📖 C — The English dictionary · page 99

cuttlefish — Everyday, meaning 1: A cuttlefish is a sea animal related to the squid and octopus, with a wide flat body, eight arms, two long tentacles, a fin around its body and a hard flat shell inside called a cuttlebone.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: It can change its colour and pattern in a flash to hide or to send messages.↗ Example: The cuttlefish changed colour to match the rocks.↗ · A cuttlefish squirts ink when it is scared.↗ · We found a white cuttlebone on the beach.↗ · The budgie pecks at its cuttlebone.↗ · Cuttlefish flash stripes of colour to hypnotise their prey.↗ · Giant cuttlefish gather near Whyalla in South Australia.↗ · A cuttlefish has eight arms and two longer tentacles.↗ · Despite its name, a cuttlefish is not a fish.↗

cv — Everyday, meaning 1: (work) CV stands for curriculum vitae (Latin for "the course of life"): a short written list of your education, jobs and skills that you send when applying for a job.↗ In the USA a similar paper is called a résumé.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: In science, cv can also be a short way of writing other terms, but for pupils CV means the job paper.↗ Example: Mum is updating her CV to look for a new job.↗ · Please send your CV and a short letter.↗ · In careers class we wrote a CV with our hobbies and skills.↗ · Volunteering looks good on a CV.↗ · Dad's CV is two pages long.↗ · In America they ask for a résumé instead of a CV.↗

cyan — Everyday, meaning 1: Cyan is a bright greenish-blue colour, like a clear tropical sea.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (science, printing) Cyan is one of the main colours of printer ink, together with magenta, yellow and black (CMYK).↗ Example: The printer has run out of cyan ink.↗ · Cyan is a mix of blue and green light.↗ · She painted the sky cyan in her picture.↗ · The swimming pool water looked cyan in the sun.↗ · CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black.↗ · On the screen, cyan and red together make white light.↗ · The cyan text was hard to read on the white page.↗

cyanide — Everyday, meaning 1: A very strong poison that can kill quickly.↗ Example: In the detective story, the victim was poisoned with cyanide.↗ · Cyanide is a deadly poison.↗ · Apple seeds contain a tiny bit of cyanide.↗ · Factories must store cyanide safely.↗ · Cyanide is used in gold mining.↗ · The detective noticed a smell of bitter almonds.↗

cyanobacteria — Everyday, meaning 1: Tiny living things, a kind of bacteria, that make their own food from sunlight like plants do.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Sometimes called blue-green algae, they live in water and can turn ponds and lakes green.↗ Example: Cyanobacteria make food from sunlight just like plants.↗ · Billions of years ago, cyanobacteria filled the air with oxygen.↗ · The sign said the lake had cyanobacteria, so no swimming.↗ · Keep your dog out of the green, scummy water.↗ · Under the microscope the cyanobacteria looked like tiny green threads.↗ · Stromatolites are rocky mounds built by cyanobacteria.↗ · A warm summer can make cyanobacteria grow fast in ponds.↗

cycle — Everyday, meaning 1: A cycle is something that happens again and again in the same order, like the seasons or day and night.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To cycle means to ride a bike.↗ A cycle is also a bike.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A cycle is one full round of a machine, like a washing machine cycle.↗ Example: He cycled 12 km in an hour.↗ · A washing cycle takes 40 minutes.↗ · The light cycle is red, green, yellow, then again.↗ · She cycles to school 5 days a week.↗ · The water cycle moves water from the sea to the clouds and back.↗ · We learned about the life cycle of a butterfly.↗ · Ride in the cycle lane, not on the footpath.↗ · The moon goes through a cycle of shapes in about a month.↗

cyclist — Everyday, meaning 1: A cyclist is a person who rides a bicycle.↗ Example: A cyclist rides 15 kilometres in an hour.↗ · The cyclist travels 12 miles each day for 5 days.↗ · There are 30 cyclists in the race.↗ · Two cyclists start from towns 60 km apart and ride toward each other.↗ · Cyclists should always wear a helmet.↗ · The cyclist signalled before turning left.↗ · Drivers must leave space when they pass a cyclist.↗ · The cyclists sped down the hill in the race.↗

