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Swift, Jonathan

(Encyclopedia)Swift, Jonathan, 1667–1745, English author, b. Dublin. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest satirists in the English language. Early Life and Works Since his father, an Englishman who had ...

swift

(Encyclopedia)swift, common name for small, swallowlike birds related to the hummingbird and found all over the world, chiefly in the tropics. They range in size from 6 to 12 in. (15–30 cm) in length. Swifts have...

Jonathan

(Encyclopedia)Jonathan jn´thn [key] [short for Jehonathan, Heb.,=Yahweh has given]. 1 In the Bible, Saul's son and David's friend, killed at the battle of Mt. Gilboa. David showed kindness to his son Mephibo...

Swift Current

(Encyclopedia)Swift Current, city (1991 pop. 14,815), SW Sask., Canada, on Swift Current Creek. It is a distribution and processing center for a farm and oil region. Other industries are helium extraction, lumberin...

crested swift

(Encyclopedia)crested swift: see swift.

Bickerstaff, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Bickerstaff, Isaac, pseudonym used by Jonathan Swift and later by Richard Steele in the Tatler.

Bond Street

(Encyclopedia)Bond Street, in Westminster, London, England, famous for its fashionable shops. Among the noted residents of Bond St. have been the authors Laurence Sterne, James Boswell, and Jonathan Swift; Admiral ...

Wild, Jonathan

(Encyclopedia)Wild, Jonathan, 1683–1725, English criminal. He maintained a highly organized gang of thieves in London and long escaped punishment by posing as an instrument of justice and helping the authorities ...

Carver, Jonathan

(Encyclopedia)Carver, Jonathan, 1710–80, American explorer, b. Weymouth, Mass. He served in the French and Indian War and in 1766 was hired by Robert Rogers to undertake a journey to some of the Western tribes. H...

Franzen, Jonathan

(Encyclopedia)Franzen, Jonathan, 1959–, American novelist, b. Western Springs, Ill., B.A. Swarthmore College, 1981. His first two novels, The Twenty-Seventh City (1988) and Strong Motion (1992), were well receive...