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croaker

(Encyclopedia)croaker, member of the abundant and varied family Sciaenidae, carnivorous, spiny-finned fishes including the weakfishes, the drums, and the kingcroakers (or kingfish). The croaker has a compressed, el...

Cornwall, county, England

(Encyclopedia)Cornwall, county, SW England, administratively (since 2009) a unitary authority. Bodmin was the county seat, but the local government is now based in Tr...

Chongqing

(Encyclopedia)Chongqing cho͞ongˈkĭngˈ [key], city and independent municipality, 592 sq mi (1,534 sq km), in SE ...

hoopoe

(Encyclopedia)hoopoe ho͞oˈpo͞o, –pō [key], common name for a shy, solitary, Old World woodland bird, Upupa epops. Its body color ranges from cinnamon to chestnut, with white-barred, black wings and tail, and ...

lightning

(Encyclopedia)lightning, electrical discharge accompanied by thunder, commonly occurring during a thunderstorm. The discharge may take place between one part of a cloud and another part (intracloud), between one cl...

Belfast

(Encyclopedia)Belfast bĕlfăstˈ [key], Gaelic Béal Feirste, city (2021 est. pop. 635,000), capital of No...

Trent Affair

(Encyclopedia)Trent Affair, incident in the diplomatic relations between the United States and Great Britain, which occurred during the American Civil War. On Nov. 8, 1861, the British mail packet Trent, carrying J...

mining

(Encyclopedia)mining, extraction of solid mineral resources from the earth. These resources include ores, which contain commercially valuable amounts of metals, such as iron and aluminum; precious stones, such as d...

muskrat

(Encyclopedia)muskrat, North American aquatic rodent. The common muskrats, species of the genus Ondatra, are sometimes called by their Native American name, musquash. They are found in marshes, quiet streams, and p...

Cook, James

(Encyclopedia)Cook, James, 1728–79, English explorer and navigator. The son of a Yorkshire agricultural laborer, he had little formal education. After an apprenticeship to a firm of shipowners at Whitby, he joine...