(Encyclopedia) blizzard, winter storm characterized by high winds, low temperatures, and driving snow; according to the official definition given in 1958 by the U.S. Weather Bureau, the winds must…
(Encyclopedia) moamoamōˈə [key] [Maori], common name for an extinct flightless bird of New Zealand related to the kiwi, the emu, the cassowary, and the ostrich. The various species ranged in size…
(Encyclopedia) Kawasaki disease or Kawasaki syndrome, acute illness characterized by inflammation of the blood vessels that primarily affects young children; it is more common in boys and children of…
(Encyclopedia) jaegerjaegeryāˈgər [key], common name for several members of the family Stercorariidae, member of a family of hawklike sea birds closely related to the gull and the tern. The skua is…
(Encyclopedia) newt, name for members of a large salamander family, widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere and including the common European salamanders. Newts are lizardlike in shape and are…
(Encyclopedia) tumbleweed, any of several plants, particularly abundant in prairie and steppe regions, that commonly break from their roots at maturity and, drying into a rounded tangle of light,…
(Encyclopedia) strawberry, any plant of the genus Fragaria of the family Rosaceae (rose family), low herbaceous perennials with edible red fruits, native to temperate and mountainous tropical regions…
(Encyclopedia) swallow, common name for small perching birds of almost worldwide distribution. There are about 100 species of swallows, including the martins, which belong to the same family.…
(Encyclopedia) bobolinkbobolinkbŏbˈəlĭngkˌ [key], common name in the N United States and Canada for an American songbird, Dolichonyx oryzivorus, related to the blackbird and the oriole, belonging to…
(Encyclopedia) ligninligninlĭgˈnĭn [key], a highly polymerized and complex chemical compound especially common in woody plants. The cellulose walls of the wood become impregnated with lignin, a…
