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vortex

(Encyclopedia)vortex vôrˈtĕks [key], mass of fluid in whirling or rotary motion. To simplify the analysis, vortex motion usually describes motions in a frictionless fluid. In such cases the absence of friction w...

reed instrument

(Encyclopedia)reed instrument, in music, an instrument whose sound-producing agent is a thin strip of cane, wood, plastic, or metal that vibrates as air is passed over it. The predecessor of these instruments is th...

Imperial Beach

(Encyclopedia)Imperial Beach, residential and resort city (2020 pop. 26,137), San Diego co., S Calif., on the Mexican border; inc. 1956. The southwesternmost city in ...

Erie Canal

(Encyclopedia)Erie Canal, artificial waterway, c.360 mi (580 km) long; connecting New York City with the Great Lakes via the Hudson River. Locks were built to overcome the 571-ft (174-m) difference between the leve...

elf

(Encyclopedia)elf, in Germanic mythology, a type of fairy. Usually represented as tiny people, elves are said to dwell in forests, in the sea, and in the air. Although they can be friendly to man, they are more fre...

Howe, Clarence Decatur

(Encyclopedia)Howe, Clarence Decatur hou [key], 1886–1960, Canadian civil engineer and cabinet minister, b. Waltham, Mass. He went to Canada in 1908 as professor of civil engineering at Dalhousie Univ. He founded...

Fort Bliss

(Encyclopedia)Fort Bliss, U.S. army post, 1,122,500 acres (454,300 hectares), W Tex., E of El Paso; est. 1849 and named for Col. William Bliss, Gen. Zachary Taylor's adjutant in the Mexican War. Originally strategi...

bellows

(Encyclopedia)bellows, expansible, gas-tight chamber used to pump or store a gas. One of the simplest and most familiar types of bellows is the manual one used for providing a forced draft to a fire. The expansible...

Yeager, Chuck

(Encyclopedia)Yeager, Chuck (Charles Elwood Yeager) yāˈgər [key], 1923–2020, American aviator, b. Myra, W.Va. An ace fighter pilot during World War II, he was a military test pilot during the early postwar yea...

Roswell

(Encyclopedia)Roswell rŏzˈwĕl [key], city (1990 pop. 44,654), seat of Chaves co., SE N.Mex., near the Pecos River; settled 1869 as a trading post, inc. 1903. It is the trade, marketing, and rail center of an irr...