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Biton and Cleobis

(Encyclopedia)Biton klēōˈbĭs [key], in Greek mythology, sons of the priestess Cydippe. When their mother wanted to see a famous temple of Hera, which was many miles away, the brothers dragged her chariot there....

block and tackle

(Encyclopedia)block and tackle: see pulley.

Blues and Greens

(Encyclopedia)Blues and Greens, political factions in the Byzantine Empire in the 6th cent. They took their names from two of the four colors worn by the circus charioteers. Their clashes were intensified by religi...

Slavophiles and Westernizers

(Encyclopedia)Slavophiles and Westernizers, designation for two groups of intellectuals in mid-19th-century Russia that represented opposing schools of thought concerning the nature of Russian civilization. The dif...

ratchet and pawl

(Encyclopedia)ratchet and pawl, mechanical device that permits motion in one direction only. The ratchet is usually a wheel with slanting teeth. The pawl is a lever tangential to the wheel with one end resting on t...

Storm and Stress

(Encyclopedia)Storm and Stress: see Sturm und Drang. ...

strategy and tactics

(Encyclopedia)strategy and tactics, in warfare, related terms referring, respectively, to large-scale and small-scale planning to achieve military success. Strategy may be defined as the general scheme of the condu...

stalactite and stalagmite

(Encyclopedia)stalactite stəlăgˈmīt [key], mineral forms often found in caves; sometimes collectively called dripstone. A stalactite is an icicle-shaped mass of calcite attached to the roof of a limestone caver...

tar and pitch

(Encyclopedia)tar and pitch, viscous, dark-brown to black substances obtained by the destructive distillation of coal, wood, petroleum, peat, and certain other organic materials. The heating or partial burning of w...

supply and demand

(Encyclopedia)supply and demand, in classical economics, factors that are said to determine price, by correlating the amount of a given commodity producers hope to sell at a certain price (supply), and the amount o...