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English Dictionary — Definitions & Meanings

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“C” Words

To divide or open something using a sharp tool such as a knife or scissors.

Attractive in a charming, often small or youthful way.

The quality of being cute.

Deliberately and excessively cute, to the point of seeming insincere.

An English given name and surname, from Old English meaning "famous" or "brightly known" — associated with several early English saints.

Informal: a cute or attractive person.

A short sword with a curved blade, historically used by sailors.

A person whose trade is making or selling knives and other cutting tools.

Knives, forks, spoons, and other tools used for eating or serving food.

A small, thin cut of meat, often coated and fried.

The point at which something ends or is limited; a deadline or threshold.

Corporal punishment given at school, historically by striking with a cane or strap.

A person, tool, or machine that cuts something.

Ruthlessly competitive, with no regard for fairness or the interests of others.

A piece cut from a plant — a stem, leaf, or root — used to grow a new plant.

A squid-like sea creature with eight arms, two long tentacles, and an internal shell, known for squirting dark ink when threatened.

Short or cut off; used especially in Scottish and dialect English.

An informal shortening of "cousin."

A city in Peru, the former capital of the Inca Empire.

A diminutive of the male given names Cyril or Cyrus.

Any of a group of highly toxic chemical compounds containing a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom.

Relating to computers, the internet, or digital technology.

Relating to cybernetics, the study of communication and automatic control in machines and living things.

The virtual world of information and communication accessed through computer networks and the internet.

A female given name, a 20th-century variant of Sybil.

A being that is part living organism and part machine.

A series of events that repeats itself in the same order.

The activity or sport of riding a bicycle.

A person who rides a bicycle, either regularly or as a sport.

A large storm system with winds rotating around a centre of low atmospheric pressure.

A giant with a single eye in the middle of its forehead, from Greek and Roman mythology.

A constellation in the northern sky said to resemble a swan, containing the bright stars Deneb and Albireo.

A solid or hollow object with straight parallel sides and a circular cross-section, like a tube or a can.

Shaped like a cylinder; having straight sides and a circular cross-section.

A male given name of historical usage in Ancient Greece, notably Cylon of Athens, who attempted a coup in the 7th century BCE.

A round, flat metal plate that produces a sharp ringing crash when struck, used in drum kits and orchestras.

A diminutive of the female given name Cynthia, a 20th-century variant spelling of Cindy.

A person who habitually expects the worst of people and doubts their sincerity or motives.

Distrustful of people's sincerity, believing that self-interest is the real motive behind most actions.

A general distrust of people's sincerity, or the belief that self-interest drives most human behaviour.

A female given name of Ancient Greek origin, originally an epithet of the goddess Artemis.

A surname of German origin.

An evergreen conifer with dense, dark, scale-like foliage, often planted in rows or seen in cemeteries.

An island nation in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriot administration; capital Nicosia.

A male given name of Ancient Greek origin, borne notably by a ninth-century missionary to the Slavs.

A male given name of Old Persian origin, most famously borne by Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire.

A closed sac in the body, usually filled with fluid or other material, that forms within a tissue or organ.

Relating to a cyst — an abnormal fluid-filled sac in the body.

An emperor of Russia before the 1917 revolution; more generally, an autocratic ruler.

From, or relating to, the Czech Republic, its people, culture, or language.

A person from Czechoslovakia, the former Central European country.

A former Central European country, now divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.