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quagga

(Encyclopedia)quagga kwăgˈə [key], extinct type of zebra. It formerly inhabited open plains in S Africa, where its range overlapped that of the plains zebra, or common zebra (Equus quagga, formerly E. burchellii...

ombú

(Encyclopedia)ombú ōmbo͞oˈ [key], large evergreen tree (Phytolacca dioica) of the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay. It has an umbrellalike spread of foliage; the trunk may attain a girth of 40 to 50 ft (12.2–1...

optical character recognition

(Encyclopedia)optical character recognition (OCR), method for the machine-reading of typeset, typed, and, in some cases, hand-printed letters, numbers, and symbols using optical sensing and a computer. The light re...

Hijuelos, Oscar Jerome

(Encyclopedia)Hijuelos, Oscar Jerome ēhwāˈlōs [key], 1951–2013, Cuban-American novelist, b. New York City, grad. City College (B.A., 1975; M.F.A., 1976). The son of Cuban immigrants, he typically wrote about ...

Jack Russell terrier

(Encyclopedia)Jack Russell terrier, breed of dog developed in the 19th cent. by an English clergyman, the Rev. John (Parson Jack) Russell, 1795–1883, for hunting. The Jack Russell resembles the fox terrier and, l...

Hare Krishnas

(Encyclopedia)Hare Krishnas härˈē krĭshˈnəz [key], communalistic religious movement, officially known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Founded in New York City (1966) by A. C. Bhaktived...

Harris, Julie

(Encyclopedia)Harris, Julie, 1925–2013, American actress, b. Grosse Point, Mich. Harris made her New York debut in It's a Gift (1945). Her versatility and power won her enormous critical acclaim, and she appeared...

tang, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)tang, common name for certain members of the Acanthuridae, a family of mostly small, mainly reef-dwelling tropical fishes with compressed bodies and small mouths and teeth. Other members of the family...

pitchblende

(Encyclopedia)pitchblende pĭchˈblĕndˌ [key], dark, lustrous, heavy mineral, a source of radium and uranium. Largely natural uranium oxides, triuranium octaoxide (U3O8) and uranium dioxide (UO2), it usually cont...

Wollemi pine

(Encyclopedia)Wollemi pine wŏlˈəmīˌ [key], primitive tree, Wollemia nobilis, of the conifer family Araucariaceae, named after Wollemi National Park in New South Wales, Australia, where it was discovered in 199...