(Encyclopedia) junco or snowbird, small seed-eating bird of North America closely related to the sparrows. Juncos have white underparts and gray (sometimes also brown) backs. They travel in flocks.…
(Encyclopedia) Mundell, Robert A., 1932–2021, Canadian economist, b. Kingston, Ont., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D. , 1956). He taught at…
(Encyclopedia) athlete's heart, common term for an enlarged heart associated with repeated strenuous exercise. As a result of the increased workload required of it, the heart will increase…
(Encyclopedia) ninebark, any plant of the genus Physocarpus of the family Rosaceae (rose family). Ninebarks are North American (one is Asian) deciduous, hardy, spring-blooming shrubs, with thin bark…
(Encyclopedia) killdeer, common North American shorebird related to the plover and the sandpiper. It is about 10 in. (25 cm) in length and its plumage is grayish brown with a double black band across…
(Encyclopedia) abbreviation, in writing, arbitrary shortening of a word, usually by cutting off letters from the end, as in U.S. and Gen. (General). Contraction serves the same purpose…
(Encyclopedia) Briggs, Henry, 1561–1630, English mathematician. He was the first professor of geometry at Gresham College, London (1596–1619), and Savilian professor of astronomy at Oxford (from 1619…
(Encyclopedia) Bermuda grass, perennial pasture, lawn, and hay grass (Cynodon dactylon) of the family Poaceae (grass family), native to Africa and Asia and now common in warm regions of both…
(Encyclopedia) suspension, in chemistry, mixture of two substances, one of which is finely divided and dispersed in the other. Common suspensions include sand in water, fine soot or dust in air, and…
(Encyclopedia) sweet fern, common name for several plants belonging to different botanical divisions. One is a shrub of the family Myricaceae (bayberry family) in the division Magnoliophyta; others…