cyclone — Everyday, meaning 1: A cyclone is a very strong storm with winds spinning around a calm centre.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: In the Indian Ocean and around Australia, the big tropical storms called hurricanes elsewhere are called cyclones.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: In weather science, a cyclone is any area of low air pressure with winds turning around it.↗ Example: A cyclone hit the coast of Queensland.↗ · The cyclone brought strong winds and heavy rain.↗ · Schools closed because of the cyclone warning.↗ · The eye of a cyclone is calm and clear.↗ · We stayed inside until the cyclone passed.↗ · The cyclone knocked down trees and power lines.↗ · Cyclone season in northern Australia is in the hot months.↗ · Scientists gave the cyclone a name.↗ · You also came through the air, being carried by a cyclone.↗

cyclops — Everyday, meaning 1: (myth) A Cyclops is a giant with only one eye in the middle of its forehead, from ancient Greek myths; the most famous is Polyphemus, who trapped Odysseus (Ulysses) in his cave.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (science) Cyclops: a tiny freshwater animal (a copepod, a kind of crustacean) with one eye spot, found in ponds.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (a name) A character name in comics and films, such as the X-Men hero who shoots beams from his eyes.↗ Example: The Cyclops had one huge eye in the middle of his forehead.↗ · Odysseus tricked the Cyclops by saying his name was «Nobody».↗ · In Greek myths, the Cyclopes made thunderbolts for Zeus.↗ · We saw a tiny cyclops wriggling in the pond water under the microscope.↗ · My little brother dressed up as a Cyclops for Halloween.↗ · The Cyclops rolled a giant stone across the cave door.↗ · The chief representative of the Cyclops was the man-eating monster Polyphemus, described by Homer as having been blinded and outwitted at last by Odysseus.↗

cygnet — Everyday, meaning 1: A cygnet is a young swan.↗ Example: Five grey cygnets swam behind their mother.↗ · The ugly duckling was really a cygnet.↗ · Cygnets sometimes ride on the swan's back.↗ · Don't go near the cygnets — the parents will protect them fiercely.↗ · By winter the cygnets were almost as big as their parents.↗ · We watched the cygnets hatch on the river bank.↗ · Suddenly Coo-my-dove changed into a goshawk and around him flew twenty-four grey herons and above them flew seven cygnets.↗

cylinder — Everyday, meaning 1: A cylinder is a 3D shape with two equal flat circles at the ends and one curved side joining them, like a tin of beans.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A cylinder is a tube-shaped container or machine part, such as a gas cylinder or the cylinder in a car engine.↗ Example: A tin of soup is a cylinder.↗ · A cylinder has two circle faces and one curved face.↗ · How many flat faces does a cylinder have?↗ · Divers carry oxygen cylinders.↗ · Keep the gas cylinder away from fire.↗ · The team is firing on all cylinders today.↗ · For instance, why a piece of iron which is rubbed on a cylinder, should become magnetic.↗

cylindrical — Everyday, meaning 1: Cylindrical means shaped like a cylinder: a long round shape with two flat circles at its ends, like a tin can or a tube.↗ Example: A tin of beans is cylindrical.↗ · The tower was tall and cylindrical.↗ · Roll the paper into a cylindrical shape.↗ · A cylindrical container holds more if it is wider.↗ · Many batteries are cylindrical.↗ · The candle is cylindrical, with a circle on each end.↗

cymbal — Everyday, meaning 1: A cymbal is a round flat metal plate used as a musical instrument, hit with a stick or clashed against another cymbal to make a loud ringing crash.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (music) A hi-hat is a pair of cymbals on a drum kit worked with the foot.↗ Example: The drummer crashed the cymbal at the end of the song.↗ · Clash the cymbals together when I nod.↗ · Cymbals are part of the percussion section.↗ · The noise of the cymbals made the baby jump.↗ · The psalm says, «Praise him with loud cymbals.»↗ · My little brother wants a drum kit with real cymbals.↗ · The Sultan sent musicians with trumpets and cymbals to meet them, so that the air resounded with music and cheers.↗ · Praise Him with the loud-sounding cymbals; praise Him with the clanging cymbals.↗ (Writings PSA.150.5, JPS 1917)↗ · So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed, with cymbals of brass to sound aloud; (Writings 1CH.15.19, JPS 1917)↗ · And David and all Israel played before God with all their might; even with songs, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.↗ (Writings 1CH.13.8, JPS 1917)↗

