(Encyclopedia) turkey, common name for a large game and poultry bird related to the grouse and the pheasant. Its name derives from its “turk-turk” call. Turkeys are indigenous to the New World;…
(Encyclopedia) pumpkin, common name for the genus Cucurbita of the family Cucurbitaceae (gourd family), a group that includes the pumpkins and squashes—the names may be used interchangeably and…
(Encyclopedia) Organization of African Unity (OAU), former international organization, established 1963 at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by 37 independent African nations to promote unity and development;…
(Encyclopedia) holly, common name for members of the Aquifoliaceae, a family of widely distributed trees and shrubs, most numerous in Central and South America. The evergreen English holly (Ilex…
(Encyclopedia) sucker, common name for members of the family Catostomidae, freshwater fish related to the minnows. Like minnows and the less closely related catfishes, the suckers possess an…
(Encyclopedia) piculetpiculetpĭkˈyələt [key], common name for a small bird of the family Picidae, which includes the woodpecker and the wryneck. Like the true woodpeckers, piculets are large-headed…
(Encyclopedia) pinworm, roundworm, Enterobius vermicularis, worldwide in distribution and the most common source of worm infestation of humans in the United States. Children are more commonly…
(Encyclopedia) case, in language, one of the several possible forms of a given noun, pronoun, or adjective that indicates its grammatical function (see inflection); in inflected languages it is…
(Encyclopedia) tapeworm, name for the parasitic flatworms forming the class Cestoda. All tapeworms spend the adult phase of their lives as parasites in the gut of a vertebrate animal (called the…
(Encyclopedia) SiccuthSiccuthsĭkˈəth [key] or SakkuthSiccuthsäkˈ– [key], in the Book of Amos, a heathen god. Many texts regard this as a common noun; thus the King James Version translates it as “…
