Words starting with C

1,017 words from the Lexfall vocabulary, each with a definition and an example sentence.

cabal A small secretive group plotting together.
cabotage The transport of goods between two points within a country by a carrier from another...
cachectic Showing severe wasting, muscle loss and weight loss from chronic illness.
cachet Prestige that makes a brand or product desirable.
cachexia Severe wasting of the body from chronic illness.
cack-handed Clumsy and awkward, especially with the hands (British informal).
cacophony A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.
cacosmia The perception of an unpleasant or foul smell, which may be real or hallucinatory.
cadence The rhythmic rise and fall or modulation of the voice or of music.
cadenza A virtuoso solo passage inserted into a piece of music, often near the end.
cadre A small core group of trained or experienced people at the heart of an organisation.
caducity The quality of being perishable, frail, or fleeting, especially the infirmity of old age.
caesarean section The surgical delivery of a baby through incisions in the abdomen and uterus.
caesura A rhythmic pause or break within a line of verse.
Cafcass The body that advises the family courts about the welfare of children and what...
cagey Deliberately vague or evasive about giving details.
cajole To persuade someone to do something through sustained flattery, coaxing or gentle...
calcaneal Relating to the heel bone.
calcaneus The heel bone, the largest bone of the foot.
calcification The deposition of calcium in tissue, which appears dense and white on imaging.
calcify To harden into a fixed, unyielding form over time.
calculus Hardened, mineralised plaque that adheres firmly to the teeth and can only be removed by...
calderbank offer A settlement offer made without prejudice except as to costs, so it may be shown to the...
calibrate To adjust an instrument or model against a known standard so that its readings are...
calibration The process of adjusting an instrument against known standards to ensure accurate results.
call bell A device kept within a patient's reach so they can summon nursing staff when they need...
call it To declare that resuscitation efforts have failed and confirm the time of death.
call-off A release drawn against a standing blanket order to schedule an actual delivery.
call someone's bluff To challenge someone to act on a threat you believe they will not actually carry out.
call to action A prompt instructing the audience to take a specific next step.
callable Describing a bond the issuer may redeem before maturity at a set price.
callous Showing an insensitive and cruel disregard for others.
callow Inexperienced and immature.
callus The bridging tissue, initially cartilaginous and later ossified, that forms at a fracture...
calumny A false statement made to damage someone's reputation.
calyx One of the cup-shaped cavities of the renal pelvis that collect urine from the papillae.
CAM-ICU A bedside assessment tool for detecting delirium in intubated or non-verbal intensive...
camaraderie A spirit of mutual trust and warm friendship among a group.
camarilla A small group of secret, scheming advisers who wield unofficial influence over a ruler.
can't intubate, can't oxygenate An airway emergency in which both tracheal intubation and effective oxygenation fail,...
canard A false or baseless rumour or story, often deliberately spread.
cancel culture The mass withdrawal of support from a public figure over a perceived transgression.
cancellation A form of discretionary relief that halts removal and confers or restores lawful status.
candid Truthful and straightforward, even about difficult matters.
candidacy The fact of being a candidate for a position.
candidate pipeline The pool of prospective applicants being sourced and nurtured for current or future roles.
candour The quality of being open, honest, and frank in expression.
cannibalisation The reduction in sales of an existing product caused by a company's own newer offering.
cannibalise To reduce the sales of an existing product by introducing a similar one from the same...
cannibalization Sales a new product steals from a company's own existing lines rather than from...
cannibalize To eat into sales of one’s own existing product.
cannula A thin tube put into a vein to give fluids or medicine.
cannulation The insertion of a hollow tube into a vessel or cavity for access, monitoring or drug...
canon event A formative mistake or milestone that must happen and cannot be prevented.
canonical Regarded as authoritative and belonging to an accepted body of works or standards.
cantankerous Bad-tempered, argumentative and difficult to deal with.
canvass To approach a range of people to solicit business, opinions, or support.
cap rate The ratio of a property's annual net operating income to its purchase price or value,...
cap table A record of a company's ownership, showing each shareholder's equity stake, options and...
capability An organisation's durable ability to do something well and repeatably.
capacious Having a great deal of space inside; roomy.
capacity The mental ability to understand information, weigh it up and communicate a decision...
capacity preemption Building excess capacity ahead of demand to deter rivals from investing.
capacity utilisation The extent to which a plant's available production capacity is actually being used.
capex Spending on long-lived physical assets such as plant, property, and equipment.
capias A court order directing an officer to arrest and bring in a named person.
capillary refill time The time taken for colour to return to a blanched nail bed, used as a bedside marker of...
capital account The record of a country's cross-border flows of investment and financial assets.
capital allowance A deduction from taxable profits given for qualifying capital expenditure on assets such...
capital asset pricing model A model that estimates the required return on an asset as the risk-free rate plus its...
capital controls Government measures that restrict the flow of money across a country's borders.
capital expenditure Money spent on acquiring or improving long-term assets such as property, plant or...
capital flight The rapid exit of financial assets from a country in response to risk or instability.
capital gain The profit made when an asset is sold for more than its purchase price.
capital-intensive Requiring a large amount of fixed capital relative to revenue or output.
capitalise To convert profits or reserves into share capital, or to provide a company with capital.
capitalize To record a cost as an asset on the balance sheet rather than expensing it at once.
capitulate To cease resisting and give in to demands or pressure.
capitulation A phase of panicked, wholesale selling that often marks the exhaustion of a market...
caplet A single interest-rate option that pays out if a reference rate exceeds a set level over...
capnograph The instrument that displays the waveform and value of exhaled carbon dioxide during...
capnography The continuous graphical measurement of exhaled carbon dioxide, confirming ventilation...
capricious Given to sudden changes of mood or behaviour.
capsid The protein coat that encloses and protects a virus's nucleic acid.
capsulorhexis The creation of a continuous circular opening in the anterior lens capsule during...
captious Inclined to find trivial faults and raise petty objections.
captive An insurance subsidiary set up by a company to underwrite the risks of its own parent...
capture the market To win the dominant share of customers in a particular market.
caput A soft, temporary swelling on the foetal scalp caused by pressure during labour.
caravanserai An inn with a central courtyard where travelling caravans could rest overnight.
carbapenem A class of broad-spectrum beta-lactam antibiotic often reserved for severe or resistant...
carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae A group of Gram-negative bacteria resistant to carbapenems, representing a high-priority...
carbapenemase A bacterial enzyme that hydrolyses carbapenem antibiotics, conferring broad resistance.
carbohydrate counting The practice of estimating the carbohydrate in a meal to calculate the matching insulin...
carceral Relating to prisons and imprisonment.
carcinogen A substance or agent capable of causing cancer.
carcinogenesis The multistep process by which normal cells are transformed into cancer.
carcinoid A slow-growing neuroendocrine tumour that may secrete vasoactive substances such as...
carcinoma A malignant tumour arising from epithelial cells lining the skin, organs or glands.
carcinomatosis The widespread dissemination of carcinoma throughout the body or a body cavity.
cardiac arrest The sudden cessation of effective heart function, causing loss of consciousness and...
cardiac catheterisation A procedure in which a thin tube is threaded through a blood vessel into the heart to...
cardiac output The volume of blood pumped by the heart each minute, the product of stroke volume and...
cardinality The number of distinct values a data field can take, ranging from few (low) to nearly...
cardiogenic Originating in or caused by the heart.
cardiomegaly Enlargement of the heart, assessed on imaging by its size relative to the chest.
cardiomyocyte An individual muscle cell of the heart.
cardiomyopathy A primary disease of the heart muscle that impairs its structure or function.
cardioprotective Serving to protect the heart from injury or disease.
cardiotoxicity Damage to the heart caused by a toxic agent or drug.
cardiovascular Relating to the heart and blood vessels.
cardioversion The restoration of normal rhythm by delivering a synchronised electrical shock or drugs.
care plan A documented plan setting out a patient's needs, goals, and the nursing interventions...
career lattice A progression model that treats lateral and diagonal moves as legitimate growth rather...
careerism The practice of advancing one's own career, often at the expense of other loyalties.
careerist A person chiefly preoccupied with their own professional advancement.
caricature A comic depiction that exaggerates distinctive features for ridicule.
caries The progressive demineralisation and destruction of tooth structure caused by acids...
carillon A set of tuned bells played from a keyboard, or a tune played on them.
carina The ridge of cartilage at the point where the trachea divides into the two main bronchi.
cariogenic Tending to promote or cause tooth decay.
carried interest The share of a fund's profits paid to its managers as their performance reward.
carry The net cost or benefit of holding a position over time, before any price change.
carry trade Borrowing in a low-yielding currency or asset to invest in a higher-yielding one.
carryback The offsetting of a current loss against the taxable profit of earlier periods.
carryforward The offsetting of a current loss or unused allowance against the profit of future periods.
cartel An unlawful arrangement between competitors to fix prices, restrict output or share...
