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sago

(Encyclopedia)sago sāˈgō [key] [Malay], edible starch extracted from the pithlike center of several E Asian palms (chiefly Metroxylon sagu) or sometimes of cycads. The starch is an important item in the diet in ...

sarsaparilla

(Encyclopedia)sarsaparilla särsˌpərĭlˈə, săsˌ– [key], common name for various plants belonging to two different classes and also for an extract from their roots, formerly much used in medicine and in beve...

nut, in botany

(Encyclopedia)nut, in botany, a dry one-seeded fruit which is indehiscent (i.e., does not split open along a definite seam at maturity). Among the true nuts are the acorn, chestnut, and hazelnut. Commonly the word ...

Wildsmith, Brian Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Wildsmith, Brian Lawrence, 1930–2016, English children's book author and illustrator. He attended the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (1949–52), and served in the army before b...

Aesop

(Encyclopedia)Aesop ēˈsəp, ēˈsŏp [key], legendary Greek fabulist. According to Herodotus, he was a slave who lived in Samos in the 6th cent. b.c. and eventually was freed by his master. Other accounts associa...

squill

(Encyclopedia)squill, common name for two genera of Old World bulbous plants of the family Liliaceae (lily family). The horticulturists' squill is any plant of the genus Scilla, mostly spring-blooming low herbs wit...

bergamot

(Encyclopedia)bergamot bûrˈgəmŏtˌ [key] [from Bergamo, Italy], citrus tree (Citrus bergamia) grown chiefly in Italy, belonging to the family Rutaceae (rue family). From the rind of the bergamot orange is extra...

bighorn, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)bighorn or Rocky Mountain sheep, wild sheep, Ovis canadensis, of W North America, formerly plentiful in mountains from SW Canada to N Mexico. Indiscriminate hunting, disease, and scarcity of food enor...

Glorious Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Glorious Revolution, in English history, the events of 1688–89 that resulted in the deposition of James II and the accession of William III and Mary II to the English throne. It is also called the B...

Clinton, Hillary Rodham

(Encyclopedia)Clinton, Hillary Rodham rŏdˈəm [key], 1947–, U.S. senator and secretary of state, wife of President Bill Clinton, b. Chicago, grad. Wellesley College (B.A. 1969), Yale Law School (LL.B., 1973). A...