17-letter words containing u, y
- blue-sky thinking — Blue-sky thinking is the activity of trying to find completely new ideas.
- bluegrass country — region in central Ky. where there is much bluegrass
- boulder raspberry — a shrub, Rubus deliciosus, of Colorado, having large white flowers and purple fruit.
- bouncebackability — the ability to recover after a setback, esp in sport
- budgetary control — a system of managing a business by applying a financial value to each forecast activity. Actual performance is subsequently compared with the estimates
- budgetary deficit — the amount by which government expenditure exceeds income from taxation, customs duties, etc, in any one fiscal year
- building industry — the economic sector comprising all companies involved in construction
- bull's-eye mirror — a circular, convex, ornamental mirror.
- bull's-eye window — bull's-eye (def 7).
- bury the tomahawk — to stop fighting; make peace
- butterfly bandage — a butterfly-shaped strip of adhesive medical tape used, when stitches are not required, to keep a deep cut or incision tightly closed while it heals
- butterfly closure — an adhesive bandage resembling the shape of a butterfly's outstretched wings, used for closing minor cuts.
- butterfly diagram — a graphical butterfly-shaped representation of the sunspot density on the solar disc in the 11-year sunspot cycle
- buyers' inflation — inflation in which rising demand results in a rise in prices.
- buys ballot's law — a law stating that if an observer stands with his back to the wind in the N hemisphere, atmospheric pressure is lower on his left, and vice versa in the S hemisphere
- buys-ballot's law — the law stating that if one stands with one's back to the wind, in the Northern Hemisphere the atmospheric pressure will be lower on one's left and in the Southern Hemisphere it will be lower on one's right: descriptive of the relationship of horizontal winds to atmospheric pressure.
- by return of post — by the next mail in the opposite direction
- cabbage butterfly — a common white butterfly (Pieris rapae) whose green larvae feed upon cabbage and related plants
- calcium cyanamide — a white crystalline compound formed by heating calcium carbide with nitrogen. It is important in the fixation of nitrogen and can be hydrolysed to ammonia or used as a fertilizer. Formula: CaCN2
- calcium hydroxide — a white crystalline slightly soluble alkali with many uses, esp in cement, water softening, and the neutralization of acid soils. Formula: Ca(OH)2
- camberwell beauty — a nymphalid butterfly, Nymphalis antiopa, of temperate regions, having dark purple wings with cream-yellow borders
- campus university — a university in which the buildings, often including shops and cafés, are all on one site
- capacity audience — a situation when the maximum number of people possible are watching an event
- case-study method — Also called case-study method [keys-stuhd-ee] /ˈkeɪsˈstʌd i/ (Show IPA). the teaching or elucidation of a subject or issue through analysis and discussion of actual cases, as in business education.
- cast/run your eye — If you cast your eye or run your eye over something, you look at it or read it quickly.
- causality paradox — the hypothetical cause-and-effect of time travel and making changes in the past that would affect current actions.
- 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.
- chincoteague pony — a wild pony found on certain islands off the Virginia coast, apparently descended from Moorish ponies shipwrecked in this vicinity in the 16th century.
- churchyard beetle — a blackish nocturnal ground beetle, Blaps mucronata, found in cellars and similar places
- circular velocity — the velocity at which a body must move in order to maintain an orbit at the outer edge of the earth's atmosphere.
- circumlocutionary — a roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than necessary to express an idea.
- circumscriptively — In a circumscriptive manner.
- circumstantiality — the quality of being circumstantial
- common of turbary — (in England) the legal right to cut peat for fuel on a common
- community college — A community college is a local college where students from the surrounding area can take courses in practical or academic subjects.
- community council — (in Scotland and Wales) an independent voluntary local body set up to attend to local interests and organize community activities
- community service — Community service is unpaid work that criminals sometimes do as a punishment instead of being sent to prison.
- community singing — singing, esp of hymns, by a large gathering of people
- computer literacy — basic, nontechnical knowledge about computers and how to use them; familiarity and experience with computers, software, and computer systems.
- computer security — security
- configurationally — With regard to a configuration.
- constitutionality — In a particular political system, the constitutionality of a law or action is the fact that it is allowed by the constitution.
- contemporaneously — living or occurring during the same period of time; contemporary.
- coral honeysuckle — trumpet honeysuckle.
- costume jewellery — Costume jewellery is jewellery made from cheap materials.
- counterinsurgency — action taken by a government to counter the activities of rebels, guerrillas, etc
- counterparty risk — the risk that a person who is a party to a contract will default on their obligations under that contract
- country gentleman — a rich man with an estate in the country
- country of origin — the country from which a person originally comes
- court of chancery — (in the US) a court of equity