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arson

(Encyclopedia)arson, at common law, the malicious and willful burning of the house of another. Originally, it was an offense against the security of habitation rather than against property rights. Thus, a tenant co...

Newgate

(Encyclopedia)Newgate nyo͞oˈgĭt [key], former prison in the City of London, England, originally in the gatehouse of the principal west gate of London. Dating from the 12th cent. and burned by Wat Tyler's followe...

Bailly, Jean Sylvain

(Encyclopedia)Bailly, Jean Sylvain zhäN sēlvăNˈ bäyēˈ [key], 1736–93, French astronomer and politician. His works on astronomy and on the history of science (notably the Essai sur la théorie des satellite...

carbon tetrachloride

(Encyclopedia)carbon tetrachloride tĕˌtrəklôrˌəmĕthˈān [key], CCl4, colorless, poisonous, liquid organic compound that boils at 76.8℃. It is toxic when absorbed through the skin or when inhaled. It react...

Wilson, Sir Angus

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Sir Angus, 1913–91, English novelist, b. South Africa. As a novelist, he attempted to delineate a society in which traditional values have lost their force and human relationships are corrup...

sod house

(Encyclopedia)sod house, house with walls made of strips of sod laid horizontally in courses like bricks. Sod houses were common in the frontier days on the western plains of the United States, where wood and stone...

Sologub, Feodor

(Encyclopedia)Sologub, Feodor fyôˈdər sələgo͞opˈ [key], pseud. of Feodor Kuzmich Teternikov, 1863–1927, Russian poet and prose writer. By profession a schoolteacher and as a poet one of the older symbolist...

Wrexham

(Encyclopedia)Wrexham rĕkˈsəm [key], Welsh Wrescam, town (1981 pop. 39,929) and county borough, 193 sq mi (499 sq km), NE Wales. It lies in the coal field of N Wales. Wrexham's industries include the manufacture...

purification

(Encyclopedia)purification, in religion, the ceremonial removal of what the religion deems unclean. The usual agents of purification are water (as in baptism), bodily alteration (as in circumcision), and fire. The ...

Ball, Lucille

(Encyclopedia)Ball, Lucille, 1911–89, American actress and producer, b. Celoron, N.Y. At first promoted by Hollywood as another glamorous movie star, Ball was often cast as a spunky sidekick in second features. I...