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syphilis

(Encyclopedia)syphilis sĭfˈəlĭs [key], contagious sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum (described by Fritz Schaudinn and Erich Hoffmann in 1905). Syphilis was not widely reco...

Hor-hagidgad

(Encyclopedia)Hor-hagidgad hôr-həgĭdˈgăd [key], in the Bible, wilderness camp of the Israelites. The camping place called Gudgodah may have been the same. ...

Eglaim

(Encyclopedia)Eglaim ĕgˈlāĭm, ēglāˈĭm [key], in the Bible, place E of the Dead Sea. It may be the same as the otherwise unidentified En-Eglaim. ...

golden parachute

(Encyclopedia)golden parachute, a contract given to top executives of a corporation to provide benefits in case of job loss due to a takeover by another firm or a merger. The unusually generous benefits may include...

Baca

(Encyclopedia)Baca bāˈkə [key], in the Bible, allegorical name of a valley. The English expression “vale (or valley) of tears” may be a translation of this, through the Vulgate. ...

depression, in psychiatry

(Encyclopedia)depression, in psychiatry, a symptom of mood disorder characterized by intense feelings of loss, sadness, hopelessness, failure, and rejection. The two major types of mood disorder are unipolar disord...

radiation sickness

(Encyclopedia)radiation sickness, harmful effect produced on body tissues by exposure to radioactive substances. The biological action of radiation is not fully understood, but it is believed that a disturbance in ...

psychotherapy

(Encyclopedia)psychotherapy, treatment of mental and emotional disorders using psychological methods. Psychotherapy, thus, does not include physiological interventions, such as drug therapy or electroconvulsive the...

food poisoning

(Encyclopedia)food poisoning, acute illness following the eating of foods contaminated by bacteria, bacterial toxins, natural poisons, or harmful chemical substances. It was once customary to classify all such illn...

Pilgrims' Way

(Encyclopedia)Pilgrims' Way, ancient English road that ran from Hampshire to Kent, over the Sussex Downs. It is so called because it may have been used during the Middle Ages by pilgrims who came to Canterbury to t...