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pilot

(Encyclopedia)pilot, person responsible for safe navigation of a ship or airplane. A ship's pilot is an individual possessing local knowledge of coastal waters. Usually licensed by public authority (in the United S...

Stikine

(Encyclopedia)Stikine stĭkēnˈ [key], river, 335 mi (539 km) long, rising in the Stikine Mts., NW British Columbia, Canada. It flows in an arc west and southwest, crossing SE Alaska, to the Pacific Ocean N of Wra...

prune

(Encyclopedia)prune, popular name for a dried plum. Fruits of the many varieties of Prunus domestica, which are firm-fleshed and dry easily without removal of the stone, are gathered after falling from the tree, di...

dogfish

(Encyclopedia)dogfish, name for a number of small sharks of several different families. Best known are the spiny dogfishes (family Squalidae) and the smooth dogfishes (family Triakidae). Spiny dogfishes have two sp...

Accra

(Encyclopedia)Accra əkräˈ, ăkˈrə [key], city (1984 pop. 867,459), capital of Ghana, a port on the Gulf of Guinea. It is Ghana's largest city and its administrative, communications, and economic center. The ch...

potlatch

(Encyclopedia)potlatch pŏtˈlăchˌ [key], ceremonial feast of the natives of the NW coast of North America, entailing the public distribution of property. The host and his relatives lavishly distributed gifts to ...

Suffolk

(Encyclopedia)Suffolk, county (1991 pop. 629,900), 1,466 sq mi (3,798 sq km), E England. The county seat is Ipswich. The county is divided into seven administrative districts: Waveney, Suffolk Coastal, Ipswich, Mid...

Wight, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Wight, Isle of wīt [key], island and county (1991 pop. 126,600), 147 sq mi (381 sq km), S England, across the Solent and Spithead channels from Hampshire. The administrative center is Newport. The is...

Tsimshian

(Encyclopedia)Tsimshian tsĭmˈshēən [key], Native North Americans speaking a language probably falling within the Penutian linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They lived around the Skeena and Nass ...

thunderstorm

(Encyclopedia)thunderstorm, violent, local atmospheric disturbance accompanied by lightning, thunder, and heavy rain, often by strong gusts of wind, and sometimes by hail. The typical thunderstorm caused by convect...