a person killed or injured in an accident or a war • There were many casualties after the motorway crash.
cat cats
NOUN a small, furry mammal with whiskers, a tail and sharp claws, often kept as a pet
catalogue catalogues
NOUN a list of things, such as the goods you can buy from a company, the objects in a museum, or the books in a library • I ordered my trainers from a mail order catalogue.
catastrophe catastrophes
NOUN a terrible disaster
catastrophic ADJECTIVE
catch catches, catching, caught
VERB 1 If you catch an object that is moving through the air, you grasp it with your hands.
2 If you catch a person or animal, you capture them. • The police caught the thief.
3 If you catch a bus, train or plane, you get on it and travel somewhere.
4 If you catch a cold or a disease, you become ill with it.
NOUN 5 a hook that fastens or locks a door or window
catching
ADJECTIVE If a disease or illness is catching it spreads very quickly. • Measles is catching.
catchy catchier, catchiest
ADJECTIVE Something that is catchy, such as a tune, is pleasant and easy to remember.
category categories
NOUN a group of things that have something in common
caterpillar caterpillars
NOUN the larva of a butterfly or moth. Caterpillars look like small, coloured worms and feed on plants.
cathedral cathedrals
NOUN an important church with a bishop in charge of it • Canterbury Cathedral
Catholic Catholics
ADJECTIVE OR NOUN a Roman Catholic, or belonging to that religion
cattle
PLURAL NOUN cows and bulls kept by farmers
caught
VERB the past tense of catch
cauldron cauldrons
NOUN a large, round metal cooking pot, especially one that sits over a fire
[from Latin caldarium meaning hot bath]
cauliflower cauliflowers
NOUN a large, round, white vegetable surrounded by green leaves
cause causes, causing, caused
VERB 1 To cause something means to make it happen.
NOUN 2 The cause of something is the thing that makes it happen. • The cause of the explosion was a gas leak.
cautious
ADJECTIVE Someone who is cautious acts carefully in order to avoid danger or disappointment.
cavalry
NOUN The cavalry is the part of an army that fights on horseback or in armoured vehicles such as tanks.
cave caves, caving, caved
NOUN a large hole in the side of a cliff or under the ground
cave in
VERB If a roof caves in, it collapses inwards.
caveman or cavewoman cavemen or cavewomen
NOUN Cavemen and cavewomen were people who lived in caves in prehistoric times.
cavity cavities
NOUN a small hole in something solid • There were cavities in his back teeth.
CD
NOUN an abbreviation for compact disc
CD-ROM
NOUN a way of storing video, sound or text on a compact disc that can be played on a computer. CD-ROM is an abbreviation for compact disc read-only memory.
cease ceases, ceasing, ceased
VERB 1 If something ceases, it stops.
2 If you cease doing something, you stop doing it.
ceiling ceilings
NOUN the roof inside a room
celebrate celebrates, celebrating, celebrated
VERB If you celebrate something, you do something special and enjoyable because of it. • We felt like celebrating the end of exams.
celebration NOUN
celebrity celebrities
NOUN a famous person
celery
NOUN a vegetable with long, pale green stalks
cell cells
NOUN 1 In biology, a cell is the smallest part of an animal or plant that can exist by itself. Humans, animals and plants are made up of millions of cells.
2 a small room in a prison or police station where a prisoner is locked up
cellar cellars
NOUN a room underneath a building
cello cellos
Said “chel-oh” NOUN a large, stringed musical instrument that you play sitting down
cellist NOUN
Celsius
NOUN a scale for measuring temperature in which water freezes at 0 degrees (0 °C) and boils at 100 degrees (100 °C)
[named after Anders Celsius (1701–1744) who invented it]
cement
NOUN a grey powder that is mixed with sand and water to make concrete
cemetery cemeteries
NOUN an area of land where dead people are buried
census censuses
NOUN an official survey of the population of a country
cent cents
NOUN In some countries a cent is a unit of currency.
centenary centenaries
NOUN the hundredth anniversary of something
centigrade
NOUN another word for Celsius
centimetre centimetres
NOUN a unit of length (cm). One centimetre is equal to ten millimetres (mm).
centipede centipedes
NOUN a long, thin creature with many pairs of legs
[from Latin centum + pedes meaning a hundred feet]
central
ADJECTIVE 1 Something central is in the middle.
2 An idea that is central is the main idea.
central heating
NOUN a heating system in which water or air is heated and passed round a building through pipes and radiators
centre centres
NOUN 1 the middle of an object or area
2 a building where people go for activities, meetings, or help • We played badminton at the sports centre.
century centuries
NOUN a period of one hundred years
ceramic