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Brunel, Sir Marc Isambard

(Encyclopedia)Brunel, Sir Marc Isambard ĭzˈəmbärdˌ bro͞onĕlˈ [key], 1769–1849, British engineer and inventor. Born in France, he came to the United States in 1793 as a royalist refugee. He became chief en...

Permian period

(Encyclopedia)Permian period pûrˈmēən [key] [from Perm, Russia], sixth and last period of the Paleozoic era (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table) from 250 to 290 million years ago. Many ma...

lend-lease

(Encyclopedia)lend-lease, arrangement for the transfer of war supplies, including food, machinery, and services, to nations whose defense was considered vital to the defense of the United States in World War II. Th...

Matthiessen, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Matthiessen, Peter măthˈəsən [key], American writer, naturalist, and adventurer, b. New York City, grad. Yale (1950). A founder (1951) of the literary Paris Review, he published his first novel, R...

hummingbird

(Encyclopedia)hummingbird, common name for members of the family Trochilidae, small, strictly New World birds, related to the swifts, and found chiefly in the mountains of South America. Hummingbirds vary in size f...

digital radio

(Encyclopedia)digital radio, audio broadcasting in which an analog audio signal is converted into a digital signal before being transmitted; also known as digital audio broadcasting (DAB) and high-definition radio....

cycad

(Encyclopedia)cycad sīˈkăd [key], any plant of the order Cycadales, tropical and subtropical palmlike evergreens. The cycads, ginkgoes, and conifers comprise the three major orders of gymnosperms, or cone-bearin...

sea cucumber

(Encyclopedia)sea cucumber, any of the flexible, elongated echinoderms belonging to the class Holothuroidea. Although sea cucumbers have the basic echinoderm radial symmetry (see Echinodermata), they do not have ar...

oats

(Encyclopedia)oats, cereal plants of the genus Avena of the family Poaceae (grass family). Most species are annuals of moist temperate regions. The early history of oats is obscure, but domestication is considered ...

owl

(Encyclopedia)owl, common name for nocturnal birds of prey found on all continents. Owls superficially resemble short-necked hawks, except that their eyes are directed forward and are surrounded by disks of radiati...