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Prior, Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Prior, Matthew, 1664–1721, English poet and diplomat, b. Wimborne, Dorset. With his appointment as secretary to the embassy at The Hague during the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Ryswick (169...

gar

(Encyclopedia)gar, member of the family Lepisosteidae, freshwater fishes found in the warmer rivers and lakes of the S United States, Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies. Gars are highly predacious and des...

Hampton Roads

(Encyclopedia)Hampton Roads, roadstead, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 40 ft (12.2 m) deep, SE Va., through which the waters of the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth rivers pass into Chesapeake Bay. One of the finest natural...

Han, rivers, China

(Encyclopedia)Han. 1 River of S China, 210 mi (338 km) long, rising in W Fujian prov. and flowing S through Guangdong prov. to the South China Sea at Shantou; navigable for about 100 mi (160 km) upstream. The dense...

harpoon

(Encyclopedia)harpoon härpo͞onˈ [key], weapon used for spearing whales and large fish. The early type was a flat triangular piece of metal with barbed edges and a socket for attaching a wooden handle, to the end...

stilt

(Encyclopedia)stilt, common name for some members of the family Recurvirostridae, shore birds including the avocet. Stilts, as their name implies, have the longest legs of any bird except the flamingo. They frequen...

Willamette

(Encyclopedia)Willamette wĭlămˈət [key], river, 294 mi (473 km) long, rising in several headstreams in the Cascade Range, W Oregon. It flows N past Eugene, Salem, and Portland to the Columbia River just NW of P...

Benét, Stephen Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Benét, Stephen Vincent bĕnāˈ [key], 1898–1943, American poet and author, b. Bethlehem, Pa., grad. Yale, 1919; brother of William Rose Benét. After graduating from college, Benét published seve...

boomerang

(Encyclopedia)boomerang bo͞oˈmərăngˌ [key], special form of throwing stick, used mainly by the aborigines of Australia. Other forms of throwing sticks were used by the peoples of ancient Egypt, Ethiopia, and I...

North Channel

(Encyclopedia)North Channel, strait, c.75 mi (120 km) long, between Northern Ireland and Scotland, connecting the Irish Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. It is 13 mi (21 km) across at its narrowest point. ...