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Naipaul, V. S.

(Encyclopedia)Naipaul, V. S. (Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul) nīpôlˈ [key], 1932–2018, English writer, b. Chaguanas, Trinidad; grad. University College, Oxford, 1953. Naipul, whose family descended from Ind...

lemming

(Encyclopedia)lemming, name for several species of mouselike rodents related to the voles. All live in arctic or northern regions, inhabiting tundra or open meadows. They frequently nest in underground burrows, par...

Carleton, Guy, 1st Baron Dorchester

(Encyclopedia)Carleton, Guy, 1st Baron Dorchester, 1724–1808, governor of Quebec and British commander during the American Revolution. He began his service in America in 1758 and distinguished himself in the Fren...

parrot

(Encyclopedia)parrot, common name for members of the order Psittaciformes, comprising nearly 400 species of colorful birds, pantropical in distribution, including the parakeets. Parrots have large heads and short n...

lungfish

(Encyclopedia)lungfish, common name for any of a group of fish belonging to the families Ceratodontidae, Lepidosirenidae, and Protopteridae, found in the rivers of Australia, South America, and Africa, respectively...

assassin bug

(Encyclopedia)assassin bug, common name for members of the family Reduviidae, one of the largest and most varied groups belonging to the order Hemiptera (suborder Heteroptera). Assassin bugs are generally brownish ...

coca

(Encyclopedia)coca kōˈkə [key], common name for shrubs of the genus Erythroxylum, particularly E. coca, of the family Erythroxylaceae, and found abundantly in upland regions and on mountain slopes of South Ameri...

steppe

(Encyclopedia)steppe stĕp [key], temperate grassland of Eurasia, consisting of level, generally treeless plains. It extends over the lower regions of the Danube and in a broad belt over S and SE European and Centr...

Sucre, Antonio José de

(Encyclopedia)Sucre, Antonio José de äntôˈnyō hōsāˈ ᵺā so͞oˈkrā [key], 1795–1830, South American revolutionist, b. Cumaná, Venezuela. He joined (1811) the forces fighting for independence from Spai...

zone

(Encyclopedia)zone [Gr.,=girdle], in geography, area with a certain physical and/or cultural unity that distinguishes it from other areas. The division of the earth into five climatic zones probably originated (5th...