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kettle

(Encyclopedia)kettle, oval depression found in glacial moraines, which are landforms made up of rock debris. When a glacier melts and draws away from an area, a block of ice may break off and be covered by earth an...

sun dance

(Encyclopedia)sun dance, ceremony typical of the Plains Indians of North America. The ceremony was performed in the summer and lasted from two to eight days. Some of the ceremony was secret. Smoking, fasting, and o...

Bow, river, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Bow bō [key], river, 315 mi (507 km) long, rising in the Rocky Mts., S Alta., Canada, and flowing SE through Banff National Park. It emerges from the mountains in the Bow River Pass and continues pas...

Colorado, state, United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Colorado kŏlərădˈə, –rădˈō, –räˈdō [key], state, W central United States, one of the Rocky Mt. states. It is bordered by Wyoming (N), Nebraska (N, E), Kansas (E), Oklahoma and Ne...

log cabin

(Encyclopedia)log cabin or log house, style of home typical of the American pioneer on the Western frontier of the United States in the great westward expansion after 1765. It was constructed with few tools, usuall...

Namib-Naukluft National Park

(Encyclopedia)Namib-Naukluft National Park, 19,216 sq mi (49,768 sq km), W Namibia, encompassing parts of the Namib Desert and the Naukluft mountain range. It was established in 1979 when the Namib Desert Park (beg...

Mamoré

(Encyclopedia)Mamoré məmo͝orĕˈ [key], river, c.600 mi (965 km) long, formed by tributaries rising in the Andes and plains of central Bolivia. It flows north, past Trinidad, to the Brazilian border. After formi...

Estremadura, region, Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Estremadura əshtrəmədo͞oˈrə [key], region, W Portugal, formerly a province, now divided between the provinces of Estremadura and Ribatejo, with a small part in Beira Litoral. Estremadura provinc...

locust, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)locust, in zoology, name for certain migratory members of the short-horned grasshopper family (Acrididae). Like other members of this family, locusts have antennae shorter than their bodies, song-prod...

saddle

(Encyclopedia)saddle, seat or pad to support the rider on an animal, chiefly a horse. The saddles mentioned in the Bible are generally considered to have been saddlecloths. The ancient Greeks sometimes used saddlec...

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