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magpie

(Encyclopedia)magpie, common name for certain birds of the family Corvidae (crows and jays). The black-billed magpie, Pica pica or P. hudsonia, of W North America has iridescent black plumage, white wing patches an...

guinea fowl

(Encyclopedia)guinea fowl gĭnˈē [key], common name for any of the seven species of gallinaceous birds of the family Numididae, native to Africa and Madagascar. The helmeted guinea fowl, Numida meleagris, from wh...

inflammation

(Encyclopedia)inflammation, reaction of the body to injury or to infectious, allergic, or chemical irritation. The symptoms are redness, swelling, heat, and pain resulting from dilation of the blood vessels in the ...

corundum

(Encyclopedia)corundum kərŭnˈdəm [key], mineral, aluminum oxide, Al2O3. The clear varieties are used as gems and the opaque as abrasive materials. Corundum occurs in crystals of the hexagonal system and in mass...

currant

(Encyclopedia)currant, northern shrub of the family Saxifragaceae (saxifrage family), of the same genus (Ribes) as the gooseberry bush. The tart berries of the currant may be black, white, or red; the white goosebe...

Alamogordo

(Encyclopedia)Alamogordo ălˌəməgôrˈdō, –də [key], city, seat of Otero co., S N.Mex., near the Sacramento Mts.; inc. 1912. Holloman Air Force Base, home to U.S. stealth aircraf...

Ross, Harold Wallace

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Harold Wallace, 1892–1951, American editor, b. Aspen, Colo. He founded the New Yorker in 1925 and was its influential managing editor until his death. Ross quit school at the age of 14 to work...

turnip

(Encyclopedia)turnip, garden vegetable of the same genus of the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard family) as the cabbage; native to Europe, where it has been long cultivated. The two principal kinds are t...

Tower of London

(Encyclopedia)Tower of London, ancient fortress in London, England, just east of the City and on the north bank of the Thames, covering about 13 acres (5.3 hectares). Now used mainly as a museum, it was a royal res...

Náxos

(Encyclopedia)Náxos näkˈsôs, năkˈsŏs [key], island (1991 pop. 14,838), c.160 sq mi (410 sq km), SE Greece, in the Aegean Sea; largest of the Cyclades. Náxos, the chief town, is on the western shore. The fer...