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Jupiter, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Jupiter jo͞oˈpətər [key], in astronomy, 5th planet from the sun and largest planet of the solar system. Astronomers have discovered 79 satellites orbiting Jupiter, but five of those, small sate...

dragonfly

(Encyclopedia)dragonfly, any insect of the order Odonata, which also includes the damselfly. Members of this order are generally large predatory insects and characteristically have chewing mouthparts and four membr...

clown

(Encyclopedia)clown, a comic character usually distinguished by garish makeup and costume whose antics are both humorously clumsy and acrobatic. The clown employs a broad, physical style of humor that is wordless o...

Fulbright, James William

(Encyclopedia)Fulbright, James William, 1905–95, U.S. Senator from Arkansas (1945–75), b. Sumner, Mo. A Rhodes scholar, he was admitted (1934) to the bar and served (1934–35) in the antitrust division of the ...

Northern Pacific Railway

(Encyclopedia)Northern Pacific Railway, former American rail line, following the northern route from Duluth and St. Paul, Minn., to Seattle, Wash., and Portland, Oreg. The Northern Pacific RR Company was chartered ...

neutron star

(Encyclopedia)neutron star, extremely small, extremely dense star, with as much as double the sun's mass but only a few miles in radius, in the final stage of stellar evolution. Astronomers Baade and Zwicky predict...

octopus

(Encyclopedia)octopus, cephalopod mollusk having no shell, eight muscular arms or tentacles, a pouch-shaped body, and two large, highly developed eyes. The prey (crabs, lobsters, and other shellfish) is seized by t...

Willkie, Wendell Lewis

(Encyclopedia)Willkie, Wendell Lewis, 1892–1944, American industrialist and political leader, b. Elwood, Ind. After graduating from Indiana Univ. law school (1916), he practiced law in Ohio and then New York (192...

reed

(Encyclopedia)reed, name used for several plants of the family Graminae (grass family). The common American reed, also called reedgrass and canegrass, is a tall perennial grass (Phragmites australis), widely distri...

Courteline, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Courteline, Georges zhôrzh ko͞orˌtəlēnˈ [key], 1858–1929, French writer. His prolific humorous and satiric works include sketches, plays, tales, and novels. Bourgeois attitudes are ridiculed i...