Loading earlier words…
Chemosynthesis

Synthesis of organic compounds by energy derived from chemical changes or reactions. Chemosynthesis of carbohydrates occurs in the nitrite bacteria through the oxidation of ammonia to nitrous acid, and in the nitrate bacteria through the conversion of nitrous into nitric acid.

chemotherapy

the use of chemical agents to treat or control disease (or mental illness); -- also used especially in reference to the use of chemicals to treat cancer.

Chen

a wild goose having white adult plumage.

chenfish

small silvery marine food fish (Genyonemus lineatus) found off California.

Cheng

A chinese reed instrument, with tubes, blown by the mouth.

Chenille

Tufted cord, of silk or worsted, for the trimming of ladies' dresses, for embroidery and fringes, and for the weft of Chenille rugs.

Chenomorphae

An order of birds, including the swans, ducks, geese, flamingoes and screamers.

Chenopodiales

an order which corresponds approximately to the older group Centrospermae.

Chenopodium

a genus of plants comprising the goosefoots and including the pigweed.

cheoplasty

molding artificial teeth using low-fusing metals or alloys.

Cherimoyer

A small downy-leaved tree (Anona Cherimolia), with fragrant flowers. It is a native of Peru.

Cherish

To treat with tenderness and affection; to nurture with care; to protect and aid.

Cherokees

An Appalachian tribe of Indians, formerly inhabiting the region about the head waters of the Tennessee River. They are now mostly settled in the Indian Territory, and have become one of the most civilized of the Indian Tribes.

Cheroot

A kind of cigar, originally brought from Manila, in the Philippine Islands; now often made of inferior or adulterated tobacco.

Cherry

Like a red cherry in color; ruddy; blooming; as, a cherry lip; cherry cheeks.

Chersonese

A peninsula; a tract of land nearly surrounded by water, but united to a larger tract by a neck of land or isthmus; as, the Cimbric Chersonese, or Jutland; the Tauric Chersonese, or Crimea.

Chert

An impure, massive, flintlike quartz or hornstone, of a dull color.

Cherty

Like chert; containing chert; flinty.

Cherub

A mysterious composite being, the winged footstool and chariot of the Almighty, described in Ezekiel i. and x.

Cherubim

The Hebrew plural of Cherub.. Cf. Seraphim.

Cherup

A short, sharp, cheerful noise; a chirp; a chirrup; as, the cherup of a cricket.

Chervil

A plant (Anthriscus cerefolium) with pinnately divided aromatic leaves, of which several curled varieties are used in soups and salads.

Chess

A species of brome grass (Bromus secalinus) which is a troublesome weed in wheat fields, and is often erroneously regarded as degenerate or changed wheat; it bears a very slight resemblance to oats, and if reaped and ground up with wheat, so as to be used for food, is said to produce narcotic effects; -- called also cheat and Willard's bromus.

Chess-apple

The wild service of Europe (Purus torminalis).

Chessboard

The board used in the game of chess, having eight rows of alternate light and dark squares, eight in each row. See Checkerboard.

Chessel

The wooden mold in which cheese is pressed.

Chesses

The platforms, consisting of two or more planks doweled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge.

Chessman

A piece used in the game of chess.

Chesstree

A piece of oak bolted perpendicularly on the side of a vessel, to aid in drawing down and securing the clew of the mainsail.

Chest

Strife; contention; controversy.

Chested

Having (such) a chest; -- in composition; as, broad-chested; narrow-chested.

Chesterlite

A variety of feldspar found in crystals in the county of Chester, Pennsylvania.

Chestnut

Of or pertaining of a chestnut; of a reddish brown color; as, chestnut curls.

chesty

marked by a large or well-developed chest.

Chetvert

A measure of grain equal to 0.7218 of an imperial quarter, or 5.95 Winchester bushels.

Cheval

A horse; hence, a support or frame.

Cheval-de-frise

A piece of timber or an iron barrel traversed with iron-pointed spikes or spears, five or six feet long, used to defend a passage, stop a breach, or impede the advance of cavalry, etc.

Chevalier

A horseman; a knight; a gallant young man.

Cheve

To come to an issue; to turn out; to succeed; as, to cheve well in a enterprise.

