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shore bird

(Encyclopedia)shore bird, common name for members of the large order Charadriiformes, which includes birds found on coasts and beaches throughout the world. Included in this group are the avocet, curlew, oyster cat...

New Thought

(Encyclopedia)New Thought, popular philosophical movement with religious implications; it affirms “the creative power of constructive thinking.” A successor of New England transcendentalism, New Thought grew ou...

Tyrannosaurus

(Encyclopedia)Tyrannosaurus tīrănˌōsôrˈəs, tĭr– [key] [Gr.,=tyrant lizard], member of a family, Tyrannosauridae, of bipedal carnivorous saurischian dinosaurs characterized by having strong hind limbs, a m...

raisin, in botany and cooking

(Encyclopedia)raisin, dried fruit of certain varieties of grapevines bearing grapes with a high content of sugar and solid flesh. Although the fruit is sometimes artificially dehydrated, it is usually sun-dried. Th...

Nipah virus

(Encyclopedia)Nipah virus, RNA virus of the genus Henipavirus, family Paramyxoviridae, that rarely infects humans but can cause deadly encephalitis. In humans, the virus typically incubates for 4 to 14 days before ...

oriole

(Encyclopedia)oriole, common name applied to various perching birds of the Old (family Oriolidae) and New (family Icteridae) Worlds. The European orioles are allied to the crows, while the American orioles, of the ...

tantalum

(Encyclopedia)tantalum tănˈtələm [key] [from Tantalus], metallic chemical element; symbol Ta; at. no. 73; at. wt. 180.94788; m.p. 2,996℃; b.p. 5,400±100℃; sp. gr. 16.65 at 20℃; valence +2, +3, +4, or +5....

tarantula

(Encyclopedia)tarantula tərănˈchələ [key], name applied chiefly to species of the large, hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae of North and South America, Africa, S and SE Asia, and Australia. The body of ...

Tasmanian devil

(Encyclopedia)Tasmanian devil, extremely voracious marsupial, or pouched mammal, of the dasyure family, now found only on the island of Tasmania. The Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisi, formerly found also in Aus...

bustard

(Encyclopedia)bustard bŭsˈtərd [key], a heavy-bodied, ground-running bird of the family Otididae. Various species are found throughout the arid regions of Africa, Asia, Australia, and S Europe. Bustards range in...