17-letter words containing o, n, s, a
- catcher resonator — See under Klystron.
- celestial horizon — the line or circle that forms the apparent boundary between earth and sky.
- 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.
- chacun a son gout — each to his own taste
- 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
- chancery division — (in England) the Lord Chancellor's court, now a division of the High Court of Justice
- change one's mind — to alter one's decision or opinion
- change one's tune — to alter one's attitude or tone of speech
- 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.
- characterisations — Plural form of characterisation.
- characterizations — portrayal; description: the actor's characterization of a politician.
- charles henry dow — Charles Henry, 1851–1902, U.S. journalist and publisher: a founder of Dow Jones company.
- charles townshend — Charles, 1725–67, English politician, chancellor of the exchequer for whom the Townshend Acts are named.
- chart of accounts — A chart of accounts is a list of all the accounts used in a business to classify transactions or report balances.
- chelsea pensioner — an old ex-soldier resident in the Chelsea Royal Hospital
- china grass cloth — grass cloth.
- chinese artichoke — a hairy plant, Stachys affinis, of China and Japan, having numerous small, white, edible tubers.
- choanoflagellates — Plural form of choanoflagellate.
- chugach mountains — a coastal mountain range in S Alaska, extending W from the St. Elias Mountains. Highest peak, Mount Marcus Baker, 13,176 feet (4016 meters).
- cinisello balsamo — a city in N Italy, near Milan.
- circle the wagons — to take defensive action; prepare for an attack: from arranging a wagon train in a circular formation
- cistern barometer — a mercury barometer in which the lower mercury surface has a greater area than the upper.
- 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
- clear box testing — white box testing
- clicks and mortar — making use of traditional trading methods in conjunction with internet trading
- clicks-and-mortar — pertaining to or denoting a company that does business on the Internet and in traditional stores or offices.
- clipperton island — an uninhabited atoll in the E Pacific SW of Mexico, under French administration. Area: 6 sq km (2.3 sq miles)
- close corporation — a small private limited company
- close parenthesis — right parenthesis
- close punctuation — punctuation in which many commas, full stops, etc, are used
- closed-captioning — (of a television program, film, or video) distributed with synchronized transcription of speech and written descriptions of other relevant audio elements, as for the hearing-impaired, that are visible only when the option to display them is selected. Abbreviation: CC.
- closing-down sale — a sale held to clear stock from a shop that is ceasing to operate
- coarse-grain salt — salt with a much larger grain size than table salt
- codlins-and-cream — an onagraceous plant, Epilobium hirsutum, native to Europe and Asia and introduced into North America, having purplish-red flowers and hairy stems and leaves
- collaborativeness — Quality of being collaborative.
- colour separation — the division of a coloured original into cyan, magenta, yellow, and black so that plates may be made for print reproduction. Separation may be achieved by electronic scanning or by photographic techniques using filters to isolate each colour
- 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
- comedie francaise — the French national theatre, founded in Paris in 1680
- comedy of manners — a comedy dealing with the way of life and foibles of a social group
- comity of nations — the friendly recognition accorded by one nation to the laws and usages of another
- commercialisation — Alternative spelling of commercialization.
- communicativeness — inclined to communicate or impart; talkative: He isn't feeling very communicative today.
- companionableness — The state or quality of being companionable.
- company secretary — A company secretary is a person whose job within a company is to keep the legal affairs, accounts, and administration in order.
- compartmentalised — Simple past tense and past participle of compartmentalise.
- compartmentalizes — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of compartmentalize.