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anteater

(Encyclopedia)anteater, name applied to various animals that feed on ants, termites, and other insects, but more properly restricted to a completely toothless group of the order Edentata. There are four species cla...

terrarium

(Encyclopedia)terrarium, a miniature garden in an artificial environment, in which small plants and animals may be kept as ornament or for educational purposes. Fish bowls, small fish tanks, large bottles, and carb...

blockhouse

(Encyclopedia)blockhouse, small fortification, usually temporary, serving as a post for a small garrison. Blockhouses seem to have come into use in the 15th cent. to prevent access to a strategically important obje...

legion

(Encyclopedia)legion, large unit of the Roman army. It came into prominence c.400 b.c. It originally consisted of 3,000 to 4,000 men drawn into eight ranks: the first six ranks, called hoplites, were heavily armed,...

defoliant

(Encyclopedia)defoliant, any one of several chemical compounds that, when applied to plants, can alter their metabolism, causing the leaves to drop off. In agriculture defoliants are used to eliminate the leaves of...

Strategic Air Command

(Encyclopedia)Strategic Air Command (SAC), former command of the U.S. air force (see Air Force, United States Department of the) charged with organizing, training, equipping, administering, and preparing strategic ...

Celtic art

(Encyclopedia)Celtic art kĕlˈtĭk, sĕlˈ– [key]. The earliest clearly Celtic style in art was developed in S Germany and E France by tribal artisans of the mid- to late 5th cent. b.c. With the dispersal of Cel...

torsion balance

(Encyclopedia)torsion balance, instrument used to measure small forces. It is based on the principle that a wire or thread resists twisting with a force that is proportional to the stress. The torsion balance consi...

Trinity Bay

(Encyclopedia)Trinity Bay, inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 80 mi (129 km) long, SE Newfoundland, N.L., Canada, between the Avalon Peninsula and the mainland. With its small waterfront settlements, it preserves somethi...

silversides

(Encyclopedia)silversides, common name for small shore fishes, belonging to the family Antherinidae, abundant in the warmer waters of the Atlantic and Pacific, and named for the silvery stripe on either side of the...