18-letter words containing s, a, o
- cassini's division — the gap that divides Saturn's rings into two parts, discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625–1712) in 1675
- cassiopeia's chair — the five brightest stars in the constellation Cassiopeia that seem to form the shape of a W or M
- cassius (longinus) — (Gaius)died 42 b.c.; Rom. general & conspirator against Caesar
- castration complex — an unconscious fear of having one's genitals removed, as a punishment for wishing to have sex with a parent
- cat's cry syndrome — a complex of congenital malformations in human infants caused by a chromosomal aberration and in which the infant emits a mewing cry.
- catalogue raisonne — a descriptive catalogue, esp one covering works of art in an exhibition or collection
- catalonian jasmine — a shrub, Jasminum grandiflorum, of India, having crimson-tinged, fragrant white flowers, grown as an ornamental and for perfume.
- catastrophe theory — a mathematical theory that classifies surfaces according to their form
- catch one's breath — When you catch your breath while you are doing something energetic, you stop for a short time so that you can start breathing normally again.
- catherine of siena — Saint. 1347–80, Italian mystic and ascetic; patron saint of the Dominican order. Feast day: April 29
- cathode dark space — Crookes dark space.
- catskill mountains — a mountain range in SE New York State: resort. Highest peak: Slide Mountain, 1261 m (4204 ft)
- caucasus mountains — a mountain range in SW Russia, running along the N borders of Georgia and Azerbaijan, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea: mostly over 2700 m (9000 ft). Highest peak: Mount Elbrus, 5642 m (18 510 ft)
- cauliflower cheese — a dish of cauliflower with a cheese sauce, eaten hot
- cauliflower fungus — a large edible white to yellowish cauliflowerlike mushroom, Sparassis radicata, widely distributed in North America.
- causa sine qua non — an indispensable condition; requisite.
- centralized school — a public school formed from the pupils and teachers of a number of discontinued smaller schools, especially in a rural district.
- centum call second — (unit) (CCS) A unit used (in North America) to quantify the total traffic running in a network. 1 CCS is 100 call-seconds. That means 1 CCS could be 2 calls of 50 seconds duration or 20 calls of 5 seconds duration.
- cesarean (section) — a surgical operation for delivering a baby by cutting through the mother's abdominal and uterine walls
- chagos archipelago — group of islands in the Indian Ocean 1,180 mi (1,899 km) northeast of Mauritius, comprising the British Indian Ocean Territory: chief island, Diego Garcia
- chamber of horrors — a room, for example in a waxworks, containing objects, images or representations of people or scenes that are believed likely to frighten or horrify visitors
- championship point — a point that would decide the winner of a match that would decide the championship
- change one's spots — to reform one's character
- character disorder — a disorder characterized by socially undesirable behavior, as poor control of impulses or inability to maintain close emotional relationships, and by absence of anxiety or guilt.
- charge of quarters — a member of the armed forces who handles administration in his or her unit, esp after duty hours
- chartered surveyor — (in Britain) a surveyor who is registered with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors as having the qualifications, training, and experience to satisfy their professional requirements
- chebyshev equation — Tchebycheff equation.
- chew someone's ear — to reprimand severely
- children of israel — the Jews; Hebrews
- chinese watermelon — a tropical Asian vine, Benincasa hispida, of the gourd family, having a brown, hairy stem, large, solitary, yellow flowers, and white, melonlike fruit.
- christian brothers — a religious congregation of laymen founded in France in 1684 for the education of the poor
- christian democrat — a member or supporter of a Christian Democratic party
- christian endeavor — an organization of young people of various evangelical Protestant churches, formed in 1881 to promote Christian principles and service.
- christian reformed — of or relating to a Protestant denomination (Christian Reformed Church) organized in the U.S. in 1857 by groups that had seceded from the Dutch Reformed Church.
- christmas shopping — shopping especially for Christmas presents, but also for Christmas food and drink, and all the other things required over the Christmas period.
- christmas stocking — A Christmas stocking is a long sock which children hang up on Christmas Eve. During the night, parents fill the stocking with small presents.
- chromatic semitone — the pitch difference between one note and its sharpened or flattened equivalent
- chronic alcoholism — long-term alcohol addiction
- chronostratigraphy — The branch of geology concerned with establishing the absolute ages of strata.
- church of scotland — the established church in Scotland, Calvinist in doctrine and Presbyterian in constitution
- cigar-store indian — a wooden statue of an American Indian, traditionally displayed at the entrance of cigar stores.
- circular dichroism — selective absorption of one of the two possible circular polarizations of light.
- circulatory system — the system concerned with the transport of blood and lymph, consisting of the heart, blood vessels, lymph vessels, etc
- citizen journalism — the involvement of non-professionals in reporting news, esp in blogs and other websites
- classified section — the part of a publication that contains classified advertising
- claustrophobically — In a claustrophobic way.
- clean up one's act — to start to behave in a responsible manner
- cleopatra's needle — either of two Egyptian obelisks, originally set up at Heliopolis about 1500 bc: one was moved to the Thames Embankment, London, in 1878, the other to Central Park, New York, in 1880
- closed corporation — a corporation the stock of which is owned by a small number of persons and is rarely traded on the open market
- closed scholarship — a scholarship for which only certain people, such as those from a particular school or with a particular surname, are eligible