| common carrier |
a person or company that transports cargo or passengers at standard fees. |
| common cold |
a common sickness that causes sneezing, sore throat, coughing, and a stuffy nose; cold. |
| common courtesy |
something generally done or said in a given situation in order to be considerate or polite. |
| common denominator |
a number into which the denominators of two or more fractions can all be evenly divided. |
| common fraction |
a fraction represented by a numerator, above a horizontal or diagonal line, and a denominator below. (Cf. decimal fraction.) |
| common law |
law based on custom or usage and on court decisions and opinions, rather than on statute. (Cf. statute law.) |
| common noun |
a noun that indicates a class of things or a general member of a class of things, people, or places. Common nouns usually have articles. (Compare with "proper noun.") |
| common sense |
ordinary good judgment in everyday matters. Common sense is learned through experience and not through education. |
| common stock |
ordinary capital shares of a corporation that often provide dividends and confer voting privileges, but that place their owners' claims, in the event the corporation liquidates, below those of holders of preferred stocks or bonds. |
| common time |
a musical meter of four beats, usu. quarter notes, to the measure; four-four time. |
| common-law marriage |
a marriage not contracted through a religious or civil ceremony but recognized as legal after the partners have lived together for a legally specified period of time. |
| court of common pleas |
in some U.S. states, a court having general jurisdiction over civil suits. |
| in common |
owned or used together; shared. |
| least common denominator |
the smallest number that two or more fractions share as a common denominator; lowest common denominator. |
| least common multiple |
the smallest number into which each of two or more whole numbers is exactly divisible. |