cartelise To organise producers into a cartel that coordinates prices or output.
cartilage Firm connective tissue that cushions joints and covers the ends of bones.
carve-out An express exception that removes something from the scope of a broader clause.
cascade A small waterfall, or a sequence that flows down.
case management The active control by the court of the conduct and progress of litigation, including the...
case management conference A hearing at which the court gives directions to prepare the case efficiently for trial.
caseation A form of tissue necrosis producing a soft, cheese-like material, characteristic of...
caseload The number of patients or clients a practitioner is responsible for at a given time.
cash cow A mature business or product that generates steady profit with little further investment.
cash flow The net amount of money moving into and out of a business over a given period.
cash flow statement A financial statement summarising the cash coming into and going out of a business over a...
cash sweep A provision requiring the borrower to apply a defined percentage of surplus cash or...
cash-to-cash cycle The elapsed time between paying suppliers for inputs and collecting cash from customers.
cashback A small percentage of spending returned to the customer as a reward.
cassation The quashing of a lower court's judgment for error of law, with the matter remitted for...
cast A rigid casing applied to a limb to keep a broken bone immobilised while it heals.
castigate To reprimand or criticise someone severely.
casting Designating an additional deciding vote given to the chair when the votes are equally...
castrate To surgically remove the testicles of a male animal.
casualisation The trend towards replacing secure permanent jobs with temporary or insecure work.
casuistry Clever but unsound reasoning, especially about moral questions.
cat's-paw liability An employer's liability where a biased subordinate manipulates an unwitting...
catabolism The metabolic breakdown of complex molecules into simpler ones, releasing energy.
catalepsy A trance-like state of rigid immobility in which the body maintains whatever posture it...
catalyst A person or event that precipitates significant change.
cataplexy A sudden, transient loss of muscle tone triggered by strong emotion, characteristically...
cataract A clouding of the eye's natural lens that causes gradual, painless loss of vision.
catarrh Excessive mucus secreted by an inflamed mucous membrane of the nose or throat.
catastrophe A single event, such as a hurricane or earthquake, that causes an accumulation of large...
catastrophize To interpret a symptom or situation as being far worse than it realistically is.
catatonia A psychomotor syndrome characterised by features such as stupor, mutism, posturing,...
catch-up A clause letting a fund manager receive a larger share of profits until reaching its...
catecholamine Any of a group of biogenic amines, including adrenaline and noradrenaline, that mediate...
category captain The supplier a retailer anoints to advise on managing an entire product category, gaining...
category entry point A cue, need, or moment a buyer associates with a category and uses to summon candidate...
catharsis The release of strong emotion that brings relief.
cathartic Providing psychological relief through the open expression of strong emotions.
catheter A thin tube inserted into the body to drain fluid or give treatment.
catheter care The routine cleaning and monitoring of an indwelling urinary catheter to prevent...
catheterisation The insertion of a thin tube into a heart chamber or vessel for diagnosis or treatment.
catheterise To insert a catheter into the bladder to drain urine.
caucus A private meeting between the mediator and one side alone.
caudad Directed towards the feet or tail end of the body.
causal Relating to the connection between a cause and its effect.
causalgia A persistent, intense burning pain following partial injury to a peripheral nerve.
causality The relationship between cause and effect, particularly the question of whether one...
causation The causal link between the defendant's breach and the claimant's damage.
causative Operating as the cause of a particular result.
cause of action The set of facts that entitles a party to bring a claim against another.
cause of action estoppel The bar preventing a party from suing again on a claim that has already been adjudicated.
caustic Bitingly sarcastic or severe in a way that stings.
cauterisation The destruction or sealing of tissue by burning, applied to stop bleeding or remove...
cautery The destruction of tissue by application of heat, electricity or a caustic agent, often...
caution A formal warning given by police to a suspect, either as an out-of-court disposal or...
cautionary and advisory label A standardised warning added to a dispensed medicine that gives the patient specific...
caveat A warning or qualification limiting how a statement should be interpreted.
caveat emptor Let the buyer beware, the principle that a purchaser buys at their own risk absent a...
cavil To make petty, trivial objections or raise unnecessary quibbles.
cavitation The formation of a gas-filled cavity within the lung following necrosis of tissue.
cavort To leap or prance about in an exuberant, unrestrained way.
cavus Describing a foot with an abnormally high arch.
cc To send someone a copy of an email so they are aware of it without being the main...
cease and desist letter A formal letter demanding that the recipient stop an allegedly infringing activity and...
cedant The insurer that transfers risk to a reinsurer under a reinsurance contract.
cede To transfer all or part of an insured risk to a reinsurer.
ceiling of care The agreed upper limit of treatment a patient will receive, set on the basis of prognosis...
cellulitis A spreading bacterial infection of the skin and the tissue just beneath it.
cementum The thin layer of mineralised tissue covering the root of a tooth and anchoring the...
censorship The suppression or restriction of expression by a public authority.
censure To express severe and formal disapproval of someone.
centile A line on a growth chart showing the percentage of children of the same age who fall...
central bank The public institution responsible for managing a country's currency, money supply and...
central tendency A rating error in which an appraiser clusters everyone in the middle to avoid committing...
central venous pressure The pressure measured in the great veins near the right atrium, reflecting venous return...
centralise To concentrate control or functions under a single authority.
centrifuge To spin a sample at high speed so that its components separate by density.
cephalad Directed towards the head end of the body.
cephalalgia Pain in the head; a headache.
cephalic Relating to the head; used of a foetus lying head-downwards ready for birth.
cephalosporin A class of beta-lactam antibiotic active against a broad range of bacteria.
cerebral haemorrhage Bleeding within the brain tissue itself, often due to hypertension or a ruptured vessel.
cerebrate To use the mind actively; to think or reason.
cerebrospinal fluid The clear fluid that surrounds and cushions the brain and spinal cord.
certain funds A regime under acquisition financing in which lenders may refuse to fund only on a narrow...
certainty The requirement that a valid express trust show certainty of intention, of subject matter...
certification A signed formal statement attesting that specified information or a process meets a...
certify To state formally, often in writing, that something is true or meets a required standard.
certiorari An order by which a superior court reviews and quashes an unlawful decision of a lower...
cerulean Of a deep, clear sky blue.
cerumen The waxy secretion of the ceruminous glands lining the external auditory canal.
cessation The ending of refugee status where the circumstances giving rise to it have ceased to...
cestui que trust The beneficiary for whose benefit a trustee holds the legal estate.
cestui que use The person for whose benefit land is held by another under a use.
chaff To tease in a light-hearted, good-natured manner.
chagrin Distress or annoyance caused by failure or humiliation.
chair a meeting To lead and manage a meeting.
chairman The presiding arbitrator of a three-member tribunal, responsible for its conduct.
chairmanship The office of presiding over a board or committee and directing its proceedings.
chalazion A painless granulomatous swelling of the eyelid from a blocked meibomian gland.
challenge A formal objection seeking the removal of an arbitrator for lack of impartiality or...
challenge to an arbitrator A formal objection seeking the removal of an arbitrator on grounds of lack of...
challenger A firm that actively contests the position of the market leader.
champerty An unlawful bargain to fund another's suit in return for a share of the proceeds.
champion An internal advocate at the prospect's company who supports your solution and pushes it...
chancre A painless ulcer marking the site of primary infection, classically in syphilis.
change agent A person deliberately positioned to drive and champion organisational change.
change data capture A technique that detects and streams row-level inserts, updates, and deletes from a...
change fatigue The weariness and disengagement that sets in when staff face too many initiatives at once.
change of position A restitutionary defence available where the recipient has, in good faith, so altered...
change request A formal proposal to alter the agreed scope, timeline or budget of a project.
changeover The process of switching a machine or line from producing one product to another.
channel stuffing The inflation of reported sales by pushing more product onto distributors than they can...
charge To formally accuse a person of committing a specific criminal offence.
charge-off A debt the lender has written off its books as unlikely to be collected.
chargeable Subject to a tax charge.
chargeable event The transaction or occurrence that triggers a liability to a particular tax.
chargeable gain The gain arising on the disposal of an asset that is subject to capital gains tax after...
chargeback The reversal of a card payment by the issuing bank, typically following a customer...
chargee The party in whose favour a charge over assets is granted.
charging order A court order securing a judgment debt against the debtor's land or other property.
chargor The party who grants a charge over its assets as security for a debt.
charisma A compelling personal magnetism that inspires devotion and followership in others.
charismatic Exercising a compelling charm that inspires loyalty and enthusiasm.
charitable Generous in giving to those in need, or kind in judging others.
chart of accounts The structured list of all the ledger accounts a company uses to record its transactions.
charter The founding document that authorises a project and defines its objectives, scope and...
charterparty A contract for the hire of a ship or its cargo-carrying capacity between shipowner and...
chary Cautiously or suspiciously reluctant to do something.
