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forging

(Encyclopedia)forging, shaping metal by heating it and then hammering or rolling it. Forging is the method by which metal was first worked when it came into use about 4000 b.c. in Egypt and Asia. Modern forging is ...

streetcar

(Encyclopedia)streetcar, small, self-propelled railroad car, similar to the type used in rapid-transit systems, that operates on tracks running through city streets and is used to carry passengers. Most often cars ...

throne

(Encyclopedia)throne, chair of state or the seat of a high dignitary. The throne was at first a stool or bench and later became an ornate armchair, usually raised on a dais and surmounted by a canopy. Often lavishl...

shaduf

(Encyclopedia)shaduf or shadoof both: shədo͝ofˈ, shäˈdo͝of [key], primitive device used to lift water from a well or stream for irrigation purposes. Essentially the device consists of a long boom balanced acr...

Dacia

(Encyclopedia)Dacia dāˈshə [key], ancient name of the European region corresponding roughly to modern Romania (including Transylvania). It was inhabited before the Christian era by a people who were called Getae...

abrasive

(Encyclopedia)abrasive, material used to grind, smooth, cut, or polish another substance. Natural abrasives include sand, pumice, corundum, and ground quartz. Carborundum (silicon carbide) and alumina (aluminum oxi...

aloes

(Encyclopedia)aloes ălˈōz [key], drug obtained from the aloe; also a biblical name for an aromatic substance of various uses, mentioned in connection with myrrh and spices and thought to be the fragrant wood of ...

Woonsocket

(Encyclopedia)Woonsocket wo͞onsŏkˈĭt, wo͝on– [key], city (1990 pop. 43,877), Providence co., N R.I., on both sides of the Blackstone River; settled c.1666, set off from Cumberland 1867, inc. as a city 1888. ...

Levine, David

(Encyclopedia)Levine, David, 1926–2009, American caricaturist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., studied Pratt Institute, Tyler School of Art, Temple Univ., Philadelphia, and Eighth Street School of New York. Levine's deftly sa...

Nantucket

(Encyclopedia)Nantucket năntŭkˈĭt [key], island, c.14 mi (23 km) long, from 3 to 6 mi (4.8–9.6 km) wide, SE Mass., lying c.25 mi (40 km) S of Cape Cod, from which it is separated by Nantucket Sound. Muskeget ...