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echo, in acoustics

(Encyclopedia)echo, reflection of a sound wave back to its source in sufficient strength and with a sufficient time lag to be separately distinguished. If a sound wave returns within 1⁄10 sec, the human ear is in...

vertigo

(Encyclopedia)vertigo vûrˈtĭgō [key], sensations of moving in space or of objects moving about a person and the resultant difficulty in maintaining equilibrium. True vertigo, as distinguished from faintness, li...

lip reading

(Encyclopedia)lip reading, method by which the deaf are able to read the speech of others from the movements of the lips and mouth. It is sometimes referred to as speech reading, which technically also includes the...

civil commitment

(Encyclopedia)civil commitment or involuntary commitment, process by which a court determines whether or not to order an individual to receive treatment or care or be confined. A person may be committed after a hea...

salivary glands

(Encyclopedia)salivary glands sălˈəvârˌē [key], in humans, three pairs of glands that secrete the alkaline digestive fluid, saliva, into the mouth. Most animals have salivary glands that resemble those in hum...

mayhem

(Encyclopedia)mayhem māˈhĕm, māˈəm [key], in common law, the crime of willfully injuring a person so as to diminish his or her capacity for self-defense. Cutting off an arm or leg would thus be mayhem, while ...

earring

(Encyclopedia)earring, a personal adornment, sometimes an amulet, worn attached to the ear lobe. Since prehistoric times the ear has been pierced for the insertion of the earring; certain primitive tribes distort t...

abalone

(Encyclopedia)abalone ăbəlōˈnē [key], popular name in the United States for a univalve gastropod mollusk of the genus Haliotis, members of which are also called ear shells, or sea ears, as their shape resemble...

Malchus

(Encyclopedia)Malchus mălˈkəs [key], in the New Testament, servant of the high priest; Jesus healed him after Peter cut off his ear. ...

Spica

(Encyclopedia)Spica spīˈkə [key], brightest star in the constellation Virgo; Bayer designation Alpha Virginis; 1992 position R.A. 13h24.8m, Dec. −11°07′. A bluish-white star of spectral class B1 V, its appa...