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narcolepsy

(Encyclopedia)narcolepsy, a sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and recurring unwanted episodes of sleep (“sleep attacks”). People with narcolepsy may abruptly fall asleep at almost any...

narthex

(Encyclopedia)narthex närˈthĕks [key], entrance feature peculiar to early Christian and Byzantine churches, although also found in some Romanesque churches, especially in France and Italy. Usually extending acro...

scarlet fever

(Encyclopedia)scarlet fever or scarlatina, an acute, communicable infection, caused by group A hemolytic streptococcal bacteria (see streptococcus) that produce an erythrogenic toxin. The disease is now uncommon, p...

verdict

(Encyclopedia)verdict, in law, official decision of a jury respecting questions of fact that the judge has laid before it. In the United States, verdicts must be unanimous in federal courts; majority verdicts are c...

crayfish

(Encyclopedia)crayfish or crawfish, freshwater crustacean smaller than but structurally very similar to its marine relative the lobster, and found in ponds and streams in most parts of the world except Africa. Cray...

Clayton Antitrust Act

(Encyclopedia)Clayton Antitrust Act, 1914, passed by the U.S. Congress as an amendment to clarify and supplement the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. It was drafted by Henry De Lamar Clayton. The act prohibited exclu...

function

(Encyclopedia)function, in mathematics, a relation f that assigns to each member x of some set X a corresponding member y of some set Y; y is said to be a function of x, usually denoted f(x) (read “f of x ”)....

innate ideas

(Encyclopedia)innate ideas, in philosophy, concepts present in the mind at birth as opposed to concepts arrived at through experience. The theory has been advanced at various times in the history of philosophy to s...

Haring, Keith

(Encyclopedia)Haring, Keith hârˈĭng [key], 1958–90, American artist, b. Kutztown, Pa. He moved to New York City in 1975 and studied at the School of Visual Arts (1978–79). Fascinated with the 1970s graffiti ...

silicone

(Encyclopedia)silicone, polymer in which atoms of silicon and oxygen alternate in a chain; various organic radicals, such as the methyl group, CH3, are bound to the silicon atoms. Silicones, which are unusually sta...