| Term | Definition |
|---|
| champion | support militantly; fight for; N: person who fights for or supports strongly (a principle, movement, person, etc.) |
| championship | position of champion; defense or support; competition held to determine a champion |
| chancellor | legal official of high rank; CF. chancellery(chancellory): position of a chancellor |
| chant | tune(melody) in which a number of words are sung on the same note; V: sing (a chant); utter (a slogan) in the manner of a chant |
| chaotic | in utter disorder |
| chapel | small church (in a prison, college, or hospital) |
| chaperon | older person who accompanies and supervises a young unmarried woman |
| chaplain | clergyman attached to a chapel |
| char | make or become black by burning; reduce or be reduced to carbon or charcoal(black substance made by burning wood) by incomplete combustion |
| charisma | divine gift; great popular charm or appeal; magnetism |
| charlatan | quack; pretender to knowledge (esp. in medicine) |
| charm | quality of pleasing; amulet; action or formula thought to have magical power; spell; V: attract; cast a spell on; bewitch |
| chary | cautious; unwilling to take risks; sparing or restrained about giving; OP. bold |
| chase | ornament a metal surface by indenting; follow rapidly to catch |
| chasm | abyss; very deep crack |
| chassis | framework and working parts of an automobile; framework to which components are attached |
| chaste | morally pure; virginal; abstaining from illicit sexual acts; modest; simple (of a style of writing); not highly decorated; austere |
| chasten | discipline; punish in order to correct; CF. castigate |
| chastise | punish as by beating; criticize severely |
| chauvinist | blindly devoted patriot; zealous adherent of a group, cause, or sex; ADJ. chauvinistic; CF. chauvinism; Nicolas Chauvin |
| check | stop motion; curb or restrain |
| checkered(chequered) | marked by great changes in fortune; with many changes of fortuene; CF. checked: having a pattern of squares |
| cherubic | angelic; innocent-looking; N. cherub; CF. seraph: winged angel of the highest order |
| chicanery | trickery; deception |
| chide | scold; rebuke (someone who has done wrong) |
| chimerical | fantastically improbable; highly unrealistic; N. chimera: unreal fancy; fire-breathing female creature |
| chip | lose a small piece from the surface or edge; N: small piece broken off something; CF. French fry; Potato chip/crisp |
| chisel | swindle or cheat; N: wedgelike tool for cutting |
| chivalrous | courteous; faithful; brave; N. chivalry |
| choice | delicate; of very fine quality |
| choir | group of people who sing together (esp. during religious services); place for choir |
| choleric | hot-tempered; bad-tempered; irritable; easily angered; CF. cholera |
| chore | daily domestic task (such as cleaning, cooking, and shopping); unpleasant task |
| choreography | art of representing dances in written symbols; arrangement of dances |
| chortle | chuckle with delight; N. |
| chorus | phrase repeated throughout a song or poem |
| chronic | long established as a disease |
| chronicle | report; record (in chronological order) |
| chuckle | laugh quietly |
| churlish | boorish; rude; N. churl: boor; yahoo |
| ciliated | having minute hairs; CF. cilium; CF. cilia: eyelash |
| cipher | nonentity; worthless person or thing; zero; secret code; V. |
| circlet | small ring; band of gold, silver, jewel, etc. (worn on the head, arms, or neck as decoration) |
| circuit | closed circular line around an area; circumference; regularly repeated journey from place to place |
| circuitous | roundabout |
| circumlocution | indirect or roundabout expression (by using an uncecessarily large number of words esp. when trying to avoid answering a difficult question directly) |
| circumscribe | limit; confine; draw a line around |
| circumspect | prudent; cautious; acting after careful thought |
| circumvent | outwit; defeat by behaving more cleverly; outsmart; baffle; avoid; get around |
| cistern | reservoir or water tank |
| citadel | fortress |
| cite | quote; commend; Ex. cited for bravery in an official record |
| civil | having to do with citizens; not military or religious; courteous and polite; Ex. married in a civil ceremony; Ex. civil strife/disorder/law; N. civility; CF. civic |
| clairvoyant | having foresight; fortuneteller; N. clairvoyance |
| clamber | climb by crawling with difficulties; scramble |
| clamor | loud continous noise; continuous demand or complaint made by a large number of people; V: make a clamor; express (a demand) continually and loudly; ADJ. clamorous |
| clandestine | secret |
| clangor | loud resounding noise; sound of repeated clanging |
| clap | strike the palms of the hands together with a sudden explosive sound; come together suddenly with a sharp sound; put or send promptly; Ex. clap the thief in jail; N: clapping; loud or explosive sound; CF. applause |
| clapper | striker (tongue) of a bell |
| clarion | shrill, trumpetlike sound; kind of trumpet used in former times |
| clasp | hold firmly within arms |
| claustrophobia | fear of being locked in |
| clavicle | collarbone |
| cleave | split or sever; cling to; remain faithful to; N. cleavage; ADJ. cloven |
| cleft | N: split |
| clemency | disposition to be lenient in deciding punishments; mildness as of the weather; ADJ. clement |
| clich\'e | phrase dulled in meaning by repetition; platitude; ADJ. clich\'ed |
| clientele | body of customers |
| climactic | relating to the highest point; N. climax; CF. climatic |
| clime | climate |
| clip | cut off with shears; fasten; N: something clipped off (as a short extract from film); clasp or fastener |
| clipper | sailing vessel built for great speed |
| clique | small exclusive group of people |
| cloister | monastery or convent |
| clot | half-solid lump formed from a liquid (or blood); V. |
| clout | great influence (especially political or social); hard blow with fist |
| clown | act stupidly; play the fool; N. |
| cloying | distasteful (because excessive); excessively sweet or sentimental; V. cloy: become unpleasant through too much sweetness or excess |
| coagulate | congeal; thicken; clot; N. coagulant |
| coalesce | combine; fuse; N. coalescence |
| coalition | partnership; league; union of separate political parties |
| coax | persuade by flattery |
| coda | concluding section of a musical or literary composition |
| coddle | treat gently; indulge excessively; pamper; mollycoddle; baby; cook in water just below boiling point; Ex. coddled eggs |
| codicil | supplement to the body of a will; later addition to a will |
| codify | arrange (laws or rules) as a code; classify; N. code: system of words used instead of ordinary writing; collection of laws, rules, established social customs |
| coercion | use of force to get someone to object; compelling; V. coerce |
| coeval | living at the same time as; existing during the same period of time; contemporary; of the same age |
| cog | tooth projecting from a wheel |
| cogent | convincing |
| cogitate | think over; ponder |
| cognate | having a common origin; related linguistically; allied by blood; similar or akin in nature; Ex. cognate languages; N. |
| cognitive | having to do with knowing or perceiving related to the mental processes; N. cognition: the mental process of knowing |
| cognizance | knowledge; ADJ. cognizant; having knowledge; aware |
| cohabit | live together |
| cohere | stick together |
| cohesion | tendency to keep together |
| cohorts | group of people who share some common quality; armed band; a group of between 300 and 600 soldiers under one commander (in the ancient Rome) |
| coiffure | hairstyle |
| coin | make coins; invent or fabricate (a word or phrase); N. coinage: word or phrase recently invented |
| coincidence | the chance occurrence, at the same time, of two or more seemingly connected events; V. coincide: happen at the same time; be in agreement; CF. coincident; CF. coincidental |
| colander | utensil with perforated bottom used for straining |
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