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peddler

(Encyclopedia)peddler or hawker, itinerant vendor of small goods. In rural America peddlers carried their packs or drove a horse and cart from door to door. While the importance of peddlers to the small American co...

Pentland Firth

(Encyclopedia)Pentland Firth pĕntˈlənd fûrth [key], channel, 6 to 8 mi (9.7–12.9 km) wide and c.14 mi (23 km) long, N Scotland. Connecting the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, it separates the Scottish main...

Canis Minor

(Encyclopedia)Canis Minor [Lat.,=lesser dog], small constellation ying near the celestial equator, E of Orion and NE of Canis Major, the Large Dog. Known as the Small Dog, Canis Minor is traditionally identified as...

marine engine

(Encyclopedia)marine engine, machine for the propulsion of watercraft. The earliest marine power plants, reciprocating steam engines, were used almost exclusively until the early 1900s. In later ship construction t...

grenade

(Encyclopedia)grenade grĭnādˈ [key], small bomb either thrown by hand or shot from a modified rifle or a grenade launcher. It may be filled with gas or chemicals but more often holds an explosive charge that fra...

Iraq

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Iraq or Irak both: ēräkˈ, ĭrăkˈ [key], officially Republic of Iraq, republic (2005 est. pop. 26,075,000), 167,924 sq mi (434,924 sq km), SW Asia. Iraq is bordered on the south by Kuwait, ...

meteor

(Encyclopedia)meteor, appearance of a small particle flying through space that interacts with the earth's upper atmosphere. While still outside the atmosphere, the particle is known as a meteoroid. Countless meteor...

Damavand

(Encyclopedia)Damavand or Demavend both: dĕmˈəvĕnd [key], volcanic cone, 18,606 ft (5,671 m) high, in the Elburz range, N Iran. A permanently snow-covered volcano of recent geologic origin, it emits gases and s...

Price, Kenneth

(Encyclopedia)Price, Kenneth, 1935–2012, American ceramic artist, b. Los Angeles, grad. Univ. of Southern California (B.F.A., 1956), New York State College of Ceramics (M.F.A., 1959). Obliterating the distinction...

flywheel

(Encyclopedia)flywheel, heavy metal wheel attached to a drive shaft, having most of its weight concentrated at the circumference. Such a wheel resists changes in speed and helps steady the rotation of the shaft whe...