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Orbiting Astronomical Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO), series of four orbiting observatories (see observatory, orbiting) launched between 1966 and 1972 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to...

hand

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Bones of right wrist and hand, dorsal view hand, terminal part of the forelimb in primates. The human hand consists of the wrist, palm, four fingers, and thumb. In humans and other primates, t...

Beatitudes

(Encyclopedia)Beatitudes bē-ătˈĭto͞odzˌ [key] [Lat.,=blessing], in the Gospel of St. Matthew, eight blessings uttered by Jesus at the opening of the Sermon on the Mount. Some, counting verses differently, say...

quadrant, in analytic geometry

(Encyclopedia)quadrant. 1 In analytic geometry, one of the four regions of the plane determined by two lines, the x-axis and the y-axis. Commonly these lines are drawn perpendicular to each other, and the quadrants...

biathlon

(Encyclopedia)biathlon bīăthˈlŏn [key], sport in which cross-country skiers race across hilly terrain, occasionally stopping to shoot, prone or standing as required, with rifles at sets of fixed targets. The bi...

air, law of the

(Encyclopedia)air, law of the, in the broadest sense, all law connected with the use of the air, including radio and satellite transmissions; more commonly, it refers to laws concerning civil aviation. The developm...

Eiffel Tower

(Encyclopedia)Eiffel Tower, structure designed by A. G. Eiffel and erected in the Champ-de-Mars for the Paris exposition of 1889. The tower is 984 ft (300 m) high and consists of an iron framework supported on four...

euchre

(Encyclopedia)euchre yo͞oˈkər [key], card game, played usually by four persons (two sets of partners). The game originated among the Amish and was a popular card game in America in the late 19th cent. The pack h...

handball, court

(Encyclopedia)handball, court, indoor or outdoor game played by striking a ball against a wall or walls with the palm of the hand. Play may be for singles or doubles (four players) on a court with one, three, or fo...

ballade

(Encyclopedia)ballade bəlädˈ [key], in literature, verse form developed in France in the 14th and 15th cent. The ballade usually contains three stanzas of eight lines with three rhymes and a four-line envoy (a s...