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brazilwood

(Encyclopedia)brazilwood, common name for several trees of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) whose wood yields a red dye. The dye has largely been replaced by synthetic dyes for fabrics, but it is still used in...

blue jay

(Encyclopedia)blue jay, common name for a familiar bird (Cyanocitta cristata) of central and E North America, allied to the crow, the raven, and the magpie, belonging to the family Corvidae. Almost a foot (30 cm) l...

baud

(Encyclopedia)baud bôd, bōd [key], measure of the rate at which signals are transmitted over a telecommunications link. It is equivalent to the number of elements or pulses transmitted in one second, e.g., in com...

Seram

(Encyclopedia)Seram, formerly Ceram both: sāˈräm [key], island, c.6,600 sq mi (17,100 sq km), E Indonesia, W of New Guinea, second largest of the Moluccas; also called Seran or Serang. Its chief port and town is...

Shepard, Alan Bartlett, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Shepard, Alan Bartlett, Jr., 1923–98, American astronaut, b. East Derry, N.H., grad. Annapolis, 1944. He served on a destroyer during World War II and later had extensive experience as a test pilot....

Pretorius, Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus

(Encyclopedia)Pretorius, Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus prĭtôrˈēəs, Du. änˈdrēs vĭlhĕlˈməs yäkōˈbəs prātôrˈēəs [key], 1799–1853, Boer (Afrikaner) leader. He was elected (1838) commandant general o...

Price, Leontyne

(Encyclopedia)Price, Leontyne lāˈəntēn [key], 1927–, American soprano, b. Laurel, Miss., as Mary Violet Leontine Price. She studied voice at Juilliard with Florence Page Kimball. Subsequently she appeared as ...

sable

(Encyclopedia)sable, species of marten, Martes zibellina, found in Siberia, N European Russia, and N Finland. This carnivorous mammal is highly valued for its thick, soft fur, which is dark brown or black, sometime...

barbed wire

(Encyclopedia)barbed wire, wire composed of two zinc-coated steel strands twisted together and having barbs spaced regularly along them. The need for barbed wire arose in the 19th cent. as the American frontier mov...

Cévennes

(Encyclopedia)Cévennes sāvĕnˈ [key], mountain range, S France, bordering the Massif Central on the southeast. The Cévennes proper occupy the central section of a mountainous arc (average height 3,000 ft/910 m)...