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Coanda effect

(Encyclopedia)Coanda effect or wall-attachment effect, the tendency of a moving fluid, either liquid or gas, to attach itself to a surface and flow along it. As a fluid moves across a surface a certain amount of fr...

boomerang

(Encyclopedia)boomerang bo͞oˈmərăngˌ [key], special form of throwing stick, used mainly by the aborigines of Australia. Other forms of throwing sticks were used by the peoples of ancient Egypt, Ethiopia, and I...

clubfoot

(Encyclopedia)clubfoot or talipes tălˈəpēzˌ [key], deformity in which the foot is twisted out of position. Maldevelopment is usually congenital, although it can result from injury or disease (e.g., poliomyelit...

spinning

(Encyclopedia)spinning, the drawing out, twisting, and winding of fibers into a continuous thread or yarn. From antiquity until the Industrial Revolution, spinning was a household industry. The roughly carded fiber...

snuff

(Encyclopedia)snuff, preparation of pulverized tobacco used by sniffing it into the nostrils, chewing it, or placing it between the gums and the cheek. The blended tobacco from which it is made is often aged for tw...

lacrosse

(Encyclopedia)lacrosse ləkrôsˈ [key], ball and goal game usually played outdoors by two teams of 10 players each on a field 60 to 70 yd (54.86 to 64.01 m) wide by 110 yd (100.58 m) long. Two goals face each othe...

cinnamon

(Encyclopedia)cinnamon, name for trees and shrubs of the genus Cinnamomum of the family Lauraceae (laurel family). True cinnamon spice comes from the Ceylon or Sri Lanka cinnamon (C. verum or C. zeylanicum), now cu...

pack rat

(Encyclopedia)pack rat, rodent of the genus Neotoma, of North and Central America, noted for its habit of collecting bright, shiny objects and leaving other objects, such as nuts or pebbles, in their place; also ca...

Weber, Wilhelm Eduard

(Encyclopedia)Weber, Wilhelm Eduard vĭlˈhĕlm āˈdo͞oärt vāˈbər [key], 1804–91, German physicist. He was professor (1831–37, 1849–91) at the Univ. of Göttingen, where he worked with C. F. Gauss on te...

cabbage looper

(Encyclopedia)cabbage looper, moth larva, Trichoplusia ni, that feeds by night on the leaves of cabbage and related plants and is a serious agricultural pest. Like the inchworms (of another moth family), cabbage lo...