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canker

(Encyclopedia)canker, small sore on the inside of the mouth. A canker appears as a shallow, whitish ulcer surrounded by a thin, red area. It is tender, sometimes painful, and may occur singly or as one of a group o...

carboloy

(Encyclopedia)carboloy kärˈbəloi [key] [portmanteau word from carbon and alloy], an alloy containing cobalt, tungsten, and carbon. This alloy is extremely hard, harder than steel; it is used to cut steel, porcel...

Beltsville swine

(Encyclopedia)Beltsville swine, two breeds of swine developed at the agricultural research center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Md. The breeds are designated Beltsville No. 1 and Beltsville N...

Lin Biao

(Encyclopedia)Lin Biao or Lin Piao both: lĭn byou [key], 1908–71, Chinese Communist general and political leader. Lin was trained at Whampoa Academy, and during the Northern Expedition he rose to company command...

Kun, Béla

(Encyclopedia)Kun, Béla bāˈlŏ ko͞on [key], 1886–1937, Hungarian Communist. A prisoner of war in Russia after 1915, he embraced Bolshevism. After the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917 he was sent to ...

tody

(Encyclopedia)tody tōˈdē [key], common name for small (3–4 in./9–10 cm) West Indian birds of the family Todidae, comprising the single genus Todus. Bright green above with red throats, they are forest birds ...

coral snake

(Encyclopedia)coral snake, name for poisonous New World snakes of the same family as the Old World cobras. About 30 species inhabit Mexico, Central America, and N South America; two are found in the United States. ...

Exodus

(Encyclopedia)Exodus ĕkˈsədəs [key], book of the Bible, 2d of the 5 books of the Law (the Pentateuch or Torah) ascribed by tradition to Moses. The book continues the story of the ancestors of Israel in Egypt, n...

beet

(Encyclopedia)beet, biennial or annual root vegetable of the family Chenopodiaceae (goosefoot family). The beet (Beta vulgaris) has been cultivated since pre-Christian times. Among its numerous varieties are the re...

pomegranate

(Encyclopedia)pomegranate pŏmˈgrănĭt, pŏmˈə– [key], handsome deciduous and somewhat thorny large shrub or small tree (Punica granatum) belonging to the family Punicaceae, native to semitropical Asia and na...