chase To actively follow up an outstanding result, referral or task to ensure it is completed.
chase (up) To follow up with someone in order to get a response or move an outstanding item forward.
chasm The difficult gap between early enthusiasts and the pragmatic mainstream market.
chasten To have a restraining or moderating effect on someone, often by making them feel ashamed...
chastise To rebuke or reprimand someone severely.
chastity Abstention from illicit or excessive sexual conduct as a moral discipline.
chatoyant Showing a shifting, luminous band of light like that of a cat's eye.
chattel An item of personal property other than land.
chauvinism Excessive or aggressive loyalty to one's own group, nation or sex, coupled with contempt...
check for redness To inspect the skin over bony areas for early signs of pressure damage.
checks and balances The mechanisms by which each branch of government can limit or restrain the powers of the...
chelation The binding of metal ions by a compound so that they can be safely excreted from the body.
chemoprophylaxis The use of drugs to prevent an infection developing.
chemotherapy The treatment of cancer with cytotoxic drugs that target dividing cells.
chest compressions Rhythmic downward pushes on the sternum that pump blood during cardiac arrest.
cheugy Slightly out of date or trying too hard to be trendy.
chiaroscuro The treatment of strong contrasts between light and shadow in visual art.
chiasmus A rhetorical device in which the grammatical order of the first clause is reversed in the...
chicanery The use of trickery and clever, deceptive manoeuvres to achieve an end.
chickenpox A common childhood viral illness causing an itchy, blistering rash and mild fever.
chief complaint The main symptom or concern, usually in the patient's own words, that has prompted them...
chief rent A small perpetual rent payable to a superior out of freehold land.
child arrangements order A court order settling with whom a child is to live and how much time they spend with...
child maintenance Financial support paid by a parent towards the everyday costs of raising their child.
children's guardian An independent officer appointed to represent a child's interests in certain family court...
chimerism The coexistence of donor and recipient cells in a patient after transplantation.
chirality The property of a molecule of being non-superimposable on its mirror image.
chivalrous Courteous, honourable and gallant, especially towards those weaker than oneself.
chlorhexidine An antiseptic agent widely used for skin preparation before surgery.
choana One of the paired posterior apertures through which the nasal cavity communicates with...
choice architecture The deliberate design of the environment in which people make decisions.
chokepoint A single stage that constrains the flow of an entire process.
cholangiocarcinoma A malignant tumour arising from the epithelium of the bile ducts.
cholangitis Inflammation of the bile ducts, typically ascending bacterial infection secondary to...
cholecystectomy The surgical removal of the gallbladder, most often performed laparoscopically for...
cholecystitis Inflammation of the gallbladder, most commonly precipitated by a stone impacted in the...
choledocholithiasis The presence of gallstones within the common bile duct, often causing obstructive...
cholelithiasis The presence of gallstones within the gallbladder or biliary tract.
choleric Bad-tempered and easily provoked to anger.
cholestasis The impairment or cessation of bile flow, leading to jaundice, pruritus and a raised...
cholesteatoma An expanding, destructive collection of keratinising squamous epithelium within the...
chondromalacia Softening and degeneration of articular cartilage, most often affecting the undersurface...
chorea A movement disorder marked by brief, irregular, non-repetitive involuntary movements that...
choriocarcinoma A malignant tumour arising from the trophoblastic cells of the placenta.
chorioretinitis Inflammation involving both the choroid and the overlying retina.
chose in action An intangible personal property right enforceable only by legal proceedings, not by...
chronic Of a condition, persisting for a long time or recurring.
chronic kidney disease Progressive, long-standing loss of kidney function, staged from 1 to 5 according to the...
chronically online So immersed in internet culture that offline norms start to blur.
chronological Arranged in the order in which events occurred in time.
chronotropic Affecting the rate of the heartbeat.
chunking and checking Giving information in small, digestible portions and pausing after each to confirm the...
churlish Rude, surly and mean-spirited in manner.
churn The rate at which customers stop using a product.
churn rate The proportion of customers or revenue lost over a given period.
churning A broker's excessive trading in a client's account driven by commission generation rather...
chylothorax An accumulation of lymphatic chyle in the pleural space, usually from injury to the...
chyme The semifluid, partially digested mass of food and gastric secretions that passes into...
cicatrix The fibrous mark or scar left by the healing of a wound.
circle back To return to a topic or person at a later point once more information is available.
circumambulate To walk all the way around something, often ceremonially.
circumlocution The use of many words where fewer would do, especially to be evasive.
circumlocutory Using indirect and roundabout language rather than stating something plainly.
circumspect Wary and prudent; unwilling to take risks.
circumspection Caution and prudence in considering all circumstances before acting.
circumstantial Of evidence, proving a fact indirectly by inference rather than by direct observation.
circumstantial evidence Evidence from which a fact may be inferred rather than directly proving it.
circumstantiality A pattern of speech that is over-inclusive and laden with irrelevant detail but...
circumvent To find a way around an obstacle or rule.
circumvention The bypassing of technical measures designed to control access to or copying of protected...
cirrhosis Irreversible scarring of the liver that impairs its function and disrupts blood flow...
claim form The court document that starts a civil claim and sets out the remedy the claimant seeks.
claim of right An honest belief in a legal entitlement to property that negates dishonesty.
claimant The party that initiates arbitral proceedings by filing a request or notice of...
clamber To climb awkwardly and with effort, using both hands and feet.
clammy Unpleasantly cold, damp and sticky to the touch.
clamp down on To take firm, strict action in order to stop or restrict an undesirable activity.
clandestine Kept secret, especially because illicit.
clangorous Full of loud, resonant, metallic ringing sounds.
clarify To make a point clearer or remove doubt by explaining or asking further.
clarion Loud, clear and ringing, like the sound of a trumpet.
clash cover Reinsurance that responds when one occurrence triggers losses across several policies or...
class action A lawsuit brought by a representative claimant on behalf of a larger group with the same...
classifier A model that assigns data points to discrete categories.
claudication Cramping limb pain brought on by exercise and relieved by rest, due to arterial...
clause The provision within a contract by which the parties agree to arbitrate future disputes.
claused bill of lading A bill of lading endorsed with a remark noting that the goods or packaging were received...
clawback A contractual right to recover money or shares already paid out.
clean bill of lading A bill of lading bearing no clause or notation expressly declaring a defective condition...
clean break A financial arrangement that ends all ongoing financial obligations between spouses so...
clean-down A requirement that the borrower reduce its revolving borrowings to nil or a low level for...
clean girl A minimal, polished aesthetic - slicked-back bun, glowy skin, gold hoops.
cleanse To detect and correct errors and inconsistencies in a dataset.
clear margins A rim of healthy tissue around an excised tumour that contains no cancer cells,...
clearance The volume of plasma from which a drug is completely removed per unit time by the body's...
clearing The process of reconciling and settling payments or securities transactions between...
clearinghouse An institution that stands between counterparties to guarantee settlement of trades.
clemency Mercy or leniency shown to an offender or enemy in one's power.
clement Merciful and mild in the exercise of authority or judgement.
click-through rate The proportion of people who click a link out of those who saw it.
clickbait Sensational online content designed chiefly to attract clicks rather than to inform.
clientele The customers of a business considered collectively.
clientele effect The tendency for a company's dividend policy to attract a particular type of investor.
clientelism A political system in which support is exchanged for goods, jobs or favours.
cliff A period that must elapse before any equity award begins to vest.
climbdown A humiliating withdrawal from a firmly stated position or demand.
clinch To succeed in finally settling an agreement or securing a deal.
clinical negligence Negligence by a healthcare professional in the diagnosis, treatment or care of a patient.
clique A small, exclusive group within a workplace that keeps others at a distance.
clog on the equity of redemption An improper contractual fetter that impedes or postpones a mortgagor's right to redeem...
clonogenic Capable of giving rise to a colony of cells, as with the self-renewing cells that sustain...
clonus A rhythmic, involuntary series of muscle contractions provoked by sudden stretch,...
close a deal To finalise an agreement with a customer so that the sale is confirmed.
close observation A level of monitoring in which staff keep a high-risk patient under frequent or...
close of play The end of the working day, used as an informal deadline in British business English.
close rate The proportion of qualified opportunities that a salesperson successfully converts into...
close the books To finalise all accounting entries for a period so that no further transactions can be...
close the deal To finalise a negotiation by getting both sides to agree and commit to the terms.
close the loop To follow an outstanding matter through to a clear resolution and confirm it back to...
closed fracture A fracture in which the broken bone does not pierce the skin.
closed-loop communication A technique in which the receiver confirms a message and the sender verifies that it was...
closed shop A workplace where employment is conditional on belonging to a specified union.
closing The stage of the sale where the buyer is asked to commit and the agreement is completed.
