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icebreaker

(Encyclopedia)icebreaker, ship of special hull design and wide beam, with relatively flat bottom, designed to force its way through ice. When the icebreaker charges into the ice at full speed, its sharply inclined ...

Nau, Jacques Jean David

(Encyclopedia)Nau, Jacques Jean David zhäk zhäN dävēdˈ nō [key], c.1630–1671, French pirate in the West Indies. He is also called François L'Olonnois. He went to the West Indies in 1650. Expelled in 1653 f...

neuritis

(Encyclopedia)neuritis no͝orīˈtĭs, nyo͝o– [key], inflammation of a peripheral nerve, often accompanied by degenerative changes in nervous tissue. The cause can be mechanical (injury, pressure), vascular (occ...

calcium-channel blocker

(Encyclopedia)calcium-channel blocker, any of a class of drugs used in treating hypertension, angina pectoris, and certain arrhythmias. They prevent the calcium ions needed for muscle contraction from entering the ...

schooner

(Encyclopedia)schooner sko͞oˈnər [key], sailing vessel, rigged fore-and-aft, with from two to seven masts. Schooners can lie closer to the wind than square-rigged sailing ships, need a smaller crew, and are very...

capillary

(Encyclopedia)capillary kăpˈəlĕrˌē [key], microscopic blood vessel, smallest unit of the circulatory system. Capillaries form a network of tiny tubes throughout the body, connecting arterioles (smallest arter...

caravel

(Encyclopedia)caravel kärˈvəl [key], three-masted sailing vessel, generally square-rigged with the aftermast lateen-rigged. It had a roundish hull with a high bow and stern. The term “carvel-built” (see boat...

Colton, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Colton, Walter kōlˈtən [key], 1797–1851, American editor, writer, and clergyman, b. Rutland co., Vt. He became a naval chaplain in 1831. His books Ship and Shore (1835), A Visit to Constantinople...

Fox, Gustavus Vasa

(Encyclopedia)Fox, Gustavus Vasa, 1821–83, American naval officer, b. Saugus, Mass. Appointed a midshipman in 1838, he resigned from the navy in 1856 but in Apr., 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, commande...

Mylae

(Encyclopedia)Mylae mīˈlē [key], ancient port, NE Sicily, now Milazzo. It was settled by colonists from Messina. Here in 260 b.c. the Romans in a newly built fleet were led to victory over the Carthaginians by t...