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catchment area

(Encyclopedia)catchment area or drainage basin, area drained by a stream or other body of water. The limits of a given catchment area are the heights of land—often called drainage divides, or watersheds—separat...

pothole

(Encyclopedia)pothole, in geology, cylindrical pit formed in the rocky channel of a turbulent stream. It is formed and enlarged by the abrading action of pebbles and cobbles that are carried by eddies, or circular ...

babbler

(Encyclopedia)babbler, common name for some members of the large, diversified family Timaliidae, passerine birds found primarily in wooded areas of Asia, Africa, and Australia. Babblers have soft, fluffy plumage an...

turquoise

(Encyclopedia)turquoise, hydrous phosphate of aluminum and copper, Al2(OH)3PO4·H2O+Cu, used as a gem. It occurs rarely in crystal form, but is usually cryptocrystalline. Turquoise is opaque and has a waxy luster; ...

oleaster

(Encyclopedia)oleaster ōˌlēăsˈtər [key], common name for members of the Elaeagnaceae, a family principally of shrubs with leathery leaves and a dense covering of glistening hairs. Most members of the family a...

Stegner, Wallace

(Encyclopedia)Stegner, Wallace (Wallace Earle Stegner), 1909–93, American writer, b. Lake Mills, Iowa, grad. Univ. of Utah (1930). He wrote perceptively of the American West in short stories, e.g., The Woman on t...

antiphon, in liturgical music

(Encyclopedia)antiphon ănˈtĭfən [key], in Roman Catholic liturgical music, generally a short text sung before and after a psalm or canticle. The main use is in group singing of the Divine Office in a monastery....

Logan, Sir William Edmond

(Encyclopedia)Logan, Sir William Edmond, 1798–1875, Canadian geologist. Educated in England, he managed (1831–38) coal mines and a copper smelter in Wales. In addition to making studies of clays underlying coal...

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