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kitchen

(Encyclopedia)kitchen, separate room or other space set aside for the cooking or preparation of meals. When cooking first moved indoors, it was performed, with other domestic labors, in the common room, where the f...

shock

(Encyclopedia)shock, any condition in which the circulatory system is unable to provide adequate circulation to the body tissues, also called circulatory failure or circulatory collapse. Shock results in the slowin...

photochemistry

(Encyclopedia)photochemistry, study of chemical processes that are accompanied by or catalyzed by the emission or absorption of visible light or ultraviolet radiation. A molecule in its ground (unexcited) state can...

probiotic

(Encyclopedia)probiotic, live microorganism administered to a host with the intention of providing a health benefit, or a food, supplement, or treatment containing such microorganisms. Many of the microbes found in...

alloy

(Encyclopedia)alloy ălˈoi, əloiˈ [key] [O. Fr.,=combine], substance with metallic properties that consists of a metal fused with one or more metals or nonmetals. Alloys may be a homogeneous solid solution, a he...

fistula

(Encyclopedia)fistula fĭsˈcho͝olə [key], abnormal, usually ulcerous channellike formation between two internal organs or between an internal organ and the skin. It may follow a surgical procedure with improper ...

antisense

(Encyclopedia)antisense, DNA or RNA manipulated in a laboratory so that its components (nucleotides) form a complementary copy of normal, or “sense,” messenger RNA (mRNA; see nucleic acid). Antisense techniques...

medicine man

(Encyclopedia)medicine man, among Native Americans and other traditional peoples as far back as Paleolithic times, a person believed to possess supernatural healing powers. Like the shaman the medicine man was a sp...

brome grass

(Encyclopedia)brome grass, common name for any plant of the genus Bromus, chiefly large, coarse grasses of a weedy nature; some, however, are useful as forage, and others are cultivated for decoration. Some of the ...

slipped disc

(Encyclopedia)slipped disc, rupture or herniation of an intervertebral disc. These discs separate and cushion the vertebrae, the segments of the spinal column. They are composed of an outer rim of fibrous connectiv...