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needle

(Encyclopedia)needle, implement of metal or other material used to carry the thread in sewing and in various forms of needlework and manufacturing. The earliest needles were merely awls or punches. Stone, bone, ivo...

needlefish

(Encyclopedia)needlefish, common name for members of the family Belonidae, which comprises species of elongated, surface-swimming predaceous fish abundant in warm seas. They have beaklike jaws armed with sharp teet...

needlework

(Encyclopedia)needlework, work done with a needle, either plain sewing, mending, or ornamental work such as embroidery, quilting, smocking, hemstitching, fagoting, some kinds of lace making (see lace), patchwork, a...

Néel, Louis Eugène Félix

(Encyclopedia)Néel, Louis Eugène Félix, 1904–2000, French physicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Strasbourg, 1932. He was a professor at the Univ. of Strasbourg from 1932 to 1945, when he joined the faculty at the Univ. of...

Negev

(Encyclopedia)Negev nĕgˈĕb [key] [Heb.,=dry], hilly desert region of S Israel, c.5,140 sq mi (13,310 sq km), bordered by the Judaean Hills, the Wadi Arabah, the Sinai peninsula, and the narrow Mediterranean coas...

Negishi, Ei-ichi

(Encyclopedia)Negishi, Ei-ichi, 1935–2021, Japanese chemist, b. Changchum, China, Univ. of Tokyo (B.Eng., 1958), Univ. of Pennsylvania (Ph.D...

negligence

(Encyclopedia)negligence, in law, especially tort law, the breach of an obligation (duty) to act with care, or the failure to act as a reasonable and prudent person would under similar circumstances. For a plaintif...

Negombo

(Encyclopedia)Negombo nāgōmˈbō [key], town (1991 est. pop. 65,000) W Sri Lanka, at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon. Chiefly noted for its ceramics and brassware, it is also a fishing center and a market for coc...

Negroponte, John Dimitri

(Encyclopedia)Negroponte, John Dimitri, 1939–, U.S. public official, b. London, England. He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1960, and during his long diplomatic career was posted to Asia, Europe, Latin America...

aurora borealis

(Encyclopedia)aurora borealis ôstrāˈlĭs [key], luminous display of various forms and colors seen in the night sky. The aurora borealis of the Northern Hemisphere is often called the northern lights, and the aur...