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mumps

(Encyclopedia)mumps (epidemic parotitis), acute contagious viral disease, manifesting itself chiefly in pain and swelling of the salivary glands, especially those at the angle of the jaw. Other symptoms are fever, ...

narcosis

(Encyclopedia)narcosis närkōˈsĭs [key], state of stupor induced by drugs. The use of narcotics as a therapeutic aid in psychiatry is believed to have a history dating back to the use of opium for mental disorde...

laminitis

(Encyclopedia)laminitis lămˌənīˈtĭs [key], also called founder, inflammation of the lamina, the innermost layer of the hoof wall in horses, ponies, and donkeys. Although the condition usually affects only the...

laryngitis

(Encyclopedia)laryngitis, inflammation of the mucous membrane of the voice box, or larynx, usually accompanied by hoarseness, sore throat, and coughing. Acute laryngitis is often a secondary bacterial infection tri...

Lassa fever

(Encyclopedia)Lassa fever lăsˈə [key], an acute viral disease occurring mostly in W Africa, characterized by high fever, muscle aches, mouth ulcers, and bleeding in the skin in more severe cases. The disease was...

lead poisoning

(Encyclopedia)lead poisoning or plumbism plŭmˈbĭzˌəm [key], intoxication of the system by organic compounds containing lead. These enter the body by respiration (of dust, fumes, or sprays) or by ingestion of f...

MacInnes, Colin

(Encyclopedia)MacInnes, Colin məkĭnˈəs [key], 1914–76, English novelist, b. London. Son of the novelist Angela Thirkell, MacInnes was educated in Australia and served in the British intelligence corps during ...

macular degeneration

(Encyclopedia)macular degeneration, eye disorder causing loss of central vision. The affected area, the macula, lies at the back of the retina and is the part that produces the sharpest vision. The most serious vis...

malaria

(Encyclopedia)malaria, infectious parasitic disease that can be either acute or chronic and is frequently recurrent. Malaria is common in Africa, Central and South America, the Mediterranean countries, Asia, and ma...

accent

(Encyclopedia)accent, in speech, emphasis given a particular sound, called prosodic systems in linguistics. There are three basic accentual methods: stress, tone, and length. In English each word has at least one p...