Clostridioides difficile A spore-forming bacterium that causes antibiotic-associated colitis, often following...
closure The act of bringing together and securing the layers of a surgical wound at the end of an...
cloture A procedure for ending debate and forcing an immediate vote in a legislative body.
clout Substantial power or influence, especially in politics or business.
cloying Excessively sweet or rich to the point of being sickly.
clubbing A broadening and curving of the fingertips and nails associated with certain chronic...
clustering The grouping of data points by similarity without predefined labels.
clutch at straws To try desperately to find hope or a solution in a hopeless situation by relying on very...
co-arbitrator An arbitrator nominated by one of the parties to sit on a three-member tribunal alongside...
co-branding Two brands partnering on a single offering to borrow each other's equity.
co-creation The collaborative development of a product or campaign with customers.
co-decision The former name for the ordinary legislative procedure, in which the Parliament and the...
co-employment A relationship in which two entities share legal responsibility, and therefore liability,...
co-opetition Simultaneous cooperation and competition between firms that are rivals in one arena and...
co-opt To appoint someone to a body without a formal election by its existing members.
co-packer A firm hired to manufacture and package goods on behalf of another brand.
coaching A development approach in which the manager helps someone find their own answers through...
coagulopathy Any disorder impairing the blood's capacity to clot normally, whether from factor...
coalesce To come together to form one group or mass.
coarctation A congenital constriction of the aorta, typically near the ductal insertion.
coax To gently and patiently persuade someone to do something.
cobranding An alliance in which two brands collaborate on a single product or campaign.
cochlear Relating to the cochlea, the spiral auditory organ of the inner ear.
code of conduct A set of rules setting out the standards of behaviour expected of employees.
codetermination A system in which employees share in company decision-making through board representation.
codicil A document executed to add to, vary or partly revoke an existing will.
codification The consolidation of an act and its amendments into a single new instrument without...
codified constitution A constitution whose fundamental rules are set out in a single authoritative written...
codify To arrange laws or rules into a systematic code.
coeliac Relating to the abdomen; used of the gluten-sensitive enteropathy causing villous atrophy...
coeliac disease An immune reaction to gluten that damages the small-bowel lining and causes malabsorption.
coerce To compel a party to act through pressure, threats or force.
coercion The use of force or threats to make someone act against their will.
coercive Of a remedy, compelling a party to act or refrain rather than merely to pay money.
coercive control A pattern of controlling and intimidating behaviour used by one partner to dominate the...
coexistence An arrangement by which similar marks are used in parallel under agreed conditions to...
coffee-ground vomit Dark, granular vomit whose colour comes from blood partly digested by stomach acid,...
cogency The quality of being clear, logical, and convincing.
cogent Clear, logical and convincing.
cogitate To think deeply and carefully about something.
cognisance The taking of formal jurisdiction over a matter for decision.
cognisant Aware of or having knowledge of something relevant.
cognition The mental processes of knowing and understanding.
cognitive dissonance The mental discomfort of holding contradictory beliefs or acting against one's values.
cognitive impairment A measurable reduction in mental abilities such as memory, attention or problem-solving.
cognoscenti People with expert knowledge and refined taste in a particular field.
cognovit A defendant's written confession of judgment authorising entry against them without...
cohesion The quality of a team pulling together as a unified, mutually supportive whole.
cohort A group of customers sharing a common characteristic, such as acquisition month, tracked...
cohort analysis A method that tracks groups of users who share a common start point over time to compare...
coinsurance An arrangement under which the insured or several insurers share a proportion of each...
cold call An unsolicited sales call to a prospect who has had no prior contact with the company.
cold chain An unbroken sequence of refrigerated storage and transport for temperature-sensitive...
cold outreach Contacting prospects who have not engaged before, typically by email, phone, or social...
colic Prolonged, inconsolable crying in an otherwise healthy and well-fed infant, typically in...
colicky pain Pain that comes and goes in waves, typically arising from a hollow organ such as the...
collapse To fall down suddenly, often losing consciousness.
collar An agreed upper and lower limit on the value or exchange ratio in a stock deal.
collateral Of information, obtained from a source other than the patient, such as a relative or...
collateral attack An attempt to impugn a judgment in a separate proceeding rather than by direct appeal.
collateral challenge An attack on the validity of a decision raised in separate proceedings rather than by...
collateral contract A separate, subsidiary agreement whose consideration is entry into the main contract.
collateral history Information about a patient obtained from a relative, carer or other informant rather...
collateral order doctrine The rule permitting immediate appeal of a discrete ruling that conclusively determines an...
collateral source rule The principle that compensation received from independent sources, such as insurance, is...
collateral warranty A secondary contract giving a third party a direct right to enforce duties owed under the...
collateralisation The practice of backing a loan or obligation with pledged assets in order to reduce the...
collateralise To pledge an asset as security so that a lender may seize it upon default.
collation A light, informal meal, especially one served at an unusual hour.
collecting society A body that administers rights collectively, licensing works and distributing royalties...
collective bargaining Negotiation over pay and conditions conducted between employers and organised groups of...
collective consultation The statutory duty to consult employee representatives where twenty or more redundancies...
collegial Marked by shared responsibility and mutual respect among colleagues of equal standing.
collegiality Cooperative and respectful relations among colleagues who share responsibility.
collimate To narrow and confine the X-ray beam to the region being imaged.
collimation The restriction of the X-ray beam to the area of interest to reduce dose and scatter.
collision regulations The international rules prescribing steering, sailing and signalling conduct to prevent...
colloid An intravenous fluid containing large molecules that stay within the circulation to...
collude To cooperate secretly with rivals to distort competition.
collusion A secret agreement to deceive or defraud.
collusive Involving secret cooperation for a deceitful or fraudulent purpose.
coloboma A congenital gap in an ocular structure resulting from failure of the embryonic fissure...
colocation Placing trading servers physically beside an exchange's engine to minimise delay.
colonisation The presence and multiplication of an organism on or in a host without causing clinical...
colonoscopy An examination of the whole colon with a flexible camera, used to detect and remove...
colostomy A surgically created opening that brings a portion of the colon to the abdominal surface...
colostrum The thick, antibody-rich first milk produced by the breasts in the days around birth.
colourable Appearing valid on the surface but lacking real substance.
comatose Unconscious and unable to be roused by any external stimulus.
combative Aggressive and inclined to resist or fight, sometimes as a sign of confusion or lack of...
combined ratio Losses plus expenses as a percentage of premium, showing whether underwriting alone turns...
combined spinal-epidural A neuraxial technique that pairs a single spinal injection for rapid onset with an...
come to terms To agree on the conditions of a deal after negotiation.
come to terms with To gradually accept a difficult or unwelcome situation.
comedo A plug of keratin and sebum lodged within a dilated hair follicle, presenting as either...
comedone A plug of keratin and sebum lodged within a dilated pilosebaceous follicle, the primary...
comeliness Pleasing and wholesome attractiveness of appearance.
comely Pleasant and attractive in appearance, in a wholesome, slightly old-fashioned way.
comestible An item of food; something suitable to be eaten.
comfort letter A letter from the issuer's auditors giving underwriters negative assurance on unaudited...
comitology The system of committees of Member State representatives that oversees the Commission's...
comity Courtesy and considerate behaviour towards others; social harmony.
command hallucinations Hallucinated voices that instruct the person to carry out actions, sometimes involving...
commander's intent A concise statement of the purpose behind a directive that lets people improvise toward...
commence To begin a treatment or course of action.
commenced on Started on a medicine or treatment (formal clinical writing).
commensal A microorganism that colonises a host without normally causing harm.
commensurate Corresponding in size or degree to something else.
commercial common sense The business-minded reasoning a court applies to resolve an ambiguous contractual term.
commercialise To bring a product or invention to market for profit.
commingle To store or mix together goods belonging to different owners or lots.
commingling The mixing of trust or client money with a party's own funds so that the distinct assets...
comminuted Describing a fracture in which the bone is broken into three or more fragments.
comminuted fracture A fracture in which the bone is broken into three or more fragments.
commiseration The expression of sympathy and sorrow for someone's misfortune.
commit The portion of the forecast a rep is confident enough to promise will close.
commitment device A voluntary arrangement that locks a person into a future action to overcome their own...
commitment fee A fee payable to lenders on the undrawn, available portion of a facility to compensate...
commitments decision A decision under Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003 making binding the commitments offered by...
committal The sending of a defendant to a higher court for trial, or of a person to prison, by...
committal for sentence The procedure by which magistrates send a convicted defendant to the Crown Court because...
committed Fixed by prior decisions and unable to be altered in the short term.
commoditisation The process by which differentiated products become interchangeable and compete mainly on...
commoditise To render a product so undifferentiated that it competes mainly on price.
commoditization The erosion of differentiation that turns a distinctive product into an interchangeable...
commoditize To strip a product of differentiation until it competes on price alone.
common ground The areas of shared interest or agreement that the parties can build a deal on.
commonality The degree to which different products share the same parts or design elements.
commonhold A form of freehold ownership of a flat within a building jointly managed by its owners.
communiqué An official statement or announcement, especially one issued jointly at the close of a...
