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Jehu

(Encyclopedia)Jehu jēˈhyo͞o [key]. 1 King of Israel. He was anointed king by Elisha, who led the revolt against the house of Ahab. Jehu murdered King Jehoram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah and the rest of t...

Onitsha

(Encyclopedia)Onitsha ōnĭchˈə [key], city (1991 est. pop. 328,000), SE Nigeria, a port on the Niger River. The city's manufactures include textiles, beverages, shoes, lumber, and printed materials. Fishing and ...

Onychophora

(Encyclopedia)Onychophora ŏnˌəkŏfˈərə [key], small phylum with about 70 species of animals that are often called “missing links” between annelids (phylum Annelida) and arthropods (phylum Arthropoda). The...

prairie schooner

(Encyclopedia)prairie schooner, wagon covered with white canvas, made famous by its almost universal use in the migration across the Western prairies and plains, and so called in allusion to the white-topped schoon...

Willibrord, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Willibrord, Saint wĭˈlĭbrôrd [key], 658–739, English Benedictine missionary, called the Apostle to the Frisians. He was brought up at Ripon by St. Wilfrid and studied further (678–90) in Irela...

blockhouse

(Encyclopedia)blockhouse, small fortification, usually temporary, serving as a post for a small garrison. Blockhouses seem to have come into use in the 15th cent. to prevent access to a strategically important obje...

Schmalkaldic League

(Encyclopedia)Schmalkaldic League shmälkälˈdĭk [key], alliance formed in 1531 at Schmalkalden by Protestant princes and delegates of free cities. It was created in response to the threat (1530) by Holy Roman Em...

sarin

(Encyclopedia)sarin zärēnˈ [key], volatile liquid used as a nerve gas. It boils at 147℃ but evaporates quickly at room temperature; its vapor is colorless and odorless. Chemically, sarin is fluoroisopropoxymet...

Sarsi

(Encyclopedia)Sarsi särˈsē [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Athabascan branch of the Nadene linguistic stock (see also Native American languages). They are also known as the Sarcee. At...

Securities and Exchange Commission

(Encyclopedia)Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), agency of the U.S. government created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and charged with protecting the interests of the public and investors in connecti...