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cleft palate

(Encyclopedia)cleft palate, incomplete fusion of bones of the palate. The cleft may be confined to the soft palate at the back of the mouth; it may include the hard palate, or roof of the mouth; or it may extend th...

thermite

(Encyclopedia)thermite [from Thermit, a trade name], mixture of powdered or granular aluminum metal and powdered iron oxide. When ignited it gives off large amounts of heat. In wartime it has been used in incendiar...

Sinyavsky, Andrey Donatovich

(Encyclopedia)Sinyavsky, Andrey Donatovich ŭndrāˈ dōnätˈəvyĭchˌ sĭnyäfˈskē [key], 1925–97, Russian novelist and essayist. Starting in the 1960s, Sinyavsky, a protege of Boris Pasternak, had a number ...

Mastigophora

(Encyclopedia)Mastigophora măsˌtĭgŏfˈərə [key], phylum of unicellular heterotrophic protozoans of the kingdom Protista. Most of the approximately 1,500 species of Mastigophora are propelled by one or more fl...

Mance, Julian Clifford, Jr., “ Junior ”

(Encyclopedia) Mance, Julian Clifford, Jr., “Junior,” 1928-2021, American jazz pianist and composer, b. Evanston, Illinois. Taught to play boogie and ...

Sheffield plate

(Encyclopedia)Sheffield plate, metalware of copper, silver-plated by fusion, originated at Sheffield, England. This process of plating was discovered c.1742 by a Sheffield cutler, Thomas Boulsover, who found while ...

Sarcodina

(Encyclopedia)Sarcodina, the largest phylum (11,500 living species and 33,000 fossil species) of protozoans). It comprises the amebas and related organisms; which are all solitary cells that move and capture food b...

petal

(Encyclopedia)petal, one of the four basic parts of a flower, next innermost organ from the sepal. The whorl of petals is known collectively as the corolla [Lat.,=little crown]. The number of petals is usually cons...

heat

(Encyclopedia)heat, nonmechanical energy in transit, associated with differences in temperature between a system and its surroundings or between parts of the same system. The study of heat and its relationship ...

stellar structure

(Encyclopedia)stellar structure, physical properties of a star and the processes taking place within it. Except for that of the sun, astronomers must draw their conclusions regarding stellar structure on the basis ...