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knitting

(Encyclopedia)knitting, construction of a fabric made of interlocking loops of yarn by means of needles. Knitting, allied in origin to weaving and to the netting and knotting of fishnets and snares, was apparently ...

facsimile

(Encyclopedia)facsimile făksĭmˈəlē [key] or fax, in communications, system for transmitting pictures or other graphic matter by wire or radio. Facsimile is used to transmit such materials as documents, telegra...

lathe

(Encyclopedia)lathe lāᵺ [key], machine tool for holding and turning metal, wood, plastic, or other material against a cutting tool to form a cylindrical product or part. It also drills, bores, polishes, grinds, ...

McCormick, Cyrus Hall

(Encyclopedia)McCormick, Cyrus Hall, 1809–84, inventor of the reaper, b. Rockbridge co., Va. His father, Robert McCormick (1780–1846), had worked intermittently for over 20 years at his blacksmith shop on a rea...

Orsha

(Encyclopedia)Orsha ôrˈshə [key], city (1989 pop. 123,128), NE Belarus, a port at the confluence of the Dnieper and Orshitsa rivers. One of Belarus's leading rail and water transport junctions and industrial cen...

installment buying and selling

(Encyclopedia)installment buying and selling, buying and selling of goods on credit, with the stipulation that payments shall be made at specified intervals in set amounts. The goods may be used by the buyer before...

bossism

(Encyclopedia)bossism, in U.S. history, system of political control centering about a single powerful figure (the boss) and a complex organization of lesser figures (the machine) bound together by reciprocity in pr...

programming language

(Encyclopedia)programming language, syntax, grammar, and symbols or words used to give instructions to a computer. Once the program is written and has had any errors repaired (a process called debugging), it may ...

Langley, Samuel Pierpont

(Encyclopedia)Langley, Samuel Pierpont, 1834–1906, American scientist, b. Roxbury, Mass., received only a high school education but continued his studies in science in Boston libraries. He became, in 1866, profes...

fluoroscope

(Encyclopedia)fluoroscope flo͝orˈəskōp [key], instrument consisting of an X-ray machine (see X ray) and a fluorescent screen that may be used by physicians to view the internal organs of the body. During medica...