| Term | Definition |
|---|
| canto | division of a long poem |
| canvass | determine or seek opinions, votes, etc.; go through (a region) to solicit votes or orders; conduct a survey; N. |
| capacious | spacious |
| capacity | mental or physical ability; role; position or duty; ability to accommodate; |
| capillary | having a very fine bore; resembling a hair; fine and slender; |
| capitulate | surrender; give up all resistance |
| caprice | whim; sudden change of mind without any real cause |
| *capricious | unpredictable; fickle |
| capsize | (of a boat) turn over |
| caption | title; chapter heading; text under illustration |
| captious | faultfinding; too critical |
| carafe | glass water bottle; decanter |
| carapace | shell covering the back (of a turtle, tortoise, crab, etc.) |
| carat(karat) | unit of weight for precious stones; measure of the purity of gold |
| carcinogenic | causing cancer; N. carcinogen |
| cardinal | chief; most important; N: priest; cardinal number: number that shows quantity rather thatn order |
| cardiologist | doctor specializing in ailments of the heart |
| careen | lurch; sway from side to side; move with irregular swinging movement; stagger |
| career | rush wildly; go at full speed |
| carefree | free from worries; having no problems |
| caricature | distortion; burlesque |
| carillon | a set of bells (often in a tower) capable of being played |
| carnage | destruction of life; slaughter; killing of large numbers of people or animals |
| carnal | fleshly; sensual; concerning the desires of the body |
| carnivorous | meat-eating; |
| carousal | drunken revel; V. carouse |
| carping | petty criticism; fault-finding; fretful complaining; quibble |
| carrion | rotting flesh of a dead body; CF. vulture |
| cartographer | map-maker |
| cascade | small waterfall |
| caste | one of the hereditary classes in Hindu society; social stratification; prestige |
| *castigation | punishment; severe criticism or disapproval |
| castrate | remove the sex organs (of a male animal or person) |
| casual | happening by chance; irregular; occasional; informal; showing or feeling little interest; |
| casualty | serious or fatal accident; person killed or wounded in an accident or battle |
| cataclysm | deluge; upheaval; earthquake; violent and sudden event or change |
| *catalyst | agent which brings about a chemical change while it remains unaffected and unchanged; CF. catalysis |
| catapult | slingshot; hurling machine; V: fire from catapult |
| cataract | great waterfall; eye abnormality (causing a gradual loss of eyesight) |
| catastrophe | calamity ; disaster |
| catcall | shout of disapproval or displeasure (made at the theater or a sports match); boo; V. |
| catechism | book for religious instruction in question-and-answer form; religious instruction by question and answer; V. catechize |
| categorical | without exceptions; made without any doubt in mind; unqualified; absolute |
| cater | provide food and drink (for); cater to: try to satisfy (desires of a bad kind) |
| catharsis | purging or cleansing of any passage of the body; purging and weakening of strong emotions as a result of experiencing a dramatic work of art |
| cathartic | purgative; medicine that causes the bowels to empty; ADJ. |
| catholic | (of likings and interests) universal; general; broad; including many different parts; wide-ranging liberal; |
| caucus | private meeting of a group of people in a political party to select officers or determine policy; CF. the Caucus club of Boston |
| caulk(calk) | make watertight (by blocking up cracks as in a ship) |
| causal | implying a cause-and-effect relationship; N. causality |
| *caustic | burning; corrosive; able to burn by chemical action; sarcastically biting; (of remarks) intended to hurt; bitter; harmful; OP. harmless |
| cauterize | burn (a wound or snakebite, etc.) with hot iron or caustic substance to stop bleeding and prevent infection |
| cavalcade | procession of riders or horse-drawn carriages; parade; CF. cavalry |
| cavalier | casual and offhand; arrogant; N: knight |
| cavil | quibble; make frivolous objections; find fault unnecessarily |
| cede | yield (title or territory) to (esp. after losing a war); surrender formally; N. cession |
| celerity | speed; rapidity |
| celestial | heavenly |
| celibate | abstaining from sexual intercourse; unmarried; |
| cemetery | place for burying the dead |
| censor | (in ancient Rome) overseer of morals (also taking the census); person who eliminates inappropriate matter; V. |
| censorious | severely critical |
| censure | blame; criticize; express strong disapproval; N: severe criticism; strong disapproval |
| centaur | mythical figure, half man and half horse |
| centigrade | denoting a widely used temperature scale (basically same as Celsius) |
| centrifugal | radiating; departing from the center |
| centrifuge | machine that separates substances by whirling them |
| centripetal | tending toward the center |
| centurion | Roman army officer (commanding a company of about 100 soldiers) |
| cerebral | pertaining to the brain or intellect; intellectual rather than emotional; CF. cerebrum |
| cerebration | thought; working of the brain |
| ceremonious | marked by formality; extremely formal and polite; |
| certitude | certainty |
| cessation | stoppage |
| cession | yielding to another; ceding |
| chafe | warm by rubbing; make sore by rubbing; N. |
| chaff | worthless products of an endeavor; husk(outer seed cover) separated from grain; |
| chaffing | bantering; joking |
| chagrin | annoyance and disappointment; vexation (caused by humiliation or injured pride) |
| chalice | goblet; consecrated cup |
| chameleon | lizard that changes color in different situations |
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