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escarpment

(Encyclopedia)escarpment or scarp, long cliff, bluff, or steep slope, caused usually by geologic faulting (see fault) or by erosion of tilted rock layers. An example of a fault scarp is the north face of the San Ja...

grave

(Encyclopedia)grave, space excavated in the earth or rock for the burial of a corpse. When a grave is marked by a protective or memorial structure it is often referred to as a tomb. See burial; funeral customs. ...

pun

(Encyclopedia)pun, use of words, usually humorous, based on (a) the several meanings of one word, (b) a similarity of meaning between words that are pronounced the same, or (c) the difference in meanings between tw...

Sisyphus

(Encyclopedia)Sisyphus sĭsˈĭfəs [key], in Greek mythology, son of Aeolus and founder and king of Corinth. Renowned for his cunning, he was said to have outwitted even Death. For his disrespect to Zeus, he was c...

Solutré-Pouilly

(Encyclopedia)Solutré-Pouilly sôlütrāˈ-po͞oyēˈ [key], village (1993 est. pop. 350), Saône-et-Loire dept., E central France, in Burgundy. It is known for its white wines. It is the site of a rock shelter an...

Burlington, town, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Burlington, town, SE Ont., Canada, on Lake Ontario. First settled (1798) by Mohawk Loyalist Joseph Brandt, Burlington's economy was built on the shipmen...

Wenatchee

(Encyclopedia)Wenatchee wĭnăchˈē [key], city (1990 pop. 21,756), seat of Chelan co., central Wash., on the Columbia River in the foothills of the Cascade Range; inc. 1892. It is a resort and a commercial center...

Whetstone, George

(Encyclopedia)Whetstone, George, 1551?–1587, English dramatist and poet. His chief work, the play Promos and Cassandra (1578), is important in the development of English domestic drama and was a source for Shakes...

artesian well

(Encyclopedia)artesian well, deep drilled well through which water is forced upward under pressure. The water in an artesian well flows from an aquifer, which is a layer of very porous rock or sediment, usually san...

Clapton, Eric Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Clapton, Eric Patrick, 1945–, British guitarist, singer, and songwriter, b. Ripley, Surrey, England. A seminal figure in rock music, he is noted especially for his virtuoso guitar playing, whose sty...