(Encyclopedia) Diggers, members of a small English religio-economic movement (fl. 1649–50), so called because they attempted to dig (i.e., cultivate) the wastelands. They were an offshoot of the more…
(Encyclopedia) eye fly, common name for a group of small flies of the family Chloropidae. Eye flies are common in parts of California and in the S United States. They inhabit grasslands and meadows…
(Encyclopedia) feather star, common name of a class of echinoderms that, as juveniles, are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk with rootlike branches; the mouth side faces upward. In the adult…
(Encyclopedia) herpes zoster, infection of a ganglion (nerve center) with severe pain and a blisterlike eruption in the area of the nerve distribution, a condition called shingles. The causative…
(Encyclopedia) greenling, common name for any of several species of carnivorous, spiny-finned fishes of the family Hexagrammidae, common in the Pacific Ocean, especially in the waters N of Monterey,…
(Encyclopedia) gensgensjĕnz [key], ancient Roman kinship group. It was the counterpart of what is known in other societies as a patrilineal clan or sib, and the word has been used in social science…
(Encyclopedia) nightingale, common name for a migratory Old World bird of the family Turdidae (thrush family), celebrated for its vocal powers. The common nightingale of England and Western Europe,…
(Encyclopedia) life preserver, a personal flotation device (PFD) intended to keep the wearer afloat, particularly in case of shipwreck. A Type I PFD will keep even unconscious people afloat in a face…
(Encyclopedia) cataract, in medicine, opacity of the lens of the eye, which impairs vision. In the young, cataracts are generally congenital or hereditary; later they are usually the result of…