Community dimension The jurisdictional threshold, based on worldwide and EU-wide turnover, that gives the...
community order A non-custodial sentence requiring the offender to complete requirements such as unpaid...
commutation The substitution of a lesser penalty for the one originally imposed.
comorbidity An additional condition co-occurring with a primary one.
compa-ratio An employee's pay expressed as a fraction of the midpoint of their salary range.
comparability The quality that lets users compare financial statements across firms or periods.
comparable company analysis A valuation technique that benchmarks a company against similar listed peers using...
comparables A set of similar companies or transactions used to benchmark a valuation.
comparative advantage The ability to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than one's trading partners.
comparatives The prior-period figures shown alongside the current year for comparison.
compassion Sympathetic concern for the suffering of others, coupled with a wish to help.
compatibilism The view that free will and determinism can both be true without contradiction.
compel To force or oblige someone to do something.
compellability The extent to which a witness can lawfully be forced to testify.
compellable Legally capable of being required to give evidence.
compelling So convincing or interesting that it holds one's attention or forces agreement.
compensable Capable of being made good by an award of money.
compensating Describing a control that offsets the risk left by a weakness or absence in another...
compensating differential The extra pay required to persuade workers to accept less pleasant or riskier jobs.
compensation The total pay and financial benefits an employee receives in exchange for their work.
compensatory Relating to strategies that work around a deficit rather than restoring the lost function...
compensatory award The element of unfair dismissal compensation covering the loss the employee has actually...
compensatory strategy An alternative way of performing a task that a patient adopts to work around a physical...
competence The legal and mental fitness to make an informed decision about one's own treatment.
competency A defined skill, behaviour, or ability required to perform a role effectively.
competitive advantage A feature or capability that lets a company outperform its rivals and win more customers.
competitive landscape The overall picture of the rivals, dynamics, and forces at play in a given market.
complacency Excessive satisfaction with one's own performance that leads to a lack of awareness of...
complaint A symptom or problem that a patient reports as the reason for the consultation.
complementarity The principle that the International Criminal Court acts only where national courts are...
complementor A firm whose product raises the value of yours, sitting alongside rather than against you...
completeness The assertion that all transactions and balances that should have been recorded have in...
completion The point at which a transaction is finalised, ownership passes and the consideration is...
completion accounts Post-closing financial statements drawn up to true the price up against agreed...
completion statement A document setting out the final sums due between the parties on completion of a...
compliance The degree to which a patient follows the agreed treatment instructions.
complication An unfavourable development or secondary problem arising from a disease or treatment.
complicity Involvement as a participant or accomplice in wrongdoing or a crime.
comply-or-explain Describing a regime that lets firms depart from a code provided they publicly justify the...
component depreciation The practice of depreciating separately the significant parts of an asset that carry...
comport To conduct oneself in a specified, usually dignified, manner.
comportment The manner in which a person conducts and carries themselves.
composability The property of components that can be readily combined into larger systems.
composite A tooth-coloured restorative material of resin matrix and inorganic filler particles.
composite resin A tooth-coloured filling material of resin and fine filler particles that is bonded and...
composition An agreement between a debtor and creditors under which the creditors accept partial...
composure The state of being calm and in control of one's feelings.
compound To prepare a medicine by mixing ingredients to a specific formula.
compounding The offence of accepting consideration in return for not disclosing or prosecuting a...
comprehension The ability to understand something, such as the information given during a consent...
comprehensive Complete and including everything that is relevant.
compromis A formal agreement by which parties submit an existing dispute to arbitration and define...
compulsion A repetitive act a person feels driven to perform to relieve anxiety.
compulsory licence A licence imposed by law permitting use of a protected invention without the...
compunction A pang of guilt about doing something.
concealment The deliberate suppression of a fact that one is under a duty to disclose.
concede To give up a point or accept a demand in the course of reaching agreement.
concentration A merger, acquisition or full-function joint venture that brings about a lasting change...
concentric Describing a muscle contraction in which the muscle shortens as it produces force.
concept drift The gradual change in the underlying relationships a model was trained on, degrading its...
concerted practice A form of coordination between undertakings that, without a formal agreement, knowingly...
concession A relaxation of the strict tax rules granted by the revenue authority outside legislation.
concessionary Granted as a favourable exception to the strict statutory position.
conciliate To reconcile disputing parties by bringing them toward a voluntary settlement.
conciliation A non-binding process in which a neutral helps parties reach a voluntary settlement.
conciliator A neutral third party who helps disputants settle, often by proposing terms.
conciliatory Intended or likely to placate an opponent and reduce hostility.
concise Giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words.
conclusive Serving to settle an issue decisively, leaving no room for doubt.
concomitant Naturally accompanying or occurring together with something else.
concordance Agreement between records, findings or between clinician and patient on a plan.
concordat A formal agreement or protocol coordinating the conduct of parallel insolvency...
concur To agree with an opinion, decision, or assessment.
concurrence The requirement that the guilty act and the guilty mind coincide in time.
concurrent Happening or existing at the same time as something else.
concurrent sentence A sentence for more than one offence in which the terms run at the same time rather than...
concussion A mild traumatic brain injury caused by a blow to the head, often with brief confusion or...
condescending Showing an attitude of superiority towards someone, treating them as less capable or...
condign (Of punishment) fitting and deserved in its severity.
condition A fundamental term of a contract whose breach entitles the innocent party to terminate...
condition precedent An event that must occur before a party's contractual duty becomes enforceable.
condition subsequent An event that, if it happens, extinguishes an obligation that has already arisen.
conditional fee agreement An arrangement under which a lawyer's fee is payable only if the case succeeds.
condolence An expression of sympathy offered to someone who has suffered a loss.
condonation The forgiving or overlooking of an offence, sometimes raised to negate or excuse...
condone To accept or overlook behaviour that is generally considered wrong.
conduct A party's behaviour during the marriage which, if serious enough, the court may take into...
conductive hearing loss Hearing loss caused by impaired transmission of sound through the outer or middle ear.
conduit An entity used to channel income through a jurisdiction so as to obtain a tax advantage.
conduit company An interposed entity with little substance used to channel income and secure treaty or...
confabulate To fabricate imaginary experiences as a substitute for the truth, often unknowingly.
confabulation The unintentional filling of memory gaps with fabricated or distorted details.
conferral The principle that the Union may act only within the limits of the competences conferred...
confession and avoidance A pleading that admits the opponent's facts but introduces new matter defeating their...
confidant A person to whom one entrusts private matters and intimate secrets.
confidence interval A range of values, derived from the data, that is likely to contain the true effect at a...
confidential Meant to be kept private and not shared with others.
confidential information Information imparted in circumstances importing an obligation of confidence and not in...
confidentiality The ethical and legal duty to keep a patient's personal information private.
confirmation Audit evidence obtained as a direct written response from an independent third party.
confirmation bias The tendency to seek out and favour information that supports one's existing beliefs.
confiscation order A post-conviction order stripping an offender of the proceeds of crime.
conflate To combine two or more distinct ideas or things into one, often mistakenly.
conflict of interest A situation in which a director's personal interests are, or may be, at odds with those...
confluence The point at which two rivers or streams flow together and join.
confluent Describing lesions that have run together to form a larger continuous area.
conformation The overall shape, structure and proportions of an animal's body.
conformity Compliance with prevailing standards, norms, or expectations.
confound To distort an apparent relationship by allowing a hidden variable to influence both...
confounder A hidden variable that influences both the supposed cause and the effect, biasing the...
confounding variable A hidden factor that influences both variables under study and creates a misleading...
confute To prove a person or argument decisively wrong.
congestive heart failure A chronic condition in which the heart cannot pump blood effectively, leading to fluid...
conglomerate A corporation made up of several diverse businesses operating in unrelated industries.
conglomerate discount The gap by which a diversified group trades below the summed value of its separate...
congruence Genuineness in a therapeutic relationship, where a clinician's outward manner matches...
congruent Matching appropriately, as when a patient's emotional expression fits the content of what...
conjecture A proposition put forward on incomplete evidence and not yet proved.
conjugal Relating to marriage or the intimate relations between spouses.
conjunctiva The thin transparent membrane covering the white of the eye and the inner surface of the...
conjunctivitis Inflammation of the conjunctiva, producing redness, discharge and irritation, and usually...
connivance Tacit consent to or wilful ignorance of another's wrongdoing that one has a duty to...
connive To secretly cooperate in or conspire towards a wrongdoing.
connoisseur An expert judge in matters of taste, with discerning skill in a field.
connotation An idea or feeling that a word or image suggests beyond its literal meaning.
connubial Relating to marriage or the relationship between a married couple.
consanguinity The relationship between people descended from the same ancestor; kinship by blood.
conscientious Wishing to do one's work thoroughly and well; guided by conscience.
