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gull

(Encyclopedia)gull, common name for an aquatic bird of the family Laridae, which also includes the tern and the jaeger. It is found near all oceans and many inland waters. Gulls are larger and bulkier than terns, a...

vetch

(Encyclopedia)vetch, common name for many weak-stemmed, leguminous herbs of the genus Vicia of the family Leguminosae (pulse family). The vetches are chiefly annuals, distributed over temperate regions of the North...

Confederation, Articles of

(Encyclopedia)Confederation, Articles of, in U.S. history, ratified in 1781 and superseded by the Constitution of the United States in 1789. The imperative need for unity among the new states created by the America...

compound

(Encyclopedia)compound, in chemistry, a substance composed of atoms of two or more elements in chemical combination, occurring in a fixed, definite proportion and arranged in a fixed, definite structure. A compound...

waterleaf

(Encyclopedia)waterleaf, common name for the Hydrophyllaceae, a family of herbs and some shrubs, widely distributed but especially abundant in W and SW North America. Best known in the United States are the waterle...

grunt

(Encyclopedia)grunt, common name for members of the family Haemulidae, carnivorous fish of warm seas, most species of which are small and brightly colored. They are sound-producers, creating their noises by grindin...

hassium

(Encyclopedia)hassium hăsˈēəm, häsˈ– [key], artificially produced radioactive chemical element; symbol Hs; at. no. 108; mass number of most stable isotope 277; m.p., b.p., sp. gr., and valence unknown. Situ...

damascening

(Encyclopedia)damascening –skēnˈ– [key], the art of decorating iron, steel, or bronze with inlaid threads of gold or silver, or producing a watered effect in forging, as in sword blades, gun barrels, and vari...

Olitski, Jules

(Encyclopedia)Olitski, Jules ŏlĭtˈskē [key], 1922–2006, American painter, b. Russia as Jevel Demikovsky. While considered a color-field painter (see color-field painting), Olitski produced works that are free...

aureole, in physics

(Encyclopedia)aureole ôrˈēōlˌ [key], in physics, luminous circle seen when the sun or other bright light is observed through a diffuse medium, i.e., smoke, thin cloud, fog, haze, or mist. It sometimes occurs a...