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herbaceous plant

(Encyclopedia)herbaceous plant hûrbāˈshəs [key], plant whose stem is soft and green and shows little growth of wood. The term is used to distinguish such plants from woody plants. Herbaceous plants, or herbs, a...

Harris, Julie

(Encyclopedia)Harris, Julie, 1925–2013, American actress, b. Grosse Point, Mich. Harris made her New York debut in It's a Gift (1945). Her versatility and power won her enormous critical acclaim, and she appeared...

Anouilh, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Anouilh, Jean zhäN änwēˈyə [key], 1910–87, French dramatist. Anouilh's many popular plays range from tragedy to sophisticated comedy. His first play, L'hermine, was published in 1932. During th...

Frederick William I

(Encyclopedia)Frederick William I, 1688–1740, king of Prussia (1713–40), son and successor of Frederick I. He continued the administrative reforms and the process of centralization begun by Frederick William, t...

ghost town

(Encyclopedia)ghost town, term for any once flourishing American community that has been abandoned, generally for economic reasons. While most of the towns have little or no population, they often contain old build...

Ginzburg, Natalia Levi

(Encyclopedia)Ginzburg, Natalia Levi nətälˈyə lēˈvē gĭnˈsbûrg [key], 1916–91, Italian novelist. Because she and her husband Leone Ginzburg were Jewish, they were confined to a small village from 1940 to...

Antofagasta

(Encyclopedia)Antofagasta äntōfägäˈstä [key], city, capital of Antofagasta region, N Chile, a port on the Pacific Ocean. Antofagasta was founded by Chileans in 1870 to exploit nit...

Delft

(Encyclopedia)Delft dĕlft [key], city, South Holland prov., W Netherlands. It has varied industries and is...

chickenpox

(Encyclopedia)chickenpox or varicella vârˌəsĕlˈə [key], infectious disease usually occurring in childhood. It is caused by the same herpesvirus, varicella-zoster, that produces shingles; the virus can hide in...

chariot

(Encyclopedia)chariot, earliest and simplest type of carriage and the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. The chariot was known among the Babylonians before the introduction of horses c.2000 b.c. and was first d...