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Gstaad

(Encyclopedia)Gstaad kshtät [key], village, Bern canton, W Switzerland. It is a fashionable winter sports resort. Cheese and wood products are made in the village. ...

linoleum

(Encyclopedia)linoleum lĭnōˈlēəm [key], resilient floor or wall covering made of burlap, canvas, or felt, surfaced with a composition of wood flour, oxidized linseed oil, gums or other ingredients, and colorin...

naphtha

(Encyclopedia)naphtha năpˈthə, năfˈ– [key], term usually restricted to a class of colorless, volatile, flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures. Obtained as one of the more volatile fractions in the fractional ...

Aubrey, John

(Encyclopedia)Aubrey, John ôˈbrē [key], 1626–97, English antiquary and miscellaneous writer, b. Kingston, Wiltshire, educated at Trinity College, Oxford. He knew most of the famous people of his day and left c...

intarsia

(Encyclopedia)intarsia ĭntärˈsēə [key] or tarsia, properly a form of wood inlaying. The term is sometimes applied to inlays of other materials such as ivory and metal. It is differentiated from marquetry by th...

aloes

(Encyclopedia)aloes ălˈōz [key], drug obtained from the aloe; also a biblical name for an aromatic substance of various uses, mentioned in connection with myrrh and spices and thought to be the fragrant wood of ...

pencil

(Encyclopedia)pencil, pointed implement used in writing or drawing to apply graphite or a similar colored solid to any surface, especially paper. From prehistoric times lumps of colored earth or chalk were used as ...

port, wine

(Encyclopedia)port [from Oporto], fortified wine made in Portugal from grapes grown in the Douro valley; Portuguese law allows only this wine to be called port. Various grapes are blended by the growers, and brandy...

teak

(Encyclopedia)teak, tall deciduous tree (Tectona grandis) of the family Verbenaceae (verbena family), native to India and Malaysia but now widely cultivated in other tropical areas. Unfortunately, the wood of plant...

stalactite ornament

(Encyclopedia)stalactite ornament, type of ornament characteristic of Islamic architecture. Generally executed in wood or in plaster over a wood or brick base, it consists of little vertical polygonal or curved nic...

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