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Blades, Rubén

(Encyclopedia)Blades, Rubén ro͞obānˈ bläˈᵺās [key], 1948–, Panamanian singer, songwriter, band leader, and actor. He is a graduate (1972) of the Univ. of Panama law school and holds a masters degree (198...

Rub al Khali

(Encyclopedia)Rub al Khali ro͞ob äl khäˈlē [key] [Arab.,=empty quarter], great desert of the Arabian peninsula, c.225,000 sq mi (582,750 sq km); one of the largest sand deserts in the world. The desert occupie...

hand sanitizer

(Encyclopedia)hand sanitizer or hand rub, substance used to clean and sanitize the hands, especially when soap is not available. Hand sanitizers, introduced commercially in the late 1980s, are available as liquids,...

Dahna

(Encyclopedia)Dahna: see Rub al Khali.

propeller

(Encyclopedia)propeller, device consisting of a hub with one or more blades that propels a craft to which it is attached by rotating its blades in a fluid such as air or water. In the latter part of the 1830s the S...

cutlery

(Encyclopedia)cutlery, various types of implements for cutting, preparing, and eating food. In addition to different kinds of knives and the steels to sharpen them, the term usually encompasses forks and spoons. Th...

fan

(Encyclopedia)fan, device for agitating air or gases or moving them from one location to another. Mechanical fans with revolving blades are used for ventilation, in manufacturing, in winnowing grain, to remove dust...

hoe

(Encyclopedia)hoe, usually a flat blade, variously shaped, set in a long wooden handle and used primarily for weeding and for loosening the soil. It was the first distinctly agricultural implement. The earliest hoe...

bursa, in anatomy

(Encyclopedia)bursa bûrˈsə [key], closed fibrous sac lined with a smooth membrane, producing a viscous lubricant known as synovial fluid. Bursas are found in regions where muscles or tendons rub against other mu...

airfoil

(Encyclopedia)airfoil, surface designed to develop a desired force by reaction with a fluid, especially air, that is flowing across the surface. For example, the fixed wing surfaces of an airplane produce lift, whi...

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