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barbed wire

(Encyclopedia)barbed wire, wire composed of two zinc-coated steel strands twisted together and having barbs spaced regularly along them. The need for barbed wire arose in the 19th cent. as the American frontier mov...

Cévennes

(Encyclopedia)Cévennes sāvĕnˈ [key], mountain range, S France, bordering the Massif Central on the southeast. The Cévennes proper occupy the central section of a mountainous arc (average height 3,000 ft/910 m)...

Caruso, Enrico

(Encyclopedia)Caruso, Enrico kəro͞oˈsō, Ital. änrēˈkō käro͞oˈzō [key], 1873–1921, Italian operatic tenor, b. Naples. The natural beauty, range, and power of his voice made him one of the greatest sing...

coyote

(Encyclopedia)coyote kīˈōt, kīōˈtē [key] or prairie wolf, small, swift wolf, Canis latrans, native to W North America. Historically found in deserts, prairies, open woodlands, and brush country, it is increa...

cloud computing

(Encyclopedia)cloud computing, the delivery of shared computing resources over a network in a manner that makes accessing and configuring those resources convenient and largely independent of the use of a required ...

leopard

(Encyclopedia)leopard, large carnivore of the cat family, Panthera pardus, widely distributed in Africa and Asia. It is commonly yellow, buff, or gray, patterned with black spots and rings. The rings, unlike those ...

Armada, Spanish

(Encyclopedia)Armada, Spanish ärmäˈdə [key], 1588, fleet launched by Philip II of Spain for the invasion of England, to overthrow the Protestant Elizabeth I and establish Philip on the English throne; also call...

calorie

(Encyclopedia)calorie, abbr. cal, unit of heat energy in the metric system. The measurement of heat is called calorimetry. The calorie, or gram calorie, is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of ...

Denali

(Encyclopedia)Denali, formerly Mount McKinley, peak, 20,310 ft (6,190 m) high, S central Alaska, in the Alaska Range; highest point in North America. Permanent snowfields cover more than half the mountain and feed ...

Devils Lake

(Encyclopedia)Devils Lake. 1 200 sq mi (520 sq km), NE central N.Dak., the largest natural body of water in the state. In an area of typically inland drainage, Devils Lake can range from a dry lakebed to more than ...