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compost

(Encyclopedia)compost, substance composed mainly of partly decayed organic material that is applied to fertilize the soil and to increase its humus content; it is often used in vegetable farming, home gardens, flow...

athlete's heart

(Encyclopedia)athlete's heart, common term for an enlarged heart associated with repeated strenuous exercise. As a result of the increased workload required of it, the heart will increase physiologically by enlargi...

Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

(Encyclopedia)Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, system of navigation channels, 234 mi (377 km) long, Ala. and Miss., connecting the Tennessee River with the Tombigbee River and, via the Mobile River, with the Gulf of M...

pressure

(Encyclopedia)pressure, in mechanics, ratio of the force acting on a surface to the area of the surface; it is thus distinct from the total force acting on a surface. A force can be applied to and sustained by a si...

agricultural subsidies

(Encyclopedia)agricultural subsidies, financial assistance to farmers through government-sponsored price-support programs. Beginning in the 1930s most industrialized countries developed agricultural price-support p...

Cuenca, city, Ecuador

(Encyclopedia)Cuenca kwĕngˈkä [key], city, alt. c.8,000 ft (2,440 m), capital of Azuay prov., S central ...

Cooper, Myles

(Encyclopedia)Cooper, Myles, 1737?–1785, 2d president of King's College (now Columbia Univ.), b. England, educated at Oxford. He was ordained a priest in 1761 and went to King's College (1762) as professor of mor...

fatigue, in engineering

(Encyclopedia)fatigue, in engineering, microscopic cracking of materials, especially metals, after repeated applications of stress. Fissures may be formed within pieces of metal during their manufacture when, while...

Jersey cattle

(Encyclopedia)Jersey cattle, breed of dairy cattle native to the island of Jersey in the English Channel. Jerseys, smallest of the dairy breeds, are usually a shade of fawn or cream, although darker shades are comm...

Papin, Denis

(Encyclopedia)Papin, Denis dənēˈ päpăNˈ [key], 1647–1712?, French physicist and inventor. He was an assistant of Christian Huygens and of Robert Boyle and was professor of mathematics at the Univ. of Marbur...