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grease

(Encyclopedia)grease, mixture of lubricant and thickener. It is used to reduce friction between surfaces from which oils would leak away or cause damage by dripping, or where lubrication must be assured for extende...

meadow rue

(Encyclopedia)meadow rue, any plant of the genus Thalictrum of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family). Most are tall perennials (up to 7 ft/2.1 m high) bearing summer flowers with showy, pendent tassels of lon...

Medea

(Encyclopedia)Medea mĭdēˈə [key], in Greek mythology, princess of Colchis, skilled in magic and sorcery. She fell in love with Jason and helped him, against the will of her father, Aeëtes, to obtain the Golden...

Rutledge, Ann

(Encyclopedia)Rutledge, Ann, 1813?–1835, American historical figure, alleged fiancée of Abraham Lincoln. Her father kept the inn at New Salem, Ill., where Lincoln lived from 1831 to 1837. Ann's sudden death from...

Schweinfurt

(Encyclopedia)Schweinfurt shvīnˈfo͝ort [key], city (1994 pop. 55,284), Bavaria, central Germany, on the Main River. Manufactures include beer, steel, electronics, and motor vehicles. The city is the center of a ...

Venus's-flytrap

(Encyclopedia)Venus's-flytrap, insectivorous or carnivorous bog plant (Dionaea muscipula) native to the Carolina savannas and now widely cultivated as a novelty. The leaves, borne in a low rosette, resemble bear tr...

Christy, Edwin P.

(Encyclopedia)Christy, Edwin P., 1815–62, American showman, b. Philadelphia. He established c.1846 in Buffalo, N.Y., a company of minstrels that came to be known as Christy's Minstrels. The company, although not ...

slug

(Encyclopedia)slug, name for a terrestrial gastropod mollusk in which the characteristic molluscan shell is reduced to a thin plate embedded in the tissues. Like the terrestrial snails of the same order, slugs have...

pelvis

(Encyclopedia)pelvis, bony, basin-shaped structure that supports the organs of the lower abdomen. It receives the weight of the upper body and distributes it to the legs; it also forms the base for numerous muscle ...

pier

(Encyclopedia)pier, in engineering, term applied to a mass of reinforced concrete or masonry supporting a large structure, such as a bridge. When piers are built on ground of poor bearing value, it is often necessa...