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screw

(Encyclopedia)screw, simple machine consisting essentially of a solid cylinder, usually of metal, around which an inclined plane winds spirally, either clockwise or counterclockwise. It is used to fasten one object...

Courbet, Gustave

(Encyclopedia)Courbet, Gustave güstävˈ ko͞orbāˈ [key], 1819–77, French painter, b. Ornans. He moved to Paris in 1839 and studied there, learning chiefly by copying masterpieces in the Louvre. An avowed real...

cluster munitions

(Encyclopedia)cluster munitions or cluster bombs, air-dropped or ground-launched weapons that open in mid-air and scatter dozens, hundreds, or thousands of smaller submunitions (or bomblets) over a wide area. Such ...

Glasgow, city, Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Glasgow glăsˈgō, –kō, glăzˈgō [key], city and council area, S central Scotla...

polar bear

(Encyclopedia)polar bear, large white bear, Ursus maritimus, formerly Thalarctos maritimus, of the coasts of arctic North America, Asia, and Europe. Polar bears usually live on drifting pack ice, but sometimes wand...

pollination

(Encyclopedia)pollination, transfer of pollen from the male reproductive organ (stamen or staminate cone) to the female reproductive organ (pistil or pistillate cone) of the same or of another flower or cone. Polli...

Pachacamac

(Encyclopedia)Pachacamac päˌchäkämäkˈ [key], ruins of a walled Native American settlement, Peru, about 25 mi (40 km) SE of Lima in the Lurin Valley. This site, which contains a number of pyramids, was conside...

earthworm

(Encyclopedia)earthworm, terrestrial, cylindrical segmented worm of the class Oligochaeta. There are 2,200 earthworm species, found all over the world except in arid and arctic regions and ranging in size from 1 in...

Bashkortostan

(Encyclopedia)Bashkortostan băshkĭrˈ [key], constituent republic, 55,444 sq mi (143,600 sq km), E European ...

health insurance

(Encyclopedia)health insurance, prepayment plan providing services or cash indemnities for medical care needed in times of illness or disability. It is effected by voluntary plans, either commercial or nonprofit, o...