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Reade, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Reade, Charles, 1814–84, English novelist and dramatist. He is noted for his historical romance The Cloister and the Hearth. After being elected a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, he was called t...

tarweed

(Encyclopedia)tarweed, any of several related resinous herbs (chiefly species of Hemizonia and Madia) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), having strongly scented and sticky herbage. Most North American species...

gasohol

(Encyclopedia)gasohol, a gasoline extender made from a mixture of gasoline (90%) and ethanol (10%; often obtained by fermenting agricultural crops or crop wastes) or gasoline (97%) and methanol, or wood alcohol (3%...

country music

(Encyclopedia)country music, American popular music form originating in the Southern and Western United States. Country music is directly descended from the folk songs, ballads, and popular songs of the English, Sc...

ethylene

(Encyclopedia)ethylene ĕthˈēn [key], H2C=CH2, a gaseous unsaturated hydrocarbon. It is the simplest alkene. Ethylene is colorless, has a faint odor, and has a slightly sweet taste; it melts at −169.4℃ and bo...

Dust Bowl

(Encyclopedia)Dust Bowl, the name given to areas of the U.S. prairie states that suffered ecological devastation in the 1930s and then to a lesser extent in the mid-1950s. The problem began during World War I, when...

tetanus

(Encyclopedia)tetanus tĕtˈnəs, –ənəs [key] or lockjaw, acute infectious disease of the central nervous system caused by the toxins of Clostridium tetani. The organism has a widespread distribution and is com...

Portage

(Encyclopedia)Portage [1,] [2] pôrˈtəj; [3] pôrˈtĭj [key]. 1 Town (1990 pop. 29,060), Porter co., NW Ind., a suburb of Gary, on Lake Michigan; inc. 1959. The town, which was once surrounded by great industrie...

safety lamp

(Encyclopedia)safety lamp, oil lamp designed for safe use in mines and other places where flammable gases such as firedamp (see damp) may be present. Its invention (c.1816) is usually attributed to Sir Humphry Davy...

cinéma vérité

(Encyclopedia)cinéma vérité, a style of filmmaking that attempts to convey candid realism. Often employing lightweight, hand-held cameras and sound equipment, it shows people in everyday situations and uses auth...