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spinal cord

(Encyclopedia)spinal cord, the part of the nervous system occupying the hollow interior (vertebral canal) of the series of vertebrae that form the spinal column, technically known as the vertebral column. Extending...

Kolomna

(Encyclopedia)Kolomna kəlômˈnə [key], city (1990 pop. 163,000), central European Russia, at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka rivers. Locomotives and synthetic rubber are produced. Known in 1177, the city be...

Sarnia

(Encyclopedia)Sarnia, city (1991 pop. 74,376), S Ont., Canada, on the St. Clair River, at the south end of Lake Huron and opposite Port Huron, Mich. The two cities are connected by a railroad tunnel, and there is a...

Webster

(Encyclopedia)Webster, town (1990 pop. 16,196), Worcester co., S Mass., near the Conn. line; settled c.1713, set off from Dudley and Oxford and inc. 1832. The chief manufactures are clothing, lenses, fabrics, and t...

crepe

(Encyclopedia)crepe krāp [key], thin fabric of crinkled texture, woven originally in silk but now available in all major fibers. There are two kinds of crepe. The hard-finished, typically dyed black and used for m...

ligament

(Encyclopedia)ligament lĭgˈəmənt [key], strong band of white fibrous connective tissue that joins bones to other bones or to cartilage in the joint areas. The bundles of collagenous fibers that form ligaments t...

coal tar

(Encyclopedia)coal tar, product of the destructive distillation of bituminous coal. Coal tar can be distilled into many fractions to yield a number of useful organic products, including benzene, toluene, xylene, na...

Slater, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Slater, Samuel, 1768–1835, American pioneer in the cotton textile industry, b. Derbyshire, England. As an apprentice and later a mill supervisor, he gained a thorough knowledge of all the cotton-man...

chiffon

(Encyclopedia)chiffon shĭfŏnˈ [key], plain-weave, lightweight, sheer, transparent fabric made of cotton, silk, or synthetic fiber; it is made of fine, highly twisted, strong yarn. Chiffon is difficult to handle,...

Odessa, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Odessa ōdĕsˈə [key], city (1990 pop. 89,699), seat of Ector co., W Tex.; founded 1881, inc. 1927. Great oil deposits just to the south changed Odessa from a small ranch town into a large and growi...