Chevet

The extreme end of the chancel or choir; properly the round or polygonal part.

Cheviot

A valuable breed of mountain sheep in Scotland, which takes its name from the Cheviot hills.

Chevrette

A machine for raising guns or mortar into their carriages.

Chevron

One of the nine honorable ordinaries, consisting of two broad bands of the width of the bar, issuing, respectively from the dexter and sinister bases of the field and conjoined at its center.

Chevroned

Having a chevron; decorated with an ornamental figure of a zigzag from.

Chevronel

A bearing like a chevron, but of only half its width.

Chevronwise

In the manner of a chevron; as, the field may be divided chevronwise.

Chevrotain

A small ruminant of the family Tragulid/ a allied to the musk deer. It inhabits Africa and the East Indies. See Kanchil.

chevvy

to repeatedly cause annoyance or concern to; to chevy; -- same as chivy.

Chevy

A cry used in hunting.

chew

To bite and grind with the teeth; to masticate.

Chew

That which is chewed; that which is held in the mouth at once; a cud.

chewing

biting your food in your mouth so it becomes soft enough to swallow.

Chewink

An american bird (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) of the Finch family, so called from its note; -- called also rufous-sided towhee, towhee, towhee bunting and ground robin.

Cheyennes

A warlike tribe of indians, related to the blackfeet, formerly inhabiting the region of Wyoming, but now mostly on reservations in the Indian Territory. They are noted for their horsemanship.

Chian

Of or pertaining to Chios, an island in the /gean Sea.

Chianti

a dry red Italian table wine from the Chianti region of Tuscany.

Chiaro-oscuro Chiaroscuro

The arrangement of light and dark parts in a work of art, such as a drawing or painting, whether in monochrome or in color. The art or practice of so arranging the light and dark parts as to produce a harmonious effect. Cf. Clair-obscur.

Chiaroscurist

A painter who cares for and studies light and shade rather than color.

Chiasma Chiasm

A commissure; an intersection or crossing of two tracts; especially, the optic commissure, or crucial union of the optic nerves.

Chiasmus

An inversion of the order of words or phrases, when repeated or subsequently referred to in a sentence

Chiastolite

A variety of andalusite; -- called also macle. The tessellated appearance of a cross section is due to the symmetrical arrangement of impurities in the crystal.

Chibouk Chibouque

A Turkish pipe, usually with a mouthpiece of amber, a stem, four or five feet long and not pliant, of some valuable wood, and a bowl of baked clay.

Chic

Original and in good taste or form; stylish; in current fashion, fashionable.

Chica

A red coloring matter. extracted from the Bignonia Chica, used by some tribes of South American Indians to stain the skin.

Chicalote

A Mexican prickly poppy (Argemone platyceras), which has migrated into California.

Chicane

To use shifts, cavils, or artifices.

Chicanery

Mean or unfair artifice to perplex a cause and obscure the truth; stratagem; sharp practice; sophistry.

Chichevache

A fabulous cow of enormous size, whose food was patient wives, and which was therefore in very lean condition.

Chichling vetch Chichling

A leguminous plant (Lathyrus sativus), with broad flattened seeds which are sometimes used for food.

chick flick

A sentimental motion picture that appeals particularly to women. See flick, n., movie.

Chick-pea

A Small leguminous plant (Cicer arietinum) of Asia, Africa, and the south of Europe; the chich; the dwarf pea; the gram.

Chickabiddy

A chicken; a fowl; also, a trivial term of endearment for a child.

Chickadee

A small bird, the blackcap titmouse (Parus atricapillus), of North America; -- named from its note.

Chickaree

The American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus Hudsonius, formerly Sciurus Hudsonius); -- so called from its cry.

Chickasaws

A tribe of North American Indians (Southern Appalachian) allied to the Choctaws. They formerly occupied the northern part of Alabama and Mississippi, but now live in the Indian Territory.

Chicken

A young bird or fowl, esp. a young barnyard fowl.

Chicken-breasted

Having a narrow, projecting chest, caused by forward curvature of the vertebral column.

chickenshit

a false statement that is considered to indicate timidity or fear.

Loading more words…