17-letter words containing l, a, s
- castilla la vieja — Spanish name of Old Castile.
- castle in the air — a hope or desire unlikely to be realized; daydream
- castor and pollux — the twin sons of Leda: Pollux was fathered by Zeus, Castor by the mortal Tyndareus. After Castor's death, Pollux spent half his days with his half-brother in Hades and half with the gods in Olympus
- cat-o'-nine-tails — a rope whip consisting of nine knotted thongs, used formerly to flog prisoners
- catalina (island) — Santa Catalina (Island)
- 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.
- causality paradox — the hypothetical cause-and-effect of time travel and making changes in the past that would affect current actions.
- cavalier servente — a lover; suitor.
- celestial equator — the great circle lying on the celestial sphere, the plane of which is perpendicular to the line joining the north and south celestial poles
- celestial horizon — the line or circle that forms the apparent boundary between earth and sky.
- cellulose acetate — nonflammable material made by acetylating cellulose: used in the manufacture of film, dopes, lacquers, and artificial fibres
- cellulose nitrate — a compound made by treating cellulose with nitric and sulphuric acids, used in plastics, lacquers, and explosives: a nitrogen-containing ester of cellulose
- cellulose varnish — a varnish made from cellulose nitrate, used as a protective sealing film
- centi-call second — (spelling) No, it's centum call second.
- chadless keypunch — (hardware) A card punch which cut little U-shapes in punched cards, rather than punching out a circle or rectangle. The U's made a hole when folded back. One of the Jargon File's correspondents believed that the term "chad" derived from the Chadless keypunch. Obviously, if the Chadless keypunch didn't make them, then the stuff that other keypunches made had to be "chad". The assertion that the keypunch was named after its inventor is not supported by any record in US or UK patents or surname references.
- châlons-sur-marne — city in NE France, on the Marne River: scene of defeat ( a.d. 451) of Attila by the Romans: pop. 50,000
- chanson de roland — English The Song of Roland. a chanson de geste (c1100) relating Roland's brave deeds and death at Roncesvalles and Charlemagne's revenge.
- characterlessness — The state or condition of being characterless; lack of character.
- charles de gaulle — Charles André Joseph Marie [chahrlz ahn-drey joh-zuh f muh-ree;; French sharl ahn-drey zhoh-zef ma-ree] /tʃɑrlz ˈɑn dreɪ ˈdʒoʊ zəf məˈri;; French ʃarl ɑ̃ˈdreɪ ʒoʊˈzɛf maˈri/ (Show IPA), 1890–1970, French general and statesman: president 1959–69.
- charles henry dow — Charles Henry, 1851–1902, U.S. journalist and publisher: a founder of Dow Jones company.
- charles lindbergh — Anne (Spencer) Morrow, 1906–2001, U.S. writer (wife of Charles Augustus Lindbergh).
- 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.
- checkable deposit — a checking account
- chelsea pensioner — an old ex-soldier resident in the Chelsea Royal Hospital
- china grass cloth — grass cloth.
- 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
- chromolithographs — Plural form of chromolithograph.
- chukchi peninsula — a peninsula in the extreme NE of Russia, in NE Siberia: mainly tundra
- cinisello balsamo — a city in N Italy, near Milan.
- circassian walnut — the hard, heavy, brown or purplish wood of the English walnut
- circle the wagons — to take defensive action; prepare for an attack: from arranging a wagon train in a circular formation
- circumstantiality — the quality of being circumstantial
- circumterrestrial — surrounding or revolving about the earth.
- civil partnership — A civil partnership is a legal relationship between two people of the same sex that is similar to marriage.
- clang association — the association made between two words because they sound similar; for example cling and ring
- class distinction — a characteristic that is observed to differ based on social class
- class-a amplifier — an electronic amplifier in which the output current flows for the whole of the input signal cycle
- class-b amplifier — an electronic amplifier in which the output flows for half of the input signal cycle
- class-c amplifier — an electronic amplifier in which the output current flows for less than half of the input cycle
- classical chinese — a written form of Chinese used from about the 5th century b.c. to 220 a.d.
- classical college — (in Quebec) a college offering a programme that emphasizes the classics and leads to university entrance
- classical nahuatl — Aztec (def 2).
- classical pathway — the activation of complement by an antigen-antibody reaction. Compare alternative pathway.
- classical-nahuatl — a member of a Nahuatl-speaking state in central Mexico that was conquered by Cortés in 1521.
- classless society — a society in which class distinctions are negligible or absent
- clear box testing — white box testing