — Plural form of counterterrorist.
- court of sessions — any of state courts of criminal jurisdiction in California, New York, and a few other states.
- crampon technique — a climbing style that uses crampons
- 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
- critical pressure — the pressure of a gas or the saturated vapour pressure of a substance in its critical state
- 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.
- cruciate ligament — A cruciate ligament is either of a pair of ligaments that cross at the knee.
- crude oil cracker — A crude oil cracker is the part of a refinery and the equipment used for changing crude oil to its fractions, using heat and pressure.
- culpable homicide — manslaughter
- culture diffusion — the spreading out of culture, culture traits, or a cultural pattern from a central point.
- culture-fair test — a test, usually for intelligence, that does not put anyone taking it at a disadvantage, esp regarding material or cultural background
- cumulative voting — a system of voting in which each elector has as many votes as there are candidates in his constituency. Votes may all be cast for one candidate or distributed among several
- curie-temperature — the temperature beyond that at which a ferromagnetic substance exhibits paramagnetism.
- cushing's disease — a rare condition caused by excess corticosteroid hormones in the body, characterized chiefly by obesity of the trunk and face, high blood pressure, fatigue, and loss of calcium from the bones
- cut a good figure — to appear or behave well
- 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.
- cytomegaloviruses — Plural form of cytomegalovirus.
- d&o insurance — D&O insurance is a personal liability insurance that provides cover to the directors and senior executives of a company.
- dagestan republic — a constituent republic of S Russia, on the Caspian Sea: annexed from Persia in 1813; rich mineral resources. Capital: Makhachkala. Pop: 2 584 200 (2002). Area: 50 278 sq km (19 416 sq miles)
- data service unit — (communications) (DSU or "data service unit") A device used in digital transmission for connecting a CSU (Channel Service Unit) to Data Terminal Equipment (a terminal or computer), in the same way that a modem is used for connection to an analogue medium. A DSU provides a standard interface to a user's terminal which is compatible with modems and handles such functions as signal translation, regeneration, reformatting, and timing. The transmitting portion of the DSU processeses the customers' signal into bipolar pulses suitable for transmission over the digital facility. The receiving portion of the DSU is used both to extract timing information and to regenerate mark and space information from the received bipolar signal.
- debt rescheduling — the process of changing the time frame or deadline for the repayment of debt, usually to ease the burden on the debtor
- 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.
- decontextualizing — to remove (a linguistic element, an action, etc.) from a context: decontextualized works of art displayed in museums.