cypher — Everyday, meaning 1: A person of no importance, a nobody.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A secret code, or the sign for the figure 0.↗ Example: Don't call him a cypher; he is clever.↗ · The cypher message took an hour to read.↗ · We wrote the number zero as a cypher.↗

cypress — Everyday, meaning 1: A tall evergreen tree with dark, pointed leaves, often planted in gardens and graveyards.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (old use) A branch of the tree, a sign of mourning.↗ Example: We planted a cypress in the garden.↗ · Mourners carried cypress branches.↗ · The tall cypress stood by the gate.↗ · The beams of our houses are cedars, and our panels are cypresses.↗ (Writings SNG.1.17, JPS 1917)↗ · So Hiram gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of cypress according to all his desire.↗ (Prophets 1KI.5.24, JPS 1917)↗ · And the greater house he covered with cypress-wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and wrought thereon palm-trees and chains.↗ (Writings 2CH.3.5, JPS 1917)↗

cyril — Everyday, meaning 1: (a name) Cyril is a man's first name.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (a name, church) Saint Cyril was a Christian missionary of the 800s who, with his brother Methodius, brought the Christian faith and writing to Slavic peoples.↗ Example: Cyril is my great-grandad's name.↗ · Saint Cyril and his brother Methodius were missionaries.↗ · The Cyrillic alphabet is named after Saint Cyril.↗ · Uncle Cyril told us stories about the war.↗ · Ukrainian is written in Cyrillic letters.↗ · The book was by an author called Cyril.↗

cyrillic — Everyday, meaning 1: Cyrillic is the alphabet used to write Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Belarusian, Macedonian, Kazakh, Mongolian and other languages.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Cyrillic letters include some that look like English ones (А, О, Т) and others that do not (Ж, Ш, Щ, Ї).↗ Example: Ukrainian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet.↗ · The sign was in Cyrillic, so I could not read it.↗ · The Cyrillic letter Ж sounds like the "s" in "treasure".↗ · Cyrillic was named after Saint Cyril.↗ · In Cyrillic, the letter Р is said like an "r".↗ · We learned to write our names in Cyrillic.↗

cystic — Everyday, meaning 1: (medicine) To do with a cyst, a small sac or bubble in the body filled with fluid.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (medicine) To do with the bladder or gall bladder.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Mostly heard in «cystic fibrosis», an illness people are born with that makes thick, sticky mucus in the lungs and gut.↗ Example: My cousin has cystic fibrosis and does breathing exercises every day.↗ · Cystic fibrosis is not catching; you are born with it.↗ · The doctor said the lump was a cystic swelling, full of fluid.↗ · Children with cystic fibrosis often need extra salt and food.↗ · Charities raise money to research cystic fibrosis.↗

cytokine — Everyday, meaning 1: (science) A cytokine is a tiny protein that cells send out as a message, especially to control the body's immune system when fighting germs.↗ Example: Cytokines tell white blood cells where to go.↗ · When you have flu, cytokines help cause the fever.↗ · Scientists study cytokines to make new medicines.↗ · Cytokines are messages sent from one cell to another.↗ · Some cytokines calm the immune system down.↗ · Too many cytokines at once can make a person very ill.↗

czar — Everyday, meaning 1: The title of a ruler of Russia long ago, also spelled «tsar».↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (informal) A person who has power over a certain area, such as a «rules czar».↗ Example: The Czar lived in a great palace.↗ · The girl drew the Czar's palace.↗ · Long ago, a czar ruled all the lands of Russia.↗

czech — Everyday, meaning 1: Czech means from or of the Czech Republic (Czechia), a country in central Europe.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A Czech is a person from the Czech Republic.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Czech is the language spoken there.↗ Example: Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic.↗ · My friend's mum is Czech.↗ · She is learning to speak Czech.↗ · The Czech team won the ice hockey match.↗ · We tried a Czech dumpling at the market.↗ · Czech is written with letters like č and ř.↗