conscientiousness The trait of being diligent, careful, and dutiful in one's work.
conscription Compulsory enlistment of persons into military service.
consecutive sentence A sentence for more than one offence in which the terms run one after another, increasing...
consensual Formed by the mutual agreement of the parties rather than by any formality.
consensus General agreement reached among a group about a matter.
consensus ad idem A genuine meeting of minds on the same terms, essential to a binding contract.
consent To give formal permission for something to happen, especially after being informed of the...
consent award An award recording the parties' settlement in the form of an award, so that it may be...
consent order A court order that gives legal effect to a financial agreement the parties have reached...
consequential loss Loss that does not arise naturally from a breach but flows from special circumstances,...
conservatism The accounting bias toward recognising losses early and gains only when they are certain.
consideration The bargained-for value each party gives that makes a promise enforceable.
consideration set The small group of brands a buyer actively weighs before purchasing.
consignee The party to whom a shipment of goods is formally delivered.
consignment An arrangement whereby goods are delivered to an agent for sale, with title remaining in...
consignor The party who sends a shipment of goods to a buyer or agent.
consistency The application of the same accounting policies from one period to the next.
console To comfort someone who is sad, distressed, or grieving.
consolidate To combine into a single, stronger whole.
consolidation A region of lung in which the air spaces have filled, producing an area of opacity.
consolidator A company that grows by acquiring and absorbing smaller competitors in its sector.
consortium The companionship and support a spouse is entitled to, the loss of which may be...
conspicuous consumption The buying of expensive goods chiefly to display wealth and status.
conspiracy An agreement between two or more people to carry out a criminal offence.
constancy The quality of being steadfast in loyalty, purpose, or affection.
consternation A feeling of anxiety or dismay, typically at something unexpected.
constipation Infrequent or difficult passage of hard stool, often with a sense of incomplete emptying.
constituent power The original authority to establish or fundamentally reconstitute a constitution, as...
constitution The body of documents, principally the articles of association, that governs how a...
constitutional convention A binding but non-legal rule of constitutional practice that regulates the conduct of...
constitutionalism The political theory that governmental power should be defined and limited by a...
constraint A limiting factor that caps how much a system can produce or achieve.
construction The process by which a court determines the legal meaning of the words of a contract.
constructive Describing a trust or notice imposed by law irrespective of intention to prevent a person...
constructive ambiguity The deliberate use of vague or imprecise language in an agreement to accommodate parties...
constructive dismissal A resignation that the law treats as a dismissal because the employer has committed a...
constructive feedback Feedback framed to help someone improve rather than simply to criticise.
constructive knowledge Awareness the law imputes to an employer that should have discovered a condition through...
constructive obligation A duty to act that arises from an entity's established pattern of conduct or public...
constructive receipt The doctrine treating income as received once it is unqualifiedly available to the...
constructive total loss A loss treated as total because the cost of repair or recovery would exceed the value of...
constructive trust A trust imposed by a court to stop one party unjustly keeping property that belongs to...
construe To interpret the meaning and legal effect of the words of a document.
consular Relating to a consulate or the functions of a consul, especially the issuing of visas...
consultant A senior hospital doctor who is an expert in a field.
consultation The process by which an employer discusses proposed changes or dismissals with employees...
consultative Describing a selling approach based on diagnosing needs rather than pushing product.
consumer confidence A measure of how optimistic households feel about the economy and their own finances.
consumer spending The total money households spend on goods and services, a major driver of economic...
consummate Showing the highest and most complete degree of skill or accomplishment.
consumption The rate at which a customer uses a metered product, often the basis for billing.
contact The time a child spends or communicates with the parent they do not live with.
contact tracing The identification and follow-up of people who may have been exposed to an infected...
contactless Describing a payment made by tapping a card or phone rather than inserting or swiping it.
contagion The spread of disease by close contact.
contagious Of a disease, able to spread from person to person by contact.
containerisation The system of transporting freight in standard sealed containers that pass between modes...
containment The provision of a safe, boundaried presence that helps a distressed person feel held and...
contaminant An unwanted organism or substance introduced into a sample that can invalidate results.
contango A market condition in which futures prices stand above the expected future spot price.
contemporaneous Of record-keeping, made at the time of, or as soon as possible after, the events...
contempt of court Conduct that defies or disrespects the authority of a court.
contemptuous damages A trivial sum awarded to a claimant who succeeds in law but whose claim the court regards...
contend To argue or maintain a position in a dispute.
content marketing The practice of attracting customers by creating and sharing valuable, relevant content.
contentious Likely to cause disagreement or debate among those involved.
contestability The degree to which a market is open to new entrants because barriers and exit costs are...
contestable Of a market, open to potential entrants because the barriers to entry and exit are low.
contestable market A market where the mere threat of frictionless entry disciplines incumbents into...
contextualise To place an event, idea or text within its wider setting to clarify its meaning.
continence Self-restraint exercised over one's appetites and desires.
continence care The management of a patient's bladder and bowel needs, including toileting, pads, and...
contingency A future event or circumstance that is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty.
contingency plan A prepared course of action to follow if a specific risk actually materialises.
contingency reserve Budget or time set aside for identified risks that may or may not materialise, drawn down...
contingent True or existing only under certain conditions, and thus not necessary.
contingent liability A potential obligation that will crystallize only if some future event occurs.
contingent remainder A remainder that vests only if a specified condition is met before the prior estate ends.
continuance The postponement or adjournment of court proceedings to a later date.
continuation fund A new vehicle a manager raises to buy assets from its own maturing fund, letting existing...
continuation vehicle A new fund a manager raises to buy assets from its own older fund and hold them longer.
continuous employment An unbroken period of service with the same employer that determines eligibility for many...
continuous glucose monitor A wearable sensor that measures glucose in the tissue fluid throughout the day and night.
contra Describing an account whose balance offsets that of a related account.
contra account A ledger account that offsets the balance of a related account, such as accumulated...
contra proferentem The rule that an ambiguous term is construed against the party who drafted it.
contract of employment The legally binding agreement between an employer and an employee setting out the terms...
contractility The intrinsic capacity of heart muscle to contract with force.
contraction A reduction in an existing customer's spend through downgrades or fewer seats, short of...
contractionary Tending to reduce aggregate demand and slow economic growth.
contractions The rhythmic tightening and shortening of the uterine muscle that dilates the cervix and...
contracture A permanent shortening and fixed tightening of muscle, tendon or other soft tissue...
contraindicated Inadvisable or unsafe to use in the circumstances.
contraindication A specific condition or factor that makes a particular treatment inadvisable or unsafe.
contralateral Relating to or affecting the opposite side of the body.
contrapposto A pose in which a figure's weight rests on one leg, giving the body a graceful asymmetry.
contrarian Deliberately going against prevailing opinion in the expectation that the crowd is wrong.
contravene To act in violation of a law, rule, or agreement.
contravention An act that breaches a law, rule, or agreement.
contribution A tortfeasor's right to recover from others liable for the same damage a just share of...
contributory Of negligence on a claimant's part that contributed to the harm and reduces recoverable...
contributory negligence The claimant's own failure to take care, which reduces the damages payable in proportion...
contrite Feeling or expressing sincere remorse for wrongdoing.
contrition Sincere remorse or sorrow for having done wrong.
contrivance An artificial arrangement devised to secure a tax advantage.
contrived Deliberately and artificially arranged to obtain a tax benefit.
control group The set of users who receive the existing experience and serve as a baseline against...
control premium The extra amount an acquirer pays above market price to secure a controlling stake.
controllable Able to be influenced by the manager of a particular responsibility centre.
controlled drug A medicine subject to additional legal controls over its prescribing, storage, and...
controlled drug register A bound or approved electronic record in which every receipt and supply of Schedule 2...
controlled foreign company A low-taxed foreign subsidiary whose profits may be attributed to and taxed in the hands...
controvert To deny or dispute the truth of something; to argue against it.
contumacious Stubbornly and wilfully disobedient to authority.
contumacy Wilful defiance of a court's authority or orders.
contumelious Insolently contemptuous, describing the high-handed disregard for a claimant's rights...
contusion A bruise; an injury without a break in the skin.
conundrum A confusing and difficult problem or question.
convalesce To recover gradually after an illness or operation.
convalescence The period of gradual recovery after illness or treatment.
convene To formally call together and open a meeting.
convening power The capacity to bring the right people to the table by virtue of one's standing rather...
Convention rights The rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights and given effect in...
converge To approach a definite limiting value or a common point through successive steps.
convergence The inward turning of both eyes to keep a near object single and in focus.
conversely A signposting adverb introducing a statement that is the opposite of the one just made.
conversion The tort of dealing with another's goods in a manner inconsistent with that person's...
conversion rate The percentage of users who complete a desired action out of those who had the...
convert to open To abandon a laparoscopic approach mid-operation and complete the procedure through a...
convertibility The freedom to exchange a currency for another or for gold without restriction.
convertible Describing securities that may be exchanged for shares of another class.
convertible note A short-term debt instrument that converts into equity, typically at the next priced...
convexity A measure of how a bond's duration changes as interest rates move, capturing the...
convey To communicate a message, idea or feeling so it is understood.
conveyance The legal transfer of property from one party to another.
conveyancer A legal professional, whether a solicitor or licensed specialist, who handles the...
conveyancing The legal process of transferring ownership of land or property from a seller to a buyer.
conviction A firmly held belief, or the quality of being firm and sincere in one's beliefs.
conviviality A cheerful, sociable atmosphere among people gathered together.
convoluted Extremely complex and difficult to follow.
convulsion An involuntary and violent contraction of the muscles, often occurring during a seizure.
cook the books To falsify a company's financial records in order to mislead about its true position.
cooked Doomed, exhausted, or beyond saving.
cookie jar reserve An excessive provision built up in good years and quietly released to prop up earnings in...
cooling-off period A mandated interval before a former insider may take a role that would raise conflict...
coordinate To organise different people or elements so that they work together effectively.
coordinated effects The harm from a merger that makes tacit or explicit coordination among remaining firms...
coparcenary A form of joint inheritance of land by two or more persons, historically female heirs,...
COPD Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a progressive condition causing airflow...
cope with To deal successfully with a difficult situation or workload.
copious Abundant in quantity.
coprolalia The involuntary utterance of obscene or socially inappropriate words.
copula A function used to model the dependence structure linking several random variables.
copy in To add someone as a recipient of an email so they receive a copy for information.
copyhold A former tenure of land held at the will of the lord according to the custom of the manor...
copyholder A tenant who held land according to the custom of the manor, evidenced by a copy of the...
copyright The right protecting original literary, artistic, musical and other works against...
copyright subsists The state of copyright automatically existing in a qualifying original work without any...
copywriting The craft of writing persuasive text for advertising and marketing.
coquetry Flirtatious behaviour intended to attract admiration without serious intent.
cor pulmonale Enlargement and failure of the right heart caused by chronic lung disease.
cord prolapse An obstetric emergency in which the umbilical cord descends ahead of the baby and can be...
core competency The distinctive capability a company performs better than anyone else.
core inflation The measure of inflation that strips out volatile food and energy prices to reveal the...
core stability The ability of the trunk muscles to support and control the spine and pelvis during...
coriaceous Having a tough, leathery texture.
cornea The transparent dome at the front of the eye that provides most of the eye's focusing...
corner To gain exclusive or dominant control of a market.
cornerstone A large investor who commits to an offering early to anchor demand for the rest.
cornerstone investor A large backer who commits to an offering early, anchoring the book and signalling...
corollary A proposition that follows naturally from one already proved or accepted.
coronary angiography An imaging procedure using contrast dye and X-rays to visualise narrowings or blockages...
coronary artery bypass graft Open-heart surgery that reroutes blood around a blocked coronary artery using a graft...
coroner An official who investigates deaths that are violent, sudden, or of unknown cause.
corporate opportunity doctrine The rule barring a fiduciary from diverting to personal gain a business chance that...
corporeal Denoting property that has a tangible physical existence, such as land or goods.
corpus The capital or principal of a trust fund, as distinct from the income it produces.
corpus delicti The proof that a crime actually occurred, independent of who committed it.
correlate clinically A standard reporting recommendation to interpret the imaging findings in the light of the...
correlation A statistical relationship in which two variables move together, without implying that...
correspondent A bank that provides services and settles transactions on behalf of another bank abroad.
corroborant Tending to confirm or support other evidence.
corroborate To confirm or give support to a statement, theory or finding with additional evidence.
corroboration Independent evidence that supports and strengthens other evidence in a case.
corroborative Serving to confirm or strengthen other evidence.
corticosteroid An anti-inflammatory drug based on the hormones produced by the adrenal cortex.
cortisol The principal glucocorticoid hormone secreted by the adrenal cortex.
coruscate To flash or sparkle with reflected light.
coruscating Flashing, sparkling or glittering with light.
cosigner A person who signs a loan alongside the borrower and becomes liable if they default.
cosmology The study of the origin, structure and ultimate nature of the universe as a whole.
cost of capital The minimum return a company must earn on its investments to satisfy its lenders and...
cost of cure The measure of damages taken as the expense of remedying the defect or reinstating the...
cost of equity The return that shareholders require for bearing the risk of investing in a company's...
cost of goods sold The direct costs of producing the goods or services a company sold during a period.
cost of living The general level of prices households pay for goods and services needed to maintain a...
cost-of-living adjustment A periodic increase in pay or benefits designed to keep pace with inflation.
cost-to-serve The full cost of supplying a particular customer, channel or product once all activities...
costing The process of estimating or assigning the costs of a product, job, or activity.
costs The fees and expenses of the arbitration, which the tribunal allocates between the...
costs budgeting The process by which the court approves the parties' projected litigation costs in...
costs follow the event The principle that the unsuccessful party ordinarily bears the successful party's costs...
costs order A court order determining which party must pay the legal costs of the proceedings.
coterie A small, exclusive group of people with shared interests or tastes.
coterminous Having the same boundaries, extent, or duration.
cottagecore An aesthetic romanticising simple, rural, homemade living.
counsel To give someone professional guidance and support to help them cope or decide.
counselling point A specific piece of advice a pharmacist must convey when handing over a medicine, such as...
countenance To give approval to or tolerate something.
counter To respond to an offer with a different proposal of your own.
counter-memorial The respondent's written submission answering the claimant's memorial and setting out its...
counter prescribing The pharmacist's recommendation of an appropriate over-the-counter treatment for a...
counter-restitution The requirement that a party seeking to unwind a contract give back any benefits it has...
counteract To nullify a tax advantage obtained through an abusive arrangement.
counteraction The adjustment by which a tax authority cancels an advantage gained from an abusive...
counterclaim A claim brought by a defendant against the claimant in the same action.
countercyclical Moving in the opposite direction to the business cycle, so as to dampen its fluctuations.
counterfactual Relating to what would be the case if something contrary to fact were true.
counterfeit goods Goods bearing a mark identical to a registered trade mark without authorisation, designed...
counterfeiting The manufacture or sale of imitation goods bearing a mark identical to a registered one,...
counterintuitive Contrary to what intuition would lead one to expect.
counteroffer A response to an offer that varies its terms, which rejects the original offer and puts...
counterpart One of several identical copies of a contract, each signed separately but together...
counterparty The other party to a contract or financial transaction.
counterparty risk The danger that the other side of a contract fails to meet its obligations.
counterproposal An alternative proposal put forward to replace one already tabled.
countersign To add a further signature to a document already signed, so as to confirm or authenticate...
countertrade International trade settled by exchanging goods rather than currency.
countertransference The therapist's redirection of their own feelings and unconscious reactions onto the...
countervail To offset the effect of a foreign subsidy by imposing a compensating duty.
countervailing duty A tariff imposed to neutralize an unfair subsidy behind imported goods.
coupon The periodic interest payment a bond makes to its holder, expressed as a rate on the face...
course A defined period of taking a medicine from start to finish.
course-correct To make timely adjustments to a plan or behaviour once a problem becomes visible.
covariance A measure of the extent to which two variables move together.
covariate A variable that may influence the outcome and is controlled for in an analysis.
covenant A formal, binding promise in a contract or deed.
covenant-lite Describing a loan that dispenses with maintenance financial covenants and relies instead...
covenant strength The financial reliability of a tenant, reflecting how secure its rental payments are...
covenantee The party in whose favour a covenant is made.
covenantor The party who gives or makes a covenant.
covet To yearn to possess something, especially belonging to another.
covetable So desirable that people long to own it.
cower To crouch down and shrink back in fear or distress.
cozen To deceive or cheat someone, especially by petty trickery.
crackles Discontinuous popping sounds heard on auscultation, typically caused by fluid or the...
craftsmanship The skill and quality of workmanship shown in making something by hand.
cram-down The court-sanctioned imposition of a restructuring plan on a dissenting class of...
cramdown The court-sanctioned imposition of a debt-restructuring plan on creditors who object to...
cranial nerves The twelve pairs of nerves that emerge directly from the brain and control functions of...
craniotomy A surgical opening of the skull to expose the brain.
crapulous Suffering the ill effects of, or given to, gross overindulgence in food or drink.
craquelure The fine network of cracks that forms on the surface of an ageing oil painting.
crashing Compressing a schedule by adding resource to critical tasks, accepting higher cost to buy...
crashing patient A patient whose vital functions are failing rapidly and who needs immediate intervention.
craven Contemptibly lacking in courage; cowardly.
crawling peg An exchange-rate regime in which a currency's fixed value is adjusted in small, regular...
creative destruction The churn by which innovation continually annihilates established firms and methods.
creative wear-out The decline in an advertisement's effectiveness once audiences have seen it too many...
credentialism Excessive reliance on formal qualifications as a proxy for competence in hiring.
credibility The extent to which a person's statements can reasonably be believed.
credit for a guilty plea The reduction in sentence a defendant receives for admitting guilt, greatest when the...
credit line An arrangement allowing a borrower to draw funds up to an agreed maximum as needed.
credit note A document issued to a customer reducing the amount they owe, typically for a return or...
creditor A party to whom money is owed by the business.
creditworthiness The extent to which a borrower is judged fit to be granted credit.
credulous Too ready to believe things; easily deceived.
crepitation A crackling or rattling sound.
crepitations Crackling sounds heard on auscultation of the lungs, often signalling fluid in small...
crepitus A grating, crackling or grinding sensation felt or heard when roughened articular...
crepuscular Relating to or resembling twilight.
crestfallen Dejected and disheartened after a disappointment.
cricoid Relating to the ring-shaped cartilage of the larynx pressed on to reduce aspiration risk.
cricoid pressure Backward pressure applied to the cricoid cartilage during induction to compress the...
cricopharyngeal Relating to the muscular sphincter at the junction of the pharynx and oesophagus.
cricothyroidotomy An emergency surgical airway created through the cricothyroid membrane when the upper...
criminalise To make an act a criminal offence by law.
critical care outreach A team that reviews deteriorating ward patients and supports timely escalation to...
critical chain A scheduling method that sizes buffers around resource constraints rather than individual...
critical mass The minimum scale a business or market needs to reach before it becomes self-sustaining...
critical path The chain of dependent tasks that sets a project's minimum duration.
critically ill Severely unwell with unstable or failing organ function requiring intensive support.
croft A small enclosed farm with an attached dwelling, especially in the Scottish Highlands.
crohn's disease A chronic inflammatory disease that can affect any part of the gut wall, from mouth to...
cronyism The appointment of friends and associates to positions of authority regardless of merit.
cross-class cram-down Confirmation of a restructuring plan imposed over the dissent of an entire creditor or...
cross-default A clause providing that a default by the borrower under any other financial indebtedness...
cross-docking Moving inbound goods straight from receiving to outbound shipping with little or no...
cross-elasticity The responsiveness of demand for one good to a change in the price of another.
cross-examination The questioning of an opposing party's witness at the hearing to test and challenge that...
cross-examine To question an opposing witness in order to test or discredit their evidence.
cross-functional Involving people drawn from several different departments or disciplines.
cross-match To test a patient's blood against donor blood to confirm compatibility before transfusion.
cross-offer One of two identical offers made by the parties to each other in ignorance of the other.
cross-pollination The exchange of ideas and practices between separate groups to mutual benefit.
cross-sectional Based on data observed at a single point in time across many subjects.
cross-sell To sell an existing customer an additional, complementary product or service.
cross-subsidization Funding aggressive pricing in one market with profits harvested from another.
cross-subsidy The practice of using profits from one part of a business to fund losses or investment in...
cross-tolerance Reduced responsiveness to one drug that develops as a result of tolerance to another...
cross-undertaking in damages An applicant's promise to compensate the respondent for loss caused by an injunction...
crossbite An abnormal transverse relationship in which teeth occlude buccal or lingual to their...
crossboarding Onboarding an existing employee into a new internal role with the same rigour applied to...
crossing Matching a buy and sell order internally without exposing them to the wider market.
crossmatch A compatibility test between donor and recipient blood carried out before transfusion.
croup A viral infection of the upper airway in young children causing a characteristic barking...
crowdfunding Raising small sums from many people, typically online, to finance a venture.
crowding out The displacement of private investment by government borrowing that drives up the cost of...
crowdsourcing The obtaining of ideas or content from a large group, typically online.
crown A custom-made cap that covers the whole visible portion of a tooth to restore its shape,...
crown-jewel defence A takeover defence in which the target sells or options its most prized assets to deter a...
crown-jewel defense A target's sale or option of its most valuable assets to make itself unattractive to a...
crown preference The priority the revenue enjoys over ordinary unsecured creditors in a debtor's...
crowning The moment during delivery when the widest part of the baby's head becomes visible at the...
crushing chest pain A heavy, tight, or squeezing pain in the centre of the chest that is a classic warning...
crust A hardened deposit formed when serum, blood, or purulent exudate dries on the skin...
crux The decisive or most important point at issue.
cryoglobulinaemia The presence in the blood of abnormal proteins that precipitate on exposure to cold.
cryoprecipitate A blood product rich in fibrinogen, factor VIII and von Willebrand factor recovered from...
crystallisation The process by which a floating charge converts into a fixed charge over the assets then...
crystallise (Of a floating charge) to fix upon specific assets on a defined triggering event.
crystallize To make an idea or plan become clear and definite.
crystalloid An intravenous fluid of water and small solutes used to replace circulating volume.
crystalluria The presence of crystals in the urine, sometimes preceding or accompanying stone...
cubing The measurement and optimisation of the volume goods occupy in packaging or transport.
cull To remove or slaughter selected animals from a group, often for disease control or on...
culpa Fault or negligence that gives rise to legal liability.
culpability The degree to which an offender is morally and legally blameworthy for a wrongful act.
culpable Deserving blame; legally responsible for a fault.
culture and sensitivity A laboratory test that grows an organism from a specimen and determines which...
cumulative Building up in the body through repeated doses over time.
cup-to-disc ratio The ratio of the central hollow of the optic disc to its total diameter, used to monitor...
cupidity Excessive greed, especially for money or possessions.
curative Describing treatment intended to cure the cancer completely rather than merely control it.
curator A person appointed to manage the affairs or property of one unable to do so.
curb To control or limit something, especially something harmful.
cure period The grace window in which a defaulting party may fix its breach before termination.
curettage The scraping away of tissue from a surface using a sharp, spoon-shaped instrument.
curfew A court-imposed requirement to remain at a specified address during set hours.
curial deference The measure of respect a reviewing court accords to the findings or discretion of the...
curial law The law of the seat that regulates the arbitral procedure and the supervisory role of the...
current account The record of a country's trade in goods, services, and income with the rest of the world.
cursory Hasty and superficial, done without attention to detail.
curtail To reduce, restrict or cut short something.
curtailment The shortening of a period of leave so that it expires earlier than originally granted.
curtesy A widower's common-law life interest in his deceased wife's land where issue was born of...
curtilage The enclosed land immediately surrounding a dwelling.
Cushing's syndrome A disorder caused by prolonged exposure to excess cortisol, producing weight gain, a...
cusp A raised point on the chewing surface of a tooth.
custodial Involving imprisonment rather than a fine or community penalty.
custodial interrogation Questioning of a suspect who is in custody and not free to leave.
custodial sentence A sentence that requires the offender to be detained in prison.
custodian A financial institution that holds and safeguards clients' securities and other assets.
custody Detention in jail, or legal guardianship of a person.
custody threshold The point at which an offence is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can...
customer acquisition cost The average total cost of sales and marketing required to win a single new customer.
customer lifetime value The total revenue a business can expect from a single customer over the whole...
cut costs To reduce the amount a business spends.
cut-off The correct assignment of transactions to the reporting period in which they actually...
cutover The tightly choreographed switch from an old system or process to its replacement inside...
cutting-edge At the most advanced or innovative stage of development.
cy-près A court's power to apply charitable property to a purpose as near as possible to the...
cyanosis A bluish discolouration of the skin or lips caused by inadequate oxygen in the blood.
cybersquatting Registering in bad faith a domain name that echoes another's mark, typically to extract...
cycle counting Auditing inventory continuously by counting a rotating subset of items on a set schedule.
cycle of chemotherapy A set period of chemotherapy treatment followed by a rest period, repeated as a course.
cycle time The elapsed time to complete one full pass of a process from start to finish.
cyclical Describing a stock or sector whose fortunes track the wider economic cycle.
cyclicality The degree to which a company's or industry's performance rises and falls with the...
cycloplegia Paralysis of the ciliary muscle, abolishing accommodation.
cycloplegic Paralysing the ciliary muscle of the eye so that accommodation is temporarily abolished.
cyclothymia A chronic mood disturbance marked by fluctuating subsyndromal hypomanic and depressive...
cystitis Inflammation of the bladder, most commonly due to bacterial infection.
cystoscopy Endoscopic examination of the interior of the bladder using a cystoscope.
cytogenetics The study of chromosomes and their abnormalities, particularly in the diagnosis and...
cytology The study of individual cells, often to screen for or diagnose disease.
cytopathic Producing degenerative changes or death in host cells.
cytopenia A deficiency in the number of one or more types of blood cell.
cytoreduction The reduction of tumour burden, usually by surgical removal of malignant tissue.
cytostatic Inhibiting the growth and division of cells without necessarily killing them.
cytotoxic Toxic to cells, especially describing drugs that kill rapidly dividing malignant cells.

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