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raccoon

(Encyclopedia)raccoon, nocturnal New World mammal of the genus Procyon. The common raccoon of North America, Procyon lotor, also called coon, is found from S Canada to South America, except in parts of the Rocky Mt...

sponge

(Encyclopedia)sponge, common name for members of the aquatic animal phylum Porifera, and for the dried, processed skeletons of certain species used to hold water. Over 4,500 living species are known; they are found...

performance art

(Encyclopedia)performance art, multimedia art form originating in the 1970s in which performance is the dominant mode of expression. Perfomance art may incorporate such elements as instrumental or electronic music,...

cesium

(Encyclopedia)cesium sēˈzēəm [key] [Lat.,=bluish gray], a metallic chemical element; symbol Cs; at. no. 55; at. wt. 132.90545; m.p. 28.4℃; b.p. 669.3℃; sp. gr. 1.873 at 20℃; valence +1. Cesium is a ductil...

iguana

(Encyclopedia)iguana ĭgwäˈnə [key], name for several large lizards of the family Iguanidae, found in tropical America and the Galapagos. The common iguana (Iguana iguana) is a tree-living, strictly vegetarian s...

tent caterpillar

(Encyclopedia)tent caterpillar, common name for the larvae of the members of a family of moths (Lasiocampidae), easily recognized by the large silk tents, or webs, that the larvae construct during the spring in the...

Coward, Noël

(Encyclopedia)Coward, Noël (Sir Noël Pierce Coward) nōˈəl [key], 1899–1973, English playwright, actor, composer, and director, b. Teddington, England. Coward first gained wide prominence in 1924 acting in hi...

coke

(Encyclopedia)coke, substance obtained by the destructive distillation of bituminous coal. Coke bears the same relation to coal as does charcoal to wood. A hard, gray, massive, porous fuel, coke is the solid residu...

tungsten

(Encyclopedia)tungsten tŭngˈstən [key] [Swed.,=heavy stone], metallic chemical element; symbol W; at. no. 74; at. wt. 183.84; m.p. about 3,410℃; b.p. 5,660℃; sp. gr. 19.3 at 20℃; valence +2, +3, +4, +5, or...

Grisons

(Encyclopedia)Grisons grēsŏnzˈ, Fr. grēzôNˈ [key], Ger. Graubünden, Ital. Grigioni, Romansch Gri...