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granite

(Encyclopedia)granite, coarse-grained igneous rock of even texture and light color, composed chiefly of quartz and feldspars. It usually contains small quantities of mica or hornblende, and minor accessory minerals...

Legionnaire's disease

(Encyclopedia)Legionnaire's disease lēˌjənârzˈ [key], infectious, sometimes fatal, disease characterized by high fever, dry cough, lung congestion, and subsequent pneumonia. Major organs, such as the heart, ma...

slipped disc

(Encyclopedia)slipped disc, rupture or herniation of an intervertebral disc. These discs separate and cushion the vertebrae, the segments of the spinal column. They are composed of an outer rim of fibrous connectiv...

spinal puncture

(Encyclopedia)spinal puncture, surgical penetration of the spinal canal by a hollow needle introduced between two of the lumbar vertebrae. The arrangement permits injection of antibiotics or anesthetics (see anesth...

Peninsular campaign

(Encyclopedia)Peninsular campaign, in the American Civil War, the unsuccessful Union attempt (Apr.–July, 1862) to capture Richmond, Va., by way of the peninsula between the York and James rivers. Late in May...

corduroy

(Encyclopedia)corduroy, a cut filling-pile fabric with lengthwise ridges, or wales, that may vary from fine (pinwale) to wide. Extra filling yarns float over a number of warp yarns that form either a plain-weave or...

Chiltern Hundreds

(Encyclopedia)Chiltern Hundreds, the obsolete (since the 19th cent.) administrative districts of Stoke, Burnham, and Desborough in Buckinghamshire, S central England. The stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds is an ...

chord, in music

(Encyclopedia)chord, in music, two or more simultaneously sounding pitches. In tonal music the fundamental chord is called the triad. It consists of three pitches, two a perfect fifth apart and a third pitch a majo...

hunchback

(Encyclopedia)hunchback, abnormal outward curvature of the spine in the thoracic region. It is also known as kyphosis and humpback, and in its severe form a noticeable hump is evident on the back. Hunchback may be ...

kettle

(Encyclopedia)kettle, oval depression found in glacial moraines, which are landforms made up of rock debris. When a glacier melts and draws away from an area, a block of ice may break off and be covered by earth an...