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britannia metal

(Encyclopedia)britannia metal, silvery-white alloy of tin with antimony, copper, and sometimes bismuth and zinc. It is very similar in appearance to pewter, but is harder. It is used widely for the manufacture of t...

weasel

(Encyclopedia)weasel, name for certain small, lithe, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae (weasel family). Members of this family are generally characterized by long bodies and necks, short legs, small roun...

runner

(Encyclopedia)runner or stolon, slender, creeping stem capable of taking root where its nodes touch the ground and thereby producing new shoots. The runner itself usually dies at the end of the season, leaving inde...

Traverse, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Traverse, Lake trăvˈərs [key], c.30 mi (50 km) long, on the Minn.–S.Dak. line, drained to the N by the Bois de Sioux River. The lake is impounded by White Rock Dam, which was completed in 1948. ...

Carroll, Paul Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Carroll, Paul Vincent, 1900–1968, Irish playwright. His plays, vigorous commentaries on the conflicts of village life in Ireland, include Shadow and Substance (1937), The White Steed (1939), The Wis...

avocet

(Encyclopedia)avocet ăvˈəsĕt [key], common name for a long-legged wading bird about 15 to 18 in. (37.5–45 cm) long, related to the snipe and belonging to the same family as the stilt. The American avocet or b...

magpie

(Encyclopedia)magpie, common name for certain birds of the family Corvidae (crows and jays). The black-billed magpie, Pica pica or P. hudsonia, of W North America has iridescent black plumage, white wing patches an...

Ross, Harold Wallace

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Harold Wallace, 1892–1951, American editor, b. Aspen, Colo. He founded the New Yorker in 1925 and was its influential managing editor until his death. Ross quit school at the age of 14 to work...

Náxos

(Encyclopedia)Náxos näkˈsôs, năkˈsŏs [key], island (1991 pop. 14,838), c.160 sq mi (410 sq km), SE Greece, in the Aegean Sea; largest of the Cyclades. Náxos, the chief town, is on the western shore. The fer...

Tower of London

(Encyclopedia)Tower of London, ancient fortress in London, England, just east of the City and on the north bank of the Thames, covering about 13 acres (5.3 hectares). Now used mainly as a museum, it was a royal res...