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Moerner, W. E.

(Encyclopedia)Moerner, W. E. (William Esco Moerner), 1953–, American physical chemist, b. Pleasanton, Calif., Ph.D. Cornell, 1982. Moerner worked at the IBM Almaden Research Center from 1981 to 1995 and at the Un...

molly

(Encyclopedia)molly or mollie, New World fish of the genus Poecilia, which includes the guppy or rainbow fish, Poecilia reticulata. Mollies, which are related to the killifishes, are found from the E and central Un...

Lear, Norman

(Encyclopedia)Lear, Norman, 1922–2023, American television and film producer, director, and writer, b. New Haven, Conn. He wrote for comedians and television shows ...

Ascension, island

(Encyclopedia)Ascension əsĕnˈchən [key], island, 34 sq mi (88 sq km), in the S Atlantic, NW of Saint Helena and belonging to the British St. Helena overseas territory. Georgetown i...

roulette

(Encyclopedia)roulette ro͞olĕtˈ [key], game of chance popular in gambling casinos, and in a simplified form elsewhere. In gambling houses the roulette wheel is set in an oblong table. Its outer area is marked of...

shrub

(Encyclopedia)shrub, any woody, perennial, bushy plant that branches into several stems or trunks at the base and is smaller than a tree. Shrubs are an important feature of permanent landscape planting, being used ...

Crawford, William Harris

(Encyclopedia)Crawford, William Harris, 1772–1834, American statesman, b. Amherst co., Va. (his birthplace is now in Nelson co.). He moved with his parents to South Carolina and later to Georgia. After studying l...

crayfish

(Encyclopedia)crayfish or crawfish, freshwater crustacean smaller than but structurally very similar to its marine relative the lobster, and found in ponds and streams in most parts of the world except Africa. Cray...

crossbill

(Encyclopedia)crossbill, bird of the genus Loxia, in the finch family. Its bill, crossed at the tips, is specialized for pulling apart pine cones and picking out the seeds. Crossbills are found in the evergreen for...

citron

(Encyclopedia)citron sĭtˈrən [key], name for a tree (Citrus medica) of the family Rutaceae (orange family), and for its fruit, the earliest of the citrus fruits to be introduced to Europe from Asia. The small ev...