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smoking

(Encyclopedia)smoking, inhalation and exhalation of the fumes of burning tobacco in cigars and cigarettes and pipes; in the 21st cent., vaping, the similar use of e-cigarettes, also has become common. Some persons ...

laxative

(Encyclopedia)laxative, drug or other substance used to stimulate the action of the intestines in eliminating waste from the body. The term laxative usually refers to a mild-acting substance; substances of increasi...

malpractice

(Encyclopedia)malpractice, failure to provide professional services with the skill usually exhibited by responsible and careful members of the profession, resulting in injury, loss, or damage to the party contracti...

antidepressant

(Encyclopedia)antidepressant, any of a wide range of drugs used to treat psychic depression. They are given to elevate mood, counter suicidal thoughts, and increase the effectiveness of psychotherapy. Before the in...

Gierek, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Gierek, Edward gyĕˈrĕk [key], 1913–2001, Polish politician, b. Porąbka. His family emigrated to France, where he was raised. He joined the French Communist party in 1931 and was later deported t...

ginseng

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Dwarf ginseng, Panax trifolium ginseng jĭnˈsĕng [key], common name for the Araliaceae, a family of tropical herbs, shrubs, and trees that are often prickly and sometimes grow as climbing fo...

Guggenheim

(Encyclopedia)Guggenheim go͝ogˈənhīm [key], family of American industrialists and philanthropists. Meyer Guggenheim, 1828–1905, b. Aargau canton, Switzerland, emigrated (1847) to the United States, prospered ...

grapefruit

(Encyclopedia)grapefruit, pomelo pumˈməlō [key], citrus fruit (Citrus paradisi) of the family Rutaceae (orange family). The grapefruit is so named because it grows in grapelike bunches. The large globular fruit...

Galerius

(Encyclopedia)Galerius (Caius Galerius Valerius Maximinianus) gəlērˈēəs [key], d. 310, Roman emperor (305–10). Diocletian appointed him caesar for the eastern part of the empire in 293 (Constantius I was cae...

IJsselmeer

(Encyclopedia)IJsselmeer īˈsəlmārˌ [key], shallow freshwater lake, NW Netherlands, bordering on the provinces of North Holland, Flevoland, and Friesland. It was formed from the old Zuider Zee by the constructi...