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raccoon

(Encyclopedia)raccoon, nocturnal New World mammal of the genus Procyon. The common raccoon of North America, Procyon lotor, also called coon, is found from S Canada to South America, except in parts of the Rocky Mt...

contract

(Encyclopedia)contract, in law, a promise, enforceable by law, to perform or to refrain from performing some specified act. In a general sense, all civil obligations fall under tort or contract law. Torts are usual...

DeLillo, Don

(Encyclopedia)DeLillo, Don dəlĭlˈō [key], 1936–, American novelist, b. New York City, grad. Fordham (1958). DeLillo is an accomplished prose stylist with a dark vision and mordant wit. In a steady stream of n...

Dumas, Alexandre (Dumas père), 1802–70, French novelist and dramatist

(Encyclopedia)Dumas, Alexandre pĕr [key], 1802–70, French novelist and dramatist. His father, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, was a general in the Revolution. Dumas delighted many generations of readers with his highly ...

coke

(Encyclopedia)coke, substance obtained by the destructive distillation of bituminous coal. Coke bears the same relation to coal as does charcoal to wood. A hard, gray, massive, porous fuel, coke is the solid residu...

Henry VII, Holy Roman emperor and German king

(Encyclopedia)Henry VII, c.1275–1313, Holy Roman emperor (1312–13) and German king (1308–13). A minor count of the house of Luxembourg, Henry was elected German king on the death of King Albert I after the el...

Muslim League

(Encyclopedia)Muslim League, political organization of India and Pakistan, founded 1906 as the All-India Muslim League by Aga Khan III. Its original purpose was to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in India...

mode, in music

(Encyclopedia)mode, in music. 1 A grouping or arrangement of notes in a scale with respect to a most important note (in the pretonal modes of Western music, this note is called the final or finalis), and the patter...

Liberal Democrats, British political party

(Encyclopedia)Liberal Democrats, British political party created in 1988 by the merger of the Liberal party with the Social Democratic party; the party was initially called the Social and Liberal Democratic party. ...

Mandaeans

(Encyclopedia)Mandaeans or Mandeans mănˈdēənz [key], a small religious sect who maintain an ancient belief resembling that of Gnosticism and that of the Parsis. They are also known as Christians of St. John, Na...