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shale

(Encyclopedia)shale, sedimentary rock formed by the consolidation of mud or clay, having the property of splitting into thin layers parallel to its bedding planes. Shale tends to be fissile, i.e., it tends to split...

Alloa

(Encyclopedia)Alloa ălˈōə [key], town , Clackmannanshire, central Scotland, on the Forth River. Textiles, engineering, brewing, and bottle making are the principal industries. A 15t...

Chiltern Hills

(Encyclopedia)Chiltern Hills, range of chalk hills, c.45 mi (70 km) long and 15 to 20 mi (24–32 km) wide, S England, NW of London, extending NE from Goring Gap. Its highest elevation is Coombe Hill (852 ft/260 m)...

Gadshill

(Encyclopedia)Gadshill gădzˈhĭl [key], low hill, Kent, SE England, near Rochester. In Shakespeare's Henry IV it was the scene of Falstaff's robberies. Charles Dickens lived there, at Gadshill Place, from 1856 un...

Kabwe

(Encyclopedia)Kabwe käbˈwā [key], formerly Broken Hill, city (1990 pop. 166,519), central Zambia. During the 20th cent. it was an important lead and zinc mining and smelting center. As a result, the area suffers...

metonymy

(Encyclopedia)metonymy mĭtŏnˈəmē [key], figure of speech in which an attribute of a thing or something closely related to it is substituted for the thing itself. Thus, “sweat” can mean “hard labor,” an...

Perizzite

(Encyclopedia)Perizzite pĕrˈĭzīt, pērĭzˈ– [key], pre-Israelite inhabitants of ancient Palestine. According to the Book of Joshua, the Perizzites were located in the hill country. They were enslaved by Solo...

Presley, Elvis

(Encyclopedia)Presley, Elvis (Elvis Aaron Presley), 1935–77, American popular singer, b. Tupelo, Miss. Exposed to gospel music from childhoo...

Bancroft

(Encyclopedia)Bancroft, village, SE Ont., Canada, on the York River. Its industries include milling, quarrying, dairying, lumbering, and tourism. The Bancroft Gembore...

Morton, Sarah Wentworth

(Encyclopedia)Morton, Sarah Wentworth, 1759–1846, American author, b. Boston. Under her pseudonym, Philenia, she wrote such works as Ouâbi: Or the Virtues of Nature (1790), a sentimental Native American romance....