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Tobit

(Encyclopedia)Tobit tōˈbĭt [key] [Gr. from Heb. Tobijah=God is my good], book of the Old Testament Apocrypha, not included in the Hebrew Bible. It is the account of Tobit, a devout Jew in exile, and of his son T...

Daumier, Honoré

(Encyclopedia)Daumier, Honoré ônôrāˈ dōmyāˈ [key], 1808–79, French caricaturist, painter, and sculptor. Daumier was the greatest social satirist of his day. Son of a Marseilles glazier, he accompanied his...

antioxidant

(Encyclopedia)antioxidant, substance that prevents or slows the breakdown of another substance by oxygen. Synthetic and natural antioxidants are used to slow the deterioration of gasoline and rubber, and such antio...

Lochner, Stephan

(Encyclopedia)Lochner, Stephan shtĕfˈän lôkhˈnər [key], d. 1451, German religious painter of the school of Cologne. He combined the Gothic tradition with a new naturalism and a pure color sense. A Last Judgme...

dextrin

(Encyclopedia)dextrin, any one of a number of carbohydrates having the same general formula as starch but a smaller and less complex molecule. They are polysaccharides and are produced as intermediate products in t...

flame test

(Encyclopedia)flame test, test used in the identification of certain metals. It is based on the observation that light emitted by any element gives a unique spectrum when passed through a spectroscope. When a salt ...

birth

(Encyclopedia)birth or labor, delivery of the fetus by the viviparous mammal. Birth is also known as parturition. Human birth normally occurs about 280 days after onset of the last menstrual period before conceptio...

chameleon

(Encyclopedia)chameleon kəmēˈlēən, –mēlˈyən [key], small- to medium-sized lizard of the family Chamaeleonidae. More than 150 species are found in sub-Saharan Africa, with a few in S Europe and S Asia. The...

graffito

(Encyclopedia)graffito gräf-fēˈtō [key]. 1 Method of ornamenting architectural plaster surfaces. The designs are produced by scratching a topcoat of plaster to reveal an undercoat of contrasting and deeper colo...

pigment

(Encyclopedia)pigment, substance that imparts color to other materials. In paint, the pigment is a powdered substance which, when mixed in the liquid vehicle, imparts color to a painted surface. The